Posted by Andrea on March 20, 1999 at 14:05:43:
Hello everyone. I have read alot of these messages in which you stated the presense of muscle tension during attacks/episodes of CH. I also have this. One very annoying side-effect of these CHs is that during the day, usually all day, I have neck stiffness/soreness at the base of my skull (where lc bob has pointed out is the opening of the skull where your nerves/spinal cord enter),along with "tension headaches" around my eyes,nose, and temples (basically the middle of my face). I recently went to a massage therapist who told me that right along my spine on the right side of my back was very knotted and stiff. She worked on loosening those muscles and worked her way up to my neck, where she was amazed at how stiff/knotted my muscles were in that area at the base of my skull. Said she has never seen anyone's THAT bad and had to put a lot of work into loosening these muscles (which was pretty painful to me). After this I felt my tension headaches ease away, and was CH-free for about 4 days after this. She
recommended I drink 1/2 to 1 gallon of water/day and find an outlet for my stress (I am in graduate school majoring in immunology, I don't smoke, and I am not a heavy drinker-I HAVE NO outlet!) She said to try yoga/meditation, which I think I will do. If it's any help, I have found that Duradrin, which does nothing for my CH, works wonders on my tension headaches during the day.
I think there is a link, which many have pointed out. The question is what causes the initial muscle tension?
Oh, something else. Workers began about a month ago on "reconstructing" the building in which I work. They are re-doing the ceiling among other things. This work causes a great deal of dust buildup around here and I have noticed many days there is a distinct smell around the building (I think it's tar-like substance). I noticed on the ceiling tiles there is a warning to install these in a well-ventilated area and wear certified dust respirators. The workers do NEITHER and they subject us to this all day. Incidentally, my episode of CH began about one month ago when they started. I am fine at home and about 20 minutes after entering this building my neck gets sore/stiff and I feel the headaches coming. Another student in my lab has this same symptomatic tension headaches when she's around it, but does NOT get CH. She does have typical migraines (+aora). I don't know if there is a link, but it seems very co-incidental.
Hope this info sheds some light on the subject!