Headaches — Chronic Paroxysmal Hemicrania » Blog Archive

Can’t sleep

Icannot sleep. My head is once again my enemy. My right eye is blurry and droopy and watery, and I keep getting one attack after another. Not sleeping only makes it worse, but I can’t get comfortable enough to fall asleep. Whats worse is that I get a lot of cold sores. These cold sores –AKA Herpes Simplex — make me sick too. Herpes Simplex resides deap within the nervous system, and when it decides to be active, it affects me in many different ways. Depending on which side of my face the cold sore is growing, that side will be tender to the touch. My nerves become overly sensitive on that side of my face and head. Even my hair brushing against my cheek is painful. So, right now, I am getting cold sores on the right corner of my mouth, and coincidentaly, that is the same side that my CPH is active on. So not only is my head hurting because of the CPH, but the CPH is magnified by my over active nervous system because of cold sores. FRUSTRATING!!! I am irritated, because I want to sleep, but my body wont let me.

This will pass. It always does. I just thought that if I write about it while it is fresh, then, maybe I might be able to help somebody else who is going through the same thing. Somwhere out there, there is somebody else going through the exact same thing as me. I am not alone. I am very thankful that this is all that I have to endure. These burdens will pass from me, but some people are fighting a losing battle with cancer. How scared they must be…and yet how brave. I admire your bravery whomever you may be. I pray you find peace in the night when you lie awake scare of all you are facing. I pray that my Lord above will bring you comfort, and fill all of your days with joy.

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Posted by By: gina | 2008/02/15 | Blogroll - Regular News | Trackback | Comments [RSS 2.0]

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Cold Sore Treatment

Comment by Cold Sore Treatment | 2008/04/14 at 19:10:46

Hi Gina,

OMG I would hate to have CPH. I really feel for you and to top it all off having to get cold sores. gosh, that must really suck.

I hate cold sores myself and getting headaches, but from your post it seems like they’re nothing like what you get.

I wish you all the best in finding a cure for your pain.

Remember… many pain relief first starts from within, not from medical help.

Take care,
Patty
Melody

Comment by Melody | 2008/09/05 at 22:54:47

I have also got CPH. Mine was finally diagnosed only 2 days ago…I am totally excited that I have lived one enitre day without a single “hit”…My husband and I call the attacks “Hits”…I also have the cold sore problem, or at least we thought they were cold sores, but they are actually Shingles outbreaks…I take zovirax for that…I used to have the extreme trouble if the “cold sores” were on the right side because that is the side that I suffer my CPH on…about 5 years ago my doctor…a general practioner…told me that those are not cold sores or herpes simplex, that they are a form of shingles…he gave me to zovirax and now as soon as a cold sore hits I take the meds and the pain is 85% reduced…it still takes the same time for the cold sore/shingles to go away, but the extreme nerve pain is gone…and when suffering from the CPH at the same time, even being woken up at night with the CPH…I realize that I am rambling a bit, but I can totally understand your two issues…I am just grateful that 2 days ago I got the diagnosis from my new neurologist (the GOD) at least in my eyes…I was getting “hits” 2 to 5 times a day…though no nasal discharge or eye weeping, but still on the pain scale of 1 to 10 the pain was a 25…Totally Debilitating…I have now gone a whopping 36 hours without a single “hit”…

Sorry if I was no help, but like I said, your story is similar to mine in having the two problems.
A

Comment by A | 2008/10/14 at 10:04:47

Hi Gina,

After a year of searching for an answer I think I have found it!! Can I say how happy I am and pass on a little bit of information that has helped me. I, unknowingly, have been fighting my headaches for a year…brain tumour thoughts have cirlced througout my head on a daily basis…even after a fully clear MRI. I started on amitriptyline and another anti-anxiety pill(because the unknown diagnosis was causing severe anxiety-attacks for myself)after gaining 20lbs on that crap and feeling horrible from the side-effects I kicked them to the curb. I started studying “natural” ways to fight my anxiety…because when I was on cymbalta I noticed a huge decrease in headaches. I found 5-HTP which is a form or trytophan and seems to offer the same increase in serotonin without the crappy side-effects. I take it right before bed and my insomonia has been gone for over 6mths, even when I do wake up at 2am I can still get back to sleep. I can’t say why this helps with the headaches but I did go off it for over a month and my headaches came back with a vengenance!!! It’s worth a try for you but expect a good 3 wks before seeing any results. Always take it at night time right before bed..and with the little ones that I do get..Aspirin extra strength helps over anything else out there!!!

Good luck…Allene:))

Can’t sleep

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