Cluster Headache and Constant Sleep Issues
As terrible as the pain of cluster headache is, there’s more to the story. Research is showing again that there are symptoms of cluster even when there are no headaches.
It’s not rocket science that the brutal pain of cluster affects every part of life – including sleep. But when cluster is “in remission” – that is, patients aren’t currently dealing with a series of headaches – there still appear to be symptoms affecting sleep.
That’s what a study published last year in The Journal of Headache and Pain is telling us.
The study took 50 patients with cluster and 42 without, and measured sleep. That’s a fairly large study for cluster, which is much rarer than migraine.
A key part of the study involved something called “sleep latency”, which simply refers to the amount of time that it takes to get to sleep. Not surprisingly, cluster patients took longer to fall asleep. But surprisingly for some, that was the case even when they weren’t in a cluster cycle (currently having headaches).
Before they went to sleep, cluster headache patients experienced more stress. And when they woke up, they felt less rested.
Also, although they slept about the same number of hours as the control group, they tended to be in bed longer.
Yes, of course, these symptoms were worse in the middle of a cluster cycle. But they didn’t go away in the rest of life.
Why is this the case? Well, it could be a part of the biological reality of cluster. It could also be related to the comorbid diseases that tend to go along with cluster – in other words, cluster patients often have other conditions that tend to go along with cluster headache, that could affect sleep.
There is also the reality that even when you’re not experiencing headache, you may be waiting for the next one to come. Many cluster headache patients do experience headaches in the night – will it be tonight? That being said, researchers noted that even those who didn’t get nighttime attacks still had sleep issues.
Could these sleep issues make cluster headaches worse? Or vice versa? Either way, it’s important for cluster patients and their doctors to recognize that cluster does affect all of life. It’s wise to treat both the cluster headaches themselves and other conditions and symptoms, such as sleep issues.
Researchers hope to continue their study to see if certain treatments can help address sleep issues. It’s hoped that these treatments may lessen cluster symptoms as well.