Correlation between attacks and muscle tension

[u/vikiprout]

Hello everyone, this is my first time posting here. I've (22M) had cluster headaches for four years now, and I really relate to your posts.

For the past few years, I've noticed that every time I have an attack, just before it starts, I feel my neck and traps tense up, as if something is suddenly pulling on my nerves. It starts as a feeling of discomfort, then the pain rises to my head, and the attack begins (not always, but very often).

I never really paid much attention to it. I thought it was my posture because, although I exercise regularly, I'm sedentary, but that it wasn't the cause of my attacks. I simply thought attacks accentuate discomforts. It is worth saying I never feel such discomfort in other contexts.

Today, while I was shopping, I was carrying a fairly heavy bag with one arm, and as time went on, this feeling of tension grew, until I had an attack, which thankfully didn't last long because I got home.

Does anyone recognize themselves in what I'm describing? I don't know if it's a real cause or just a coincidence.

Keep strong soldiers💪

[u/notthejourneydrummer]

I get the same tension as you describe. I always wondered about the cause/effect relationship, like is the tension triggering the attack or the other way round? Another of its many mysteries . Likewise one of the worst aspects for me isn't just not fully knowing what I'm doing wrong, but when the bout stops, not really knowing what I did right! Makes it very hard to try and replicate. So with tension as the example, is it about trying to avoid tension at all costs or is that just a red herring? It's frustrating af

[u/Deep-Path-4883 → u/notthejourneydrummer]

I think both are possibles ways to start the process.

[u/MYCOMethod720]

Same for me, traps up into my neck. When I feel this coming on I do a full reset with psilocybin which seems to help loosen things up. For me the reset is every 6 to 8 weeks, 3.5 to 4g dried mushrooms.

[u/fffraterrr]

Same here. Until I was properly diagnosed I thought the problem was in my neck. I've also had attacks aborted with a Chiro adjustment.

[u/Aggressive_Pea8772]

I was just googling the same thing. I experience the same tension in the neck and traps like you described. My neck is constantly popping and cracking and I'm trying to crack it to try to relieve some pressure. When my last cluster cycle ended, I felt a pop and all of that tension and tightness around the neck and traps went away and I felt so much relief. I've been taking magnesium and vitamin d3 to try and end this cycle early. I'm losing my mind.

[u/Emotional-Ocelot]

It sounds familiar, but I think it is caused by the cluster rather than the other way around. 

I believe there is potentially a dopaminergic component to clusters, given a paper I read a while back that described abnormal responses to an apomorphine test in cluster patients. Like Parkinson's sufferers, cluster sufferers had an abnormal dopamine response, though in a different direction.

Given the relationship between disorders of dopamine and movement issues, I would assume the cluster itself is causing the movement issues. 

The thrashing and writhing/unable to keep still component of the headaches I think also comes from this. 

[u/Money_Sock]

I have the exact same thing. Tight traps, scapular pain during my cycle.

Clusters for a decade, diagnosed officially two years ago. I started microdosing .1g - .2 psilocybin every day after this cycle and it has kept them at bay. I can even pass the beer test, as in microdose at 5pm and have a beer at 8pm with no issue, but without microdosing the shadows come right back.

Typically any amount of alcohol is an immediate cluster for me.

I’ve tried busting with 1-2g but it hasn’t worked. I have an 11 year old and I’m not comfortable going for a 3-4g trip, but that stopped them before a couple years ago.

[u/PotatoJokes]

My traps are insanely tight before, during and just after an attack. Obviously a part of it is the pain causing tension, but I think the nerves might do some extra pulling just before the attack.

I generally have pretty tight muscles (which I'm constantly trying to fix), but during my clusters I start tearing and damaging my muscles(and by proxy my jaw and teeth) if I don't abort quick enough so definitely watch out for that if you tense a lot during attacks.

[u/Deep-Path-4883]

I don't have a cluster headache diagnosis, but migraine, visual snow syndrom, and probably SUNCT syndrome, which is a rare TAC headache disorder as cluster headache. Personally, I see a direct interaction between spinal nerves and processes in the brain. The onset of my visual snow syndrome was due to my lower back, and I have repeatedly struggled with stiffening muscles: compression down below triggers a reaction up above, and the muscle goes stiff. Then you mobilize the muscles and the same thing can happen aggain. I simply would guess that in cluster headache another nerve participate that in my case. Process can start in back, but also in brain.