Headaches With Repeating Patterns

According to the old saying, bad things come in threes. Unfortunately, that can be true of certain headache patterns which may also come in fours, fives, sixes, etc. A cluster headache is a severe type of headache that occurs in timed attacks, called "clusters." Because of their distinct timing, these types of headaches may be related to the activity of certain hormones in the body.

Melatonin is a hormone that rises and falls naturally during the course of a 24-hour day to promote a healthy sleep cycle. Your body produces more melatonin at night in response to darkness, making you sleepy, and less in the morning and daylight hours, making you more alert and active. Because melatonin production is influenced by light and darkness, seasonal changes in the light/dark cycle can trigger imbalances in its normal rhythm.

Researchers have found an interesting connection between Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of depression occuring in winter, and cluster headaches. In both conditions, the body's natural melatonin rhythm often gets thrown "out of whack." People suffering from the active phase of cluster headaches often have lower nighttime levels of melatonin, which can also interfere with their quality of sleep. Aging can also impair the body's cycle of melatonin secretion. Restoring the healthy pattern of melatonin secretion has been found to effectively relieve symptoms for some patients with SAD and/or cluster headaches.

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References:

1. Costa A, Leston JA, Cavallini A, Nappi G. Cluster headache and periodic affective illness: common chronobiologcial features. Funct Neurol 1998;13(3):263-72.
2. Leone M, Lucini V, D'amico D, Grazzi L, Moschiano F, Fraschini F, Bussone G. Abnormal 24-hour urinary execretory pattern of 6-sulphatoxymelatonin in both phases of cluster headache. Cephalalgia 1998;18(10):664-7.
3. Leone M, Lucini V, D'amico D, Moschiano F, Maltempo C, Fraschini F, Bussone G. Twenty-four hour melatonin and cortisol plasma levels in relations to timing of cluster headache. Cephalagia 1995;15(3):224-9.
4. Waldenlind E, Gustafsson SA, Ekbom K, Wetterberg L. Circadian secretion of cortisol and melatoin in cluster headache during active cluster periods and remission. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1987;50(2):207-13.
5. Walling AD. Cluster headache. Am Fam Physician 1993;47(6):1457-65.

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