Morning headaches can occur for a variety of reasons. They can appear from time to time after a bad night's sleep or when you are under stress, or they can occur daily. Headaches in the early morning hours often wake up the patient after four o'clock in the morning, or they can occur in the first minutes after waking up.
Headaches associated with sleep apnea also occur in the early morning hours. One study found that one in five people with sleep apnea reported morning headaches. Migraine attacks are a very common type of headache that most often occurs in the early morning hours. Sleep disorders can lead to headaches, especially migraines. New research shows that a sleep disorder can trigger a migraine episode and be a precursor to migraine disease that develops later. Sleep disorders are associated with more frequent and pronounced migraine, which can sometimes become chronic.
Research has linked sleep disorders such as insomnia and poor sleep quality to more frequent and intense headaches. About 50 percent of people who have headaches or migraines have insomnia.
What are the types of early morning headaches?
Headache can be dull, sharp or throbbing. The duration of the headache can also vary significantly. There are about 150 types of headaches.
Those that are known to occur often in the early morning hours are:
- migraine
- cluster headache
- hypnic headache
- tension headache
- paroxysmal hemicrania
Here are some conditions and factors that can cause early morning headaches:
Insomnia
Insomnia can affect sleep patterns and cause sleep deprivation. Lack of sleep is the most common cause of morning headaches and can cause migraines. Insomnia can be treated in different ways. The first step is to discuss this with your doctor.
Treatment for insomnia may include:
- medicines
- psychotherapy
- combination of drugs and psychotherapy.
Depression or anxiety
Research shows that mood disorders and migraine episodes often occur together, and the presence of one indicates a greater risk than the other. For example, the more frequent a person's migraine episodes, the more likely they are to have mood disorders, and vice versa.
Reference scientific studies have concluded that migraine patients are 2,5 times more likely to be depressed than people without migraine and between 2 to 5 times more likely to develop anxiety disorders. Various mental health disorders can also lead to insomnia, which can further increase the risk of morning headaches.
Snoring or sleep apnea (sleep apnea)
Disturbed sleep caused by snoring or sleep apnea can be the source of early morning headaches. Snoring can be an independent condition or a symptom of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea causes breathing to stop intermittently throughout the night. Generally speaking, headaches associated with sleep apnea last about 30 minutes. Sleep apnea can be treated with special equipment, such as a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine.
Teeth grinding
Teeth grinding or clenching is also known as bruxism. This condition can occur at night as a sleep disorder. Morning headaches are commonly associated with bruxism, but research is conflicting about whether bruxism actually causes headaches. Some researchers believe that bruxism-related headaches may actually stem from disorders of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) in the jaw.
Bruxism headaches are generally dull and usually localized near the temples. Bruxism is also linked to other sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, and can cause tooth damage and jaw pain.
Neck muscle strain
Headaches in the early morning hours can be the result of muscle strain in the neck. Pillows should help you maintain a sleeping position that properly supports your neck and spine. The pillow should support your head and neck in a position similar to when you are standing.
Hangover and alcohol
Headaches in the early hours of the morning can be a consequence of (mis)use of alcohol. Abundant alcohol consumption can lead to inadequate sleep and early morning headaches. The amount of alcohol that will cause a hangover varies from person to person.
Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJ)
Headaches, often in the early morning hours, can be associated with the jaw. Headache is one of the most commonly reported symptoms of temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ). TMJ disorders can cause pain, stiffness, and clicking in the jaw, as well as headaches. The cause of these disorders is unknown, but they occur when the TMJ does not function. This is the joint that connects the jaw and allows you to talk, chew food and open your mouth. Sometimes resting the TMJ is enough to relieve symptoms, and therapeutic options include:
- eating softer foods and avoiding hard or sticky foods
- reducing the mobility of this joint
- stress reduction
Medicines
Medications can disrupt sleep patterns, leading to sleep disturbances and early morning headaches. Talk to your doctor if you suspect that medications are causing early morning headaches. Some medications used to treat headaches can cause sleep disturbances. Also, some medications, such as benzodiazepines, used to treat sleep disorders can cause or worsen headaches.
Headache due to excessive use of painkillers is also a cause of this type of headache. If you take painkillers too often to relieve a headache, you risk making the headache worse.
Too much sleep
Too much sleep can also be a trigger for early morning headaches. The exact reason for this is unknown, but it is generally thought to stem from disruptions in the natural circadian rhythm and neural pathways in the brain.
The best way to avoid morning headaches caused by oversleeping is to restore your natural sleep-wake cycle by going to bed around the same time each night and getting up at more or less the same time most days of the week.
Tumor
People sometimes worry that they have a brain tumor when they notice morning headaches. Although a simple morning headache can be a symptom of a brain tumor, the chances are very low if a morning headache is the only symptom. Morning headache in brain tumors is almost always accompanied by other neurological symptoms.
Other diseases
Morning headaches can also occur due to another disease. Conditions that can cause chronic morning headaches are hypertension (high arterial blood pressure) and diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Be sure to talk to your doctor about any symptoms you have.
The most common types of morning headaches
- cluster headache
- migraine
- tension headaches.
Tumor symptoms
- epi attacks
- nausea or vomiting
- weakness or paralysis
- difficulty in speaking
- personality change.
Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy (an alternative branch of medicine that uses the healing properties of essential oils) is certainly one of the most effective natural responses to headaches. Fragrant essential oils can relieve pain and tension and clear congestion. You can add them to bath water, hot water for inhalation or massage oil.
Essential oils that help:
- mint
- lavender essence
- eucalyptus
- chamomile
- marjoram
You can mix essential oils together, or you can use them separately. By experimenting, you will find out which fragrance works best for you.
"Weekend Headache"
Waking up at the same time every day - going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. Irregular sleeping, one day more, then a couple of days less, and on the weekend almost not at all (or the opposite, sleeping through the whole weekend), will almost certainly lead to headaches. That is why the term "weekend headache" was introduced, because people who get up early during the week, and then sleep long on the weekend, suffer from migraines.
Moderate caffeine intake
Coffee relieves headaches, but if you are used to coffee, then its absence will cause headaches. Drink up to two coffees a day, no more.
Water
Did you know that dehydration is one of the most common causes of headaches? The moment we feel thirsty can mean we are already dehydrated. That's why you should drink about two liters of water a day at any time of the year.
Tips, recommendations, topics about health await you on Thursday, December 29, in the new issue of the Zdravlje supplement, which you get for free with the printed edition of Vijesti.
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