The two-way and complex relationship between headaches and sleep and sleep disorders is well known to physicians.
Just as headaches can disrupt the time to fall asleep, depth of sleep, quality of sleep and continuity of sleep, sleep disorders can also cause headaches.
Insomnia or oversleeping can trigger headache attacks, and difficulties in falling asleep and staying asleep may occur due to frequent headache attacks.
In the early hours of the morning. Or headaches that occur when you wake up in the morning can be a sign of many serious sleep disorders that disrupt the structure and quality of sleep (such as obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, sleep movement disorders, sleep behavior disorders, sleepwalking, etc.)!
As a result, Just as headaches can cause sleep disorders to increase or occur, sleep disorders can also cause headaches and increase existing headaches!
For this reason; This two-way interaction of sleep disorders and headaches is a situation that reduces the quality of life of patients, makes diagnosis and treatment difficult, and should be questioned carefully by the physician!
In addition, the frequency of headaches in people with sleep disorders is higher than in normal people. If we consider that it is four times more common, we will have a stronger grasp of the importance of the relationship between sleep disorders and headaches…
HYPNIC HEADACHE (ALARM CLOCK HEADACHE)
Headache occurs only during sleep and It occurs 'always at the same time'. For this reason, it is also called 'alarm clock headache'.
It usually occurs 2-4 hours after falling asleep and wakes the patient up. Patients do not experience headaches during the day!
Headache attacks may last at least 15 minutes and at most 3 hours.
It may be mild or moderate, usually dull and radiating to the entire head. It can rarely occur as very severe pain resembling migraine.
It is most common in people over the age of 50 and especially in women.
With age, pain control disorder occurs in the brainstem and hypothalamus. Decrease in the release of sleep hormone (melatonin) It is thought that it may be the cause of hypnic headache.
Apart from 'Hypnic Headache', headaches that wake you up at night; Many causes such as migraine, cluster headache, nocturnal hypertension, and low blood sugar should be carefully distinguished.
In treatment (although it varies from patient to patient); Drugs such as lithium, indomethacin, caffeine, flunarizine, melatonin and topiramate are used.
HEADACHE ASSOCIATED WITH SLEEP APNEA
Morning There is a lot of scientific data showing that sleep apnea is common in individuals who experience headaches when waking up, and that morning headaches are very common in people with sleep apnea.
In individuals with sleep apnea, the body cannot get enough oxygen throughout the night, due to carbon dioxide accumulation. Changes in cerebral blood flow, increased intracranial pressure, awakening reactions due to respiratory effort and disruption of sleep integrity may be the cause of headaches.
As a result, a person with a headache in the morning, especially if he is overweight. It should be taken into consideration that there may be 'sleep apnea syndrome'. Because although sleep apnea syndrome is very common in society, it is often overlooked because it is not questioned.
For this reason, the patient with morning headaches should be investigated for snoring and breathing difficulties at night, and excessive daytime sleepiness should be questioned.
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A sleep test (polysomnography) should determine whether sleep apnea exists and, if so, how severe it is.
If sleep apnea is detected, it must be treated. With the treatment of sleep apnea, it may be possible to end the headaches in a very short time.
With the treatment of sleep apnea, patients can be prevented from using unnecessary medication for headaches, as well as other problems such as hypertension, heart diseases, stroke and obesity due to sleep apnea. Many problems are prevented.
OTHER SLEEP DISORDERS AND HEADACHE
Insomnia is a condition that can frequently cause headaches. . Difficulty falling asleep, frequent awakenings, inability to stay asleep, or waking up earlier than desired time may cause sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation is also more common in two It may cause one-sided, moderate or mild compressive tension type headaches.
Apart from insomnia;
- Teeth grinding during sleep. (Bruxism)
- Abnormal movements and behaviors during sleep (parasomnias)
- Many sleep disorders such as restless legs syndrome and periodic movement disorder in sleep can also cause headaches by disrupting sleep quality.
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