Headache is a disease that is often felt by anyone and can strike at any time. Some people often experience headaches when they wake up. Some causes of it are temporary or even could be a symptom of a certain medical conditions.
It is really annoying to go to bed feeling perfectly ok but either wake during the night or in the morning with a headache. There may just be a reason!
You wake up your neck is tight; you have a dull pain in the back of your head, or perhaps an uncomfortable feeling in your jaw. You don’t understand it. You felt just fine when you went to sleep.
Sometimes it is easy to pinpoint the problem. You may have been on a flight the day before and you jinked your neck while trying to sleep. Or you may be staying in a hotel with dodgy pillows, which are always too soft or too hard, but never just right.
But many times the source of the problem is not that obvious. However if we dig a little deeper you may see some solutions.
1. Patterns of pain.
Sometimes headaches occur on a time delay basis. It may be that you are stressed out on Tuesday, play some physical sport on Wednesday and become hypoglycaemic on Thursday and then have a headache on Saturday and can’t work out why.
It is a pattern of behavior and events, which in isolation don’t cause you a problem, but the sum of the parts is enough to create a painful response.
Look for your patterns, keep a headache diary, use a spread sheet and stand back and look at the big picture and see what you can find out about yourself.
2. Sinus inflammation
Headaches that occur when you wake up in the morning often is caused by sinus inflammation. The pain due to inflammation of the sinus usually will worsen when you bend forward, thereby increasing the pressure in the sinus cavity. Usually this condition is accompanied by a runny nose or sore throat.
3. Drunk
Being drunk also can give you a headache when you wake up. This is because alcohol makes blood vessels expand, which can trigger headaches.
Symptoms of headache due to hangovers typically include nausea and vomiting, loss of balance, thirst and rapid heartbeat.
If the headache worsens and is equipped with a prolong confusion, continuous vomiting or seizures, you may have alcohol poisoning and require immediate medical attention.
4. Allergies
In most western countries the tradition of giving and consuming large amounts of chocolate Easter eggs is very popular. However the high sugar content and other chemicals specific to chocolate can be a cause of headaches for some people. As the chocolate intake increases over the holiday so too does the likelihood of a headache.
It is basically an allergic reaction. Sugar is a grass. Many people react to various grass varieties. Image now if you concentrate that grass and then eat large amounts of it. Add it to chocolate and you have a potential headache recipe.
Keep track of your chocolate binges and any subsequent headaches. For some people it can become more specific. Some find they react more to chocolate which has been stored at room temperature, than choc which has been refrigerated. Why this is, is a mystery to me but because I routinely question clients, I have found this temperature issue to be real.
Dark chocolate tends to be less reactive as it has less sugar and milk products.
Other allergies will seem to make this chocolate headache problem more likely. Sad but true!
5. Caffeine
The classic caffeine withdrawal which occurs on weekends or holidays when you consume less coffee than you would in your office. The solution is more weekend coffee or less work day coffee. You decide which would make the most sense to you.
6. Irregular sleeping patterns
Chronic headache in the morning seems to occur in people have trouble sleeping.
Several factors can interfere with sleep such as sleep apnea, sleeping near someone who snores, gritted teeth, depression and anxiety.
7. Overdose of headache drugs
Too frequent use headache drugs also can cause headaches in the morning, usually accompanied by nausea. Stopping the dependence on the painkillers is the only way to free yourself from pain.
8. Pregnancy
Headaches in the morning can be a sign of pregnancy, usually accompanied by nausea and vomiting. Some women also experience headaches caused by hormonal changes.
The hormones can trigger an increase in circulation in the bloodstream that leads to headaches. Pregnancy headaches can strike at any time, but also accompanied by other classic symptoms of morning sickness.