Waking up with a headache

Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Recently, I woke up with a headache and it's killing me (been coughing and flu for almost a week now. Flu and cough causes the headache. Well..this is my own thougt.). As usual, I on my laptop when I woke up. So, I went to Google and type 'waking up with a headache' and I found this.

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Do you wake up every morning with a headache? You’re not alone. A recent study says that 1 in 13 people do. The study showed that of the 7.6 % of people suffering from the headaches had endured them for four years. That’s a long time to be suffering! The highest incidence was in women and those aged 45 – 64.

There are many reasons why you could be waking up with a headache. Let’s take these one by one.

Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is the commonest cause of feeling sleepy during the day. It means that while you’re asleep, you stop breathing for a second or two. It sounds alarming but it is very common - around 18 million Americans suffer with it.

It can cause you to wake up with a headache, feeling as if you haven’t slept. It can also give you a dry throat. The other symptoms of sleep apnea are snoring loudly and waking up with a jump. People who suffer from this are not sleeping deeply and unfortunately, being deprived of sleep is another cause of headaches.

If you think you may suffer from this, see your Doctor. Evaluation in the form of a sleep study will decide how severe your condition is. The usual remedy is a CPAP machine with a mask that you wear while you sleep.

It’s a grind…

Many people grind their teeth during the night. If this becomes excessive, this causes the muscles of your neck and jaw to become tight and painful. This in turn means that you wake up with a headache. Happily, it is easy to remedy. See your Dentist who may fit you with a ‘nightguard’ – a simple, soft plastic appliance that sits comfortably in your mouth while you sleep and prevents grinding. These are also available to buy online.

Tossing and turning

A restless night can often mean a headache in the morning. Reasons for being restless vary. They can include all the reasons that we are dealing with and more. It becomes a case of remedying each possible reason in turn. Another possible cause is

Restless legs

A horrid sensation of having to move your legs. Many describe it as ‘insects crawling inside the leg’. Try cutting back on smoking, caffeine and alcohol. A hot bath before bed can help. Some people find benefit from hot or cold packs – try both to see what works for you. It may be worth seeing your doctor for supplements of iron and magnesium. If all else fails, the doctor may prescribe Ropinirole, which is mainly for Parkinson’s Disease but has been found to work well for restless legs.

Sleeping…or not sleeping…with a snorer

Continuous, thunderous snoring has driven the most patient and understanding of partners into the spare room. The non-snoring person can lose around 49 minutes of sleep each night, which adds up to 300 hours a year!

Why do they snore?

Snoring is actually the back of their throat vibrating because the muscles have become floppy.
It can be caused by:

  • Chronic allergies
  • Blocked-up nose
  • Resistance in the upper airway
  • Being overweight
  • Certain medicines

If any of these are the obvious reason for the problem, then they need dealing with.
If not, you can send them to see their dentist for a special gum shield, which can help to prevent snoring.

As soon as I lay down to sleep, I start worrying

This is extremely common. During the day, there is usually so much going on that it’s easy to push anything that is bothering you to one side. But as soon as you get into bed, those other stimuli are gone and so you start to worry.

Many people go through periods when this happens to them – especially in great times of stress. It may last for quite a long time and then gradually lessen. If it goes on for months and your sleeping is badly affected, you could be heading for depression. It’s worth a visit to your doctor who will be able to help you.

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I think I'm stress about uni thing and that's why I didn't have a good sleep these days. Arghhh...uniiiiii suckss :P


1 comments:

Unknown said...

exercise..proven to relief stress..hahaha