Both waking up with headache?

[psychedelephant]

For a few weeks now dh and I have been waking with nauseating hangoverish headaches, not daily but maybe once or twice a week. Getting in a carbon monoxide detector just in case but we have no gas appliances upstairs (boiler is downstairs in kitchen behind two closed doors).
Yesterday I had the window open all day and we still woke with headache today. Just a bug? Coordinated covid-related existential tension?

Where is the boiler flue in relation to your bedroom window?

On the other side of our terraced house - the bedroom is at the front and the flue is at the back in the side return, windows and bedroom door closed.
The dogs sleep at the top of the stairs and they seem fine, no sleepiness, vomiting or similar.

Even if we had a virus, it seems uncanny that we're waking with the same thing at the same time, and over a period of three-ish weeks.

where do the neighbours have their boiler?
what kind of bedding do you have? feathers/down can harbour dust & mites which are additional allergens.

Dehydration?

I doubt you both have a virus causing these synchronised headaches.

Have you got a pulse-oximeter? That would measure the oxygen levels in your blood.

BUT I'd want the Carbon Monoxide tester asap and wouldn't want to sleep in any unventilated room in the house until it was installed.

Have you had any new bedroom furniture or carpets recently? We have a new mattress which seems to be off-gassing quite a lot and we’ve had bad headaches too.

Hay fever !

wooden kitchens tend to be at the back of the properties. I'm not sure, I'd be surprised if anyone's flue is at the front near our bedroom windows.

Knitted dh suggested that, I'll keep an eye on it.

Blank yeah that was my theory when it started. A few friends were also suffering with terrible headaches so I assumed we'd all caught the same thing but I agree it seems unlikely now. Good call on the pulse monitor, going to order both today from dreaded amazon and crack a window tonight. Maybe stuff a towel under the kitchen door too.

Tea no, nothing I can think of. Deffo no new furniture, carpet or bedding, not much coming into the house for the last few weeks except food.

Choux dh suggested that! Usually sore eyes and sneezing are my first symptoms. Maybe I'll take an antihistamine before bed tonight, see if it makes a difference.

My neck is awfully stiff, not sure if that's cause or effect. I'm sleeping so poorly it's hard to separate the threads iyswim.

Please be aware that it is not only mains gas that produces carbon monoxide (CO). solid fuels such as wood and coal also do, as does oil, petrol, diesel, bottled gas and anything else that burns. If you live in a terrace house then fumes may be leaking into your property through the loft, a chimney or any aging mortar in dividing walls between you and your neighbours. Please check for CO with a monitor ASAP, borrowing one if you are able. You are wise to consider CO when there are so many winter bugs around, not to mention COVID-19, that could easily be used to dismiss the symptoms of this deadly gas. CO can seep between floors and between buildings, so it is not only your appliances/flues/chimney that need to be safe. Please search online for the many websites that give information about this issue and I do hope you are able to dismiss CO with a reputable alarm that conforms to EN50291 (please do not buy a cheap one from Amazon - many are useless. Trusted brands cost £15-25 and are well worth it, they last 7 years and can also be taken with you when you travel, so a good investment). Take care. x

COinfo thanks for that, I've got two on the way from Screwfix and yes, I know what you mean about the hundreds of off-brand detectors on Amazon. I think it's very unlikely to be coming from neighbours, knowing what I know about the layout of our houses, who has a wood burner etc but no harm in excluding it.

Sitting around all day isn't helping so we'll do some pilates today and see if that makes a difference. Even riding the stationary bike is helping loosen up my neck, I just have to get on and do it.

Thanks all for the input.

The flue could well be the issue, we have our landing window permanently open and so it's near two flues as they are on the side of the houses here. However I've been waking up with a headache and sore throat for a week now and started coughing today so I'd be suspicious of other causes.

I’ve had a terrible headache and sore throat for a week now too. Maybe it’s another virus?

Headaches here too athough fairly sure at least one day was wine related.

Are you both drinking in the evenings? Last time me and DH shared a bottle of red we woke up with matching headaches. Definitely check for CO2 though. Maybe mould too?

Yes, friends have had the headache bug (as we're calling it) but that was weeks ago. I have got a slightly sore throat today. It's such a weird moment now with cv and spring starting, hard to know what's going on.

Because we had the headache thing we started self-isolating just in case it was a mild case of cv. No other symptoms as yet despite lots of temperature taking.

Ha deffo not alcohol related! (I can only tolerate small amounts, drinking the odd small glass of beer and dh hasn't been drinking more than usual.) Although it felt very hangoverish, specifically the nauseating headache.

(Sorry I realise that sounds a bit hypochondriacal but when the stories started coming out about people with very mild jet-laggish symptoms dh was already wfh and I didn't have anywhere I had to be so we just carried on staying in.)

My DP had headaches and sore throat for a couple of weeks - we all had cv symptoms just saying it could be

I've been waking up parched and headachey lately too. It's dehydration with me- I have a humidifier and need to drink more. The environment is pretty dry right now (if the dust blowing about is any indication!)

Also can you rotate your mattress? I start feeling it it mine hasn't been turned for a few months!

Sore throat and hangover type headache we’re the start of my symptoms followed by cough, tight chest, tiredness and nausea. I haven’t been tested for cv though.

Me and my DP are exactly the same. We have came to the conclusion it's spending too much time on technology and a combination of stress

A pulse oximeter will give you a false reading if you have carbon monoxide poisoning as the carbon monoxide molecules bind to the red blood cells in the same way as oxygen, so your oxygen levels could be very low but the monitor says they are 100%. Do not use one if you don't know how to interpret it.

HRH Star yes, I guess we could still get sick. Tom Hanks and others reported nothing more than mild symptoms (at the start anyway).

Question good idea about the mattress.

enough there is definitely an element of hypervigilance and too much screen time. My neck feels like it's made of wood. And we have an old sofa that doesn't support good posture.

Toddler thanks, good to know.

We’ve had a virus involving a week plus of headaches (throbby hangover types) and culminating in a bunged up nose. I actually thought I might be drinking too much at first but apparently that’s not it.