Morning headaches - I'm petrified

[chamenanged30]

Dr google has said that morning headaches, starting through the night and waking up with them is serious: brain tumours, sleep apnoea etc. The former stressing me the most.

I have had headaches/migraines but I was on the pill then so blamed that and eventually they went away when the pill was out my system.

I'm a self-confessed hypochondriac so I know the gp would say it's just stress. But headaches starting when I'm asleep, the most relaxed, it can't be stress.

Please reassure me.

Or you are dehydrating overnight

I have morning headaches if I haven't had enough to drink.

I've had these for years, you're fine, go to the GP to get checked if it's just started but I wouldn't worry

Likely possibility- dehydration.

For what it's worth, I often wake up in the night with panic attacks due to my anxiety. You would be surprised at how much stress affects your subconscious.

I wouldn't stress, worth getting checked out to see if there is a treatment for you though!

I'm scrupulous about drinking lots of water. I don't drink alcohol. I go to bed early, I exercise, have a good diet. All the "go to tips".

I was offered an MRI a while back but then got declined as I have fixed retainers behind my teeth.

Morning headaches are normal for me. I just eat breakfast, take a painkiller and it usually goes.

Morning headaches are normal for me because I grind my teeth/clench my jaw in my sleep. Could it be the same for you? Ask your dentist to have a look.

DP gets headaches if he lies too flat and sleeps for too long.

You can drink a lot but still get dehydrated overnight. I'm not a medic but maybe that makes it more likely because your body is used to having lots of water and it is a bigger change when you don't drink during the night?

I went through a phase of this and turned out it was all linked to posture. My neck and shoulder muscles were tight and I guess the way I was lying somehow tensed them, which is also why the headaches tended to go away as I got moving. GP confirmed the headaches were all coming from there (said this is really common) and gave me a set of neck and shoulder exercises to do. I also started getting massages to loosen the muscles, and bought some new pillows. Totally headache free now.

Actually it could be stress. Sleep is not a purely relaxed state. Your brain could be processing all sorts of anxieties and you could be grinding your teeth /sleeping awkwardly, resulting in headaches.
Or, very likely, it could be dehydration.

I am a grinder too - wake up with headache, sore jaw and sore teeth. Stress makes it much worse too.

Current stresses: house conveyancing, wedding planning, new job, two kids, health issues. I thought I was coping ok.

DS has had months of early morning migraines. He had an MRI fairly early on which ruled out anything sinister thankfully.

Definitely look at posture. Either go to your doctor or a chiropractor or osteopath. My chiropractor said there was posture issues with DS - constantly head down looking at a screen/phone like most of us - but he felt the migraines weren't linked.

We also tried cranial osteopathy.

What has seemed to work is acupuncture. Made a huge difference.

I wondered for a while if blood sugar was the issue so got DS to eat a protein snack before bed.

It's a shame you can't have an MRI as that would hopefully put your mind at rest.

They can also be rebound headaches. If you take painkillers for headaches, they can cause rebound headaches which happen in the mornings.

.touching all wood** but no nausea or sickness and I can generally carry on. Will take paracetamol/nurofen if struggling but they're very much there. Anyway thanks for all the comments everyone.

My first thought was teeth grinding. I get migraines from grinding my teeth at night.

When I forget to sleep with my mouthguard I always wake up with a headache from the clenching.

Also I see a chiropractor regularly as I have terrible posture which puts strain on my neck muscles leading to headaches!

I am seeing a physio on Thursday about something else but will see what advice they can give

There are lots of causes for morning headache but it's an important enough symptom that you should see your GP if you haven't already. TMJ dysfunction ("teeth grinding") is a common cause. Check your carbon monoxide detectors are working if you live alone and/or others in the household have similar symptoms!

I see a neurologist. It's just frightened me as I was headache "free" for about 5/6 weeks then back.

I agree with clenching. My neurologist knows nothing about it, I saw various people at the dental hospital about it over the years. There is physio for it, so asking them is a good idea. GPs are hit and miss, dentist should be able to tell though.