Well, sleep and headache have an inseparable relationship. Too much or too little sleep causes migraines.
Migraine causes fatigue and poor sleep quality enhances that problem. People experience moderate to severe headaches on one side of the head during which they cannot perform their routine activities for at least 4 hours. Along with headaches they experience nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light, smells, or sound.
Migraine attacks mostly occur between 4 and 9 am. About 23% of households contain at least one member who suffers from migraines. Migraines can be controlled by simple medication available with online chemist. However, frequent use of over-the-counter medicine will only help to temporarily dull the pain. When the effect of the meds wears off you may experience severe additional pain. Also, some drugs can make you drowsy or hyper. Migraine can also cause psychiatric problems such as depression or reduced quality of life.
People having migraines experience sleep disorders between 2 to 8 times more than normal people. Those suffering from chronic migraine experience headache 15 or more days per month. They may suffer from insomnia or may not feel fresh even after a 12-hour sleep and get up with a headache. Cluster headache, hypnic headache, and wake-up headache are different types of headaches linked to sleep. Medicines for different headaches are available at pharmacy online UK .
Common sleep disorders that trigger migraine:
Snoring and sleep apnea:
Our bed partner’s snoring causes fragmented sleep but our snoring can cause chronic daily headaches and sleep apnea. Snoring loudly and waking up feeling tired and afresh are warning signs of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts during your sleep. Our oxygen levels drop below 90 percent during sleep. This can injure brain cells. People who are overweight and have short necks usually suffer from obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep apnea contributes to a poor sleep routine and you often awaken with a headache and dull mornings.
Restless legs syndrome:
Restless legs syndrome causes an uncomfortable sensation in your legs during nighttime when you are lying down. And only moving eases this unpleasant feeling. This disrupts our sleep and we wake up with a headache which interferes with our daily activities.
Insomnia:
People having difficulty falling or staying asleep suffer from insomnia. You have early morning awakenings and non-refreshing sleep. Insomnia affects your daily activities and results in fatigue, poor attention and concentration, and loss of motivation.
Teeth grinding:
People who clench or grind their teeth during sleep suffer from sleep disorders such as snoring and sleep apnea. Frequent teeth grinding known as bruxism is a result of excessive stress and poor sleep and can harm the teeth
Other sleep disorders include sleepwalking, night terror, too much sleepiness during daytime, circadian rhythm or body clock disorder, shift work, and jet lag.
If the above sleep disorders are the cause of migraines, you will always get headaches at the same time every day mostly in the morning or shortly after you get out of bed. In addition to medicines available at chemist online, good sleep habits can improve your sleep quality.
Following are some good sleep habits that will help you in overcoming migraines.
Sleep for 7 to 8 hours each night.
Do not watch TV, or use a mobile or tablet, or read, while lying in bed.
Do not sleep in a chair or on a couch.
Exercise regularly. Walking, swimming and gentle yoga can help you sleep better at night. But do not work out too close to your bedtime.
Meditate during bedtime or listen to a sleep story or soak in a warm bath. This will ease stress, tension, and anxiety and make you sleep peacefully.
Do not sleep with an empty stomach or too full.
Reduce intake of fluids before bed to avoid going to the bathroom during the night.
Avoid alcohol or smoking before bedtime, as it can affect your sleep in the middle of the night.
Avoid having caffeine too late in the day.
Avoid eating things that trigger migraines such as chocolate, aged cheese, cured meats, smoked fish, yeast extract, food preservatives that contain nitrates, and artificial sweeteners.
Have a scheduled routine of going to bed every night and waking up every day.
Cover your clock or turn it away so that you do not frequently see the time and worry about being awake.
Make your room attractive and inviting for sleep. Keep your room temperature between 60-67F. (not too hot or too cold)
Avoid sleeping in light. Use black curtains or shades to block any trace of light. Shut down all gadgets an hour before you go to sleep.
Change your mattress if it is 9 to 10 years old.
Avoid taking nap during the daytime. As it will make it harder to fall asleep at night. If required take a nap for 20 to 30 minutes before 3.00 p.m.
Spend some time outside in natural light during the daytime.
To find out whether migraine is triggered through sleep problems, maintaining a migraine diary will be helpful. Things to write in a migraine diary:
The time you go to bed and how much you sleep each night.
When your headache begins and how long does the pain last.
In which side of the head you feel the pain.
Do you feel sleepy during day time?
Whether you wake up during the night?
Maintaining a migraine diary will help in revealing patterns in migraine attacks and what sleep disorder you suffer from?
Conclusion: if you still fail to get proper sleep by following the above habits, visit a doctor with your migraine diary for better help and medication. And get the prescribed medicine from an online pharmacy UK.
