Waking up With Headaches: Causes and Treatments for Morning Headaches

Tension headaches are another common culprit of morning headaches. How do you know if it’s a migraine or tension headache? The location and quality of the pain are two clues. A tension headache often feels like a tight band is gripping your whole head and the pain is usually dull, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. A migraine, on the other hand, is often localized to one spot—say, right behind your eye. The pain is piercing, and you may have other symptoms, such as sensitivity to light or nausea.

Here’s Why You Could Be Waking Up With a Headache Every Morning

You haven’t even opened your eyes yet but your head is already pounding. Instead of waking up refreshed and rested, you’re awaking with a headache. Again. If this happens to you often, you’re not alone.

“Morning headaches are really common,” Nasima Shadbehr, DO, board-certified neurologist and head of the Cedars Sinai Medical Center headache clinic, tells SELF. If they happen occasionally, they’re probably no big deal. But having them regularly may point to a specific cause, and this is actually a good thing because that means there might be a simple way to prevent them. So if you’ve been asking yourself lately, “Why do I wake up every morning with a headache?” here are some potential causes—and solutions—to keep in mind.

What types of headaches are more common in the morning?

If you’re having chronic morning headaches, they’re most likely a migraine or tension headache. “A migraine often starts between four and nine a.m.,” Dr. Shadbehr says. That could be because of migraine triggers like dehydration or poor sleep, or because endorphins and some hormones dip to their lowest just as you’re waking. Migraine is more common than you might think: It affects around 15% of the population, according to a 2018 study published in the journal Headache. For people assigned female at birth, that figure jumps to 20%. 1

Tension headaches are another common culprit of morning headaches. How do you know if it’s a migraine or tension headache? The location and quality of the pain are two clues. A tension headache often feels like a tight band is gripping your whole head and the pain is usually dull, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. A migraine, on the other hand, is often localized to one spot—say, right behind your eye. The pain is piercing, and you may have other symptoms, such as sensitivity to light or nausea.

It’s usually pretty easy to tell when you have a migraine versus a tension headache, but there could be other things going on too. Ahead are potential reasons you’re waking up with a headache.

It’s not just health insurance premiums, but also deductibles, that keep on rising. In 2018, the average deductible was $3,000 for a gold-tier family plan, $8,000 for a silver-tier family plan and $12,000 for a bronze-tier family plan, according to USC Annenberg’s Center for Health Journalism.

What causes headaches and migraine, in general?

It’s important to understand that a migraine is not the same as a run-of-the-mill headache. While a headache is caused by nerves that signal muscles and blood vessels to send pain signals to the brain, migraine attacks are not as well understood. In fact, migraine is actually a neurological condition. Experts think this is what’s going on with migraine: Nerve cells in the brain overreact to various triggers, which then causes blood vessels to go haywire, leading to chemical changes in the brain that can lead to severe head pain and other symptoms like nausea and changes to your vision, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

What are the most common causes of morning headaches?

Whether it’s a migraine, a tension headache, or something else, here are 11 reasons you may be waking up with a headache:

1. You could have insomnia.

“There is an integral relationship between sleep and headaches,” Dr. Shadbehr says. “Poor sleep quality can cause headaches, and improved sleep quality can help relieve them.” There is also a link between insomnia and headaches. If you regularly have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, and you don’t feel well rested after a night’s sleep, there’s a possibility you’re dealing with this common sleep disorder—and that it could be contributing to why your head is killing you in the morning.

Treating insomnia (and in turn, morning headaches) starts with getting to the root of the problem. Insomnia can be both its own primary problem or a side effect of other conditions. Plenty of things can cause chronic insomnia, from certain mental disorders to stress and poor sleep habits. To get to the bottom of your insomnia (and possibly your headaches), speak with a healthcare professional.

2. Or you might have sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious condition that causes people to repeatedly stop breathing during their sleep. This condition is linked to a number of health issues, including causing you to wake up with a headache. Here’s what happens: A lack of oxygen can lead to increased pressure in the head that spurs a headache, Vernon Williams, MD, sports neurologist and director of the Kerlan-Jobe Center for Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles, tells SELF.

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It can be tough to figure out whether you have sleep apnea on your own, but if your partner complains that you snore a lot, you often feel tired even though you’ve gotten enough sleep, and you’re having morning headaches, it’s time to talk to a sleep specialist, Dr. Williams says.

3. You’re experiencing a migraine attack.

Migraine headaches can occur at any time, but plenty of people develop them overnight or early in the morning. One older study published in Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain found that migraine attacks follow a cycle, meaning people who have migraine typically get episodes in the same window of time. 2 So it’s possible that the headache you keep waking up with is actually a migraine attack that hits while you’re sleeping.

Migraine is a genetically inherited neurological condition, which means it can be difficult to control migraine attacks, Amit Sachdev, MD, an assistant professor and director of the Division of Neuromuscular Medicine at Michigan State University, tells SELF. The good news? There are many to manage your symptoms.

A good place to start is identifying your migraine triggers—stress, poor sleep, and diet are some of the biggies, Dr. Sachdev says. Avoid them as much as you can. And if you’re pretty sure you have migraine, make an appointment with a neurologist, who can help you come up with a treatment plan.

4. Maybe you’re going through caffeine withdrawal.

This is most common in people who chug coffee from morning till night, but it can happen to anyone. Why? Caffeine may impact blood flow to the brain, Dr. Sachdev says, and if you don’t have as much as usual, it can cause neurological side effects that are similar to withdrawal from other drugs like alcohol (yes, caffeine is considered a drug). A big part of that is a raging headache. And since many people drink coffee in the morning, it can come on first thing.

To combat caffeine-withdrawal headaches, try to avoid caffeine in the afternoon, Jennifer Kriegler, MD, a physician in the Center for Headache and Pain at the Cleveland Clinic, tells SELF. And be sure to wean yourself off slowly. She recommends substituting a quarter cup of your regular coffee with decaf, and then gradually decreasing how much caffeine you have over time.

5. You could be grinding your teeth at night.

Grinding your teeth can cause tension in your temporomandibular joints (TMJ), which connect your lower jaw to your skull in front of your ear, and it can also cause changes in the positioning of your jaw, Dr. Sachdev says. All this leads to tension, which can escalate into a headache. On top of a headache, you might also feel tightness or pain in your jaw, pain that feels like an earache, or pain or sensitivity in your teeth.

If you suspect that your morning headaches are due to teeth grinding (or your dentist has flagged you as a grinder), talk to your doctor about next steps, which can include wearing a protective bite guard at night, Dr. Kriegler says.

6. You had an alcoholic beverage (or several) before bed.

Whether you had one glass of wine with dinner or were at a bar until 4 a.m., drinking can cause you to wake up with a headache. That’s because alcohol has an effect on several neurotransmitters in your brain associated with headaches, Jennifer Wider, MD, a women’s health expert, tells SELF. Alcohol is also a diuretic (meaning, it causes you to pee), and many people wake up dehydrated after drinking, which can exacerbate a hangover headache or cause one to form, she says.

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The solution is pretty simple: Avoid drinking too much. And if you notice certain adult beverages give you a headache more than others, even when you have just a glass, it’s probably best to take a pass on them in the future.

7. You’re using too many OTC pain relievers.

Taking over-the-counter (OTC) pain medications, such as Tylenol and Advil, too often or for too long can cause medication overuse headaches. Taking them regularly can actually turn an episodic headache into a chronic one, Dr. Shadbehr explains. It’s also important to note that waking up with a headache is a common sign of medication overuse headache because your body is essentially withdrawing from the medications overnight.

Researchers don’t know exactly why rebound headaches develop. One theory is that repeated use of these medications makes certain nerves “hyper-excitable” or oversensitive, which triggers chemical changes in the brain that lead to head pain. Another possibility is that long-term medication use changes the way your brain metabolizes or breaks down the medication, which makes it less effective over time. 3

To avoid medication overuse headaches, over-the-counter pain relievers should be used no more than 10 days a month or a couple of times a week, says Dr. Shadbehr. If you’ve been taking pain medication more often than that, talk to your doctor who can help you gradually wean off the meds.

8. It could be a medication side effect.

Sometimes the medications you take for other health conditions can actually trigger morning headaches. Birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy, and nitrate medications (used to treat heart conditions) are all common culprits.

If the pill seems to be the problem, you can switch to a method of birth control that may be less likely to cause a headache, such as pills that contain the lowest level of estrogen, a progestin-only pill, a pill that has fewer inactive days to avoid an estrogen drop, or an intrauterine device, which only delivers hormones to your uterus or contains no hormones at all (depending on which you choose). If headache and hormone replacement therapy go hand in hand for you, it may be best to switch to the method with the lowest estrogen dose, which is the least likely to cause headaches, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Headaches are unfortunately very common with nitrates and your best option may be to wait until your body adjusts to the medication. If your headaches persist, talk to your doctor about the best way to proceed with your treatment plan.

9. You’re dealing with anxiety or depression.

People with depression and anxiety are prone to headaches, especially tension-type headaches, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. There’s also a connection between anxiety and depression and migraine. People with migraine have a higher incidence of depression and anxiety; these conditions overlap and feed each other in complicated ways, Dr. Shadbehr says.

People with migraine also experience more fatigue than those who don’t, which can negatively impact your everyday life. “You may feel your symptoms aren’t being acknowledged or addressed. Or your eating habits may change as a result of the depression or the headaches,” says Dr. Shadbehr. ”These psychosocial conditions can make you situationally depressed.”

10. You ate something that doesn’t agree with you.

If you have food allergies or food sensitivities, they could trigger migraine, according to a 2019 study published in the Journal of Headache and Pain. The reason could be inflammation: When you eat certain foods, your body responds with inflammation, and that inflammatory environment is exactly what’s needed to spark a migraine attack. 4

Waking up With Headaches: Causes and Treatments for Morning Headaches

Disclaimer: Results are not guaranteed*** and may vary from person to person***.

Mornings are supposed to be a time of refreshment where you shrug off sleep and rise to meet the day. It is therefore unhelpful when, instead of waking up ready to face the world, you find yourself held back by a pulsing, pounding, or stabbing pain in your head.

Morning headaches can be disruptive and intensely unpleasant so it’s natural to want to find a cure.

Unfortunately, headaches are not created equal and there are a number of different causes that can be behind your pain.

By paying attention to the type of pain, its location, and other associated symptoms, you can better narrow down your exact affliction and properly treat it.

In This Article:

• Causes of Morning Headaches
• Natural Ways to Stop Waking up With Headaches
• When to See a Doctor

Causes of Morning Headaches

Headaches come in all shapes and sizes from mild throbs to nausea-inducing agonies. Often, the symptoms can be used to indicate what the cause of the headache is.

1. Tension headaches

Although one of the most common headache types, tension headaches are not entirely understood. They present themselves with a dull, aching form of head pain and a feeling of tightness or pressure on the forehead, sides, or back of the head that is sometimes likened to being clamped in a vice. The scalp, neck, and shoulder muscles may also be tender. Tension headaches can sometimes be mistaken for migraines but it is possible to differentiate the two.

Generally, a tension headache doesn’t come with nausea or sensitivity to light or sound and won’t be worsened by physical activity. Stress, depression, and anxiety are sometimes cited as causes of tension headaches but specific triggers have yet to be identified. Tension headaches tend to be worse during the morning hours.

2. Insomnia

Being sleep deprived affects blood pressure, hormone production, anxiety, stress, and a host of other elements throughout your body. This little stew of discomfort can sometimes manifest as head pain. The morning headache caused by insomnia feels sore and strained and slightly heavy. It is a sign of weariness and pressure from not having enough time to recharge. Besides insomnia, most forms of sleep disorder or disturbance, including too much sleep, can lead to headaches.

3. Posture

You have likely experienced at least one morning where you’ve woken up with a crick in your back or a sore muscle from sleeping in an awkward position. This is similar to what happens when your sleep posture leaves you with a morning headache—you have spent the night putting pressure and stress on part of your neck or shoulders and this can lead to you waking up with a sore skull.

4. Blood sugar

It is not too surprising that being unconscious for six to eight hours without food causes your blood sugar to drop. Among diabetics, this can lead to a hypoglycemic headache either during the night or upon rising. Some migraine sufferers find that hunger or low blood sugar can also bring on an episode, leaving them waking up in the middle of an attack.

5. Teeth grinding

If you grind your teeth in your sleep, the vibrations will travel up your skeleton and affect your shoulders, neck, and head, often leading to morning headaches and a sore jaw.

6. Cluster headaches

These are known to be among the most painful types of headaches and have a habit of waking you up in the middle of the night or early morning. The intense pain of a cluster headache—described as a sharp, penetrating burn—usually focuses around one eye but can radiate outwards to other areas of the face, neck, and shoulders. Sweaty, pale skin, a stuffed or runny nose on the same side of the face as the eye, and swelling of the eye are common symptoms.

Attacks of cluster headaches can last up to twelve weeks and some occur seasonally. During this period, attacks can occur daily, often at night, and last anywhere from 15 minutes to three hours. Although there is no known cause of cluster headaches and they lack known triggers, drinking alcohol during episodes can trigger a splitting headache and complicate the problem.

Natural Ways to Stop Waking up With Headaches

As you have likely noticed, morning headaches can have a number of different causes and all can be treated in different ways.

1. Temperature patches

Icy-hot patches are capable of penetrating the skin and relieving aches, making them ideal for treating morning headaches induced by posture, teeth grinding, or other musculoskeletal-related causes. Try using one either after getting up or while trying to return to sleep.

2. Eat

Sometimes your headache can be eased by a good bowl of cereal, especially if hunger or blood sugar is the culprit. If you find yourself regularly experiencing hunger or blood sugar-related morning headaches, consider adjusting some of your evening eating habits.

Pushing dinner back an hour or even having something small to eat (like that bowl of cereal) just before bed can keep your body sustained until morning.

3. Drink

Hydration can also play into your headaches. Although it is natural to want to avoid drinking anything before bed so you don’t have to use the bathroom during the night, consider a small glass or two of water to see if the extra liquid helps stave off the morning pain. Few people in the U.S. experience severe dehydration but even going without a drink for most of the day can cause mild symptoms like headaches when you wake up.

4. Take a cold shower

Some headaches are characterized by having the blood vessels in the head dilate. Cold temperatures have a vasoconstrictive effect—they cause blood vessels to narrow. Start with a warm shower and gradually lower the temperature so your body can stay comfortable; allow the temperature to narrow the blood vessels and ease the symptoms.

5. Exercise

While physical exertion may be the last thing you want to do when dealing with a headache, it can be helpful. Exercise makes your brain release signals that lessen your pain response and allows you to be more comfortable. As a bonus, exercise also improves the quality of your sleep and can help you maintain a proper sleep schedule. Since sudden, intense exertions can aggravate even non-migraine headaches, it is best to start slowly with something like walking or light biking and then work your way up.

6. Improve sleep posture

You can’t help how you move when you’re asleep but you can control what position you fall asleep in. Try keeping your body aligned and use a comfortable pillow that can help keep your head and neck in a neutral position to avoid strain. If you find yourself regularly cold at night, also consider an extra blanket, thicker sleep shirt, or other methods to stay warm. Low temperatures can increase tension in the head and neck while you sleep.

When to See a Doctor

The good news is that few diseases are capable of causing even severe headaches. The bad news is that they can sometimes be the result of serious underlying conditions like a tumor, a ruptured vessel, or trauma. Seek medical care as soon as possible if you notice any of the following:

• The headache is abrupt and intense, like a thunderclap
• The headache begins to get progressively worse or changes its pattern
• You have recently experienced a head injury, no matter how minor
• You experience numbness, mental confusion, fever, nausea or vomiting, or difficulty speaking
• You experience a sudden, severe headache out of proportion to others you have felt.

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