Morning Headaches anyone??

[Daisy004]

So Ive been having morning headaches for the past 2 years, Ive had an MRI and it showed nothing. Sinc using the cpap I feel the headaches have elevated somewhat. Doctor has recently diagnosed me classic Migraine. He says if it gets any worse he will put me on "Topomax"? has anyone heard of this? Currently Im taking Esgic but lately its not been moving the morning headaches. The Doctor is convinced once I get used to the Cpap the headaches will get better...I hope hes right. Is ity possible you think they could get better?? Im only week 5 and no change. Thanks. D.

[Julie]

Topomax should do a very good job, but you do have to take it. I don't know however whether it's compatible with OSA or Cpap, so I'd look into that.

[Pugsy]

If the headaches are related to low oxygen levels from desats...with effective treatment they should be reduced considerably.
If the headaches are related to something else...then the machine may not be able to do such a great job fixing something that isn't related to cpap therapy.

Pre cpap I woke up with killer headaches pretty much every day. Mine weren't migraine though. I have had a couple of what would be called "migraines" and my morning headaches were different. I would wake up with throbbing mass of pain and get up and they would go away or greatly reduce in an hour or so. Pre cpap my O2 levels dropped to the low 70s...so lack of oxygen headache and once I woke up and got my oxygen levels stabilized the headaches would fade away.

That said...I do have a really bad arthritic neck and I sometimes wake up with a "neck caused headache"...these are different from the other pre cpap headaches and they don't go away after an hour or so. My neck usually hurts with it and often I wake with a sort of stiff neck from weird position.

So CPAP therapy greatly relieved the headaches that were related to the low oxygen but the cervical spine issue headaches...I still get them from time to time. CPAP doesn't fix arthritis unfortunately.
So I am not headache free...but not because of sleep apnea.
Though for sure the low oxygen level killer headaches are gone.

[TheDuke]

I experienced morning headaches for two or more years before I was diagnosed and fitted with a CPAP.
Now I have not experienced any sort of headache in 25 years. Consider the possibility that your treatment is nor proceeding correctly and that you are still experiencing apneas and oxygen depletion.

TheDuke

[jen4700]

Morning headaches were the first thing that went away after I started CPAP. I hope they find the cause of yours.

[archangle]

How's your CPAP therapy going in general? I admire your determination.

Apnea may give you heaches and CPAP may help once you sleep with it the whole night and have good AHI.

Watch the side effects on migraine meds in general. I'm not familiar with topomax in particular.

[hiwot]

I have really bad morning headach due to sleep problem.When I drink much water, even if my nose stuffed badly at night I hardly get headach. So drink water it helps you a lot. wish you all the best

[this guest]

Go with what Pugsy said. Skip the migraine stuff and find out why your cpap isn't working . Probablly mask leaks or insufficient pressure. Just my suggestion...

[Daisy004]

according to the Resmed autoset it appears to be working...my AHI last night was 0.2 and my leak rate was 5ml...7 hours of sleep..I will say though last night for the first time in years I slept through the night and didnt get up for potty breaks!! ( my norm would be minimum 2 times) I do need to drink more water I know I dont drink enough..possibly that would help. Another factor since starting I have gained 10lbs in weight. My weight hasnt moved in over 5 years..I find this bizarre too as there seem to be no links to cpap and weight gain. I dont think I am eating any different. Thank you all for keeping supporting me..it means alot..waiting for that wonderful day I will wake up feeling refreshed!! I know one thing for sure out of all this...there is no way I would have gotten this far without you wonderful people on this forum thank you thank you thank you ..Daisy

[SleepyToo2]

Daisy, one night does not, unfortunately, turn the world as you know it on your head. While last night's numbers may have been terrific, what about the last month's? I was not getting daily migraines, but I was getting them weekly (or almost every week). It took about 2 months before I realized that "Hey, I haven't had a migraine this week. Or last week." There has probably been some damage to your blood vessels with all the inflammation that apnea causes. That will take time to heal. Can you get an oximeter (either buy, or have your doc prescribe a trial) to test your O2 levels during the night? I never had an oximeter before I was diagnosed, but during my sleep study my O2 went down to 74%. Now it is up to "normal."

The weight may take a while to stop adding up - you are probably moving less during the night, so burning less energy. Unfortunately, you need to cut down on the food intake, and increase the exercise (walking is fine to start with), during the day. This problem is also associated with getting older, so it is probably good to get into the habit sooner rather than later! For me, old habits die hard!

[Bobby269]

Did the lower ahi last night have any affect on the headaches? For about 2 years prior to finding out that I had sleep apnea I would wake up with horrible headaches. The Doctor told me that they are migranes.

Lucky for me my Wife noticed one night that I stopped breathing sometimes while sleeping. After seeing a good Doctor and tests it was determined that I had sleep apnea. Two or three weeks into treatment my Ahi’s dropped and my headaches & nocturia stopped.

Every couple of months my ahi’s will go up and the headache’s & nocturia will be back. I have found that my cushion has worn out. A change of cushion & everything is good again

I hope that you find out that this is what is causing you headaches.

[stage0]

I agree that some AM headaches can be caused by your O-2 going up and down during the nite. If you have any friends in the healthcare system, ask to borrow a pulse-ox machine. This will check your hi-low sats thru the nite. If not, the place where you bought your mask might have one to rent. If not there, try EBAY.