Migrane headaches?

[sleepless4boymom]

Hello,

I am very new. I had my second night of the wonderful sleep clinic experience last night. I do have migraine headaches but I take a prevntative medication and have very few. After last night's hose up my nose I have been sick, I mean sick with a migraine all day...Is this "normal" for some people? Is this what I have to look forward to? I didn't sleep well last night anyway. How do they think waking up an adult up at 5:00 am is helpful? An adult who doesn't sleep well no less....I came home and went back to bed, did anyone else have this experience?

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

Sara

[sleeplessinaz]

Hello --I used to get really bad migraines too but they stopped once I fixed my sleep apnea problem. My guess is that you probably did not sleep too well in the clinic and they were more than likely trying to tritrate you so you did not sleep well or get proper oxygen levels thus the migraine. I could be wrong but once you find a great mask that you can live with (sleep with I should say) --those migraines should dwindle to where you might be able to get off the "preventative" medicine as the CPAP machine will be cure to those headaches.

Good luck with your therapy--it will take a while for all this to settle in and your body to get used to being able to breathe again while asleep.

Carrie

[Muse-Inc]

...I didn't sleep well last night anyway. How do they think waking up an adult up at 5:00 am is helpful?...

Sara, I was so exhausted that my 2 or so hrs on CPAP in the second half of my sleep study was the best sleep I'd had in like a decade When I woke up at the highest titrated pressure, they let me wander off to shower after completing a 'how do you feel?' survery...I was awake for a change instead of feeling so dopy I could barely function. That alertness was astonishing! I was a convert and couldn't wait for my machine -- I knew that it was what I needed. I went to an IHOP and ate a full breakfast and trotted in early to the office. That night's sleep was fragmented and shorter than my usual unrestful sleep but I had 2 glorius hrs of restful sleep. That plus my euphoria at feeling alert kept me going all day. The following nights, while waiting for my CPAP, were replays of my old horrible sleep.

[BlackSpinner]

Before I got my cpap I had headaches every afternoon, depending on the weather and/or stress they would slide into migraines. All gone now.

A sleep study at a lab is a very foreign environment to attempt to sleep in. It in no way resembles therapy with a cpap. The first night I got home with my machine I slept without moving for 8 hours. And I didn't get a headache.

[sleepless4boymom]

Thank you all! After I was at the sleep clinic the first night and I did not have to use the mask I thought it was something I didn't need until they called me for the second night I have good nights and bad nights and have taken ambien to sleep every night for about 5 years. My doctor doesn't like that I take it every night. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I often wake up and can't go back to sleep and I fall asleep every time I sit down to watch tv, go to a movie with my family etc....I have been depressed and just not myself for almost 3 years. I hope they figure out what's wrong soon, I want to go back to being the kind of mom I want to be I have gained weight and want to sleep all day.....How long does it take to get results?

Thanks again for all your help!

Sara

[sleeplessinaz]

Hi--we all have taken some time to get used to the CPAP therapy but you should start noticing the changes almost immediately! I was alert, had more energy and headache free almost from the first week that I was on the CPAP machine. You may want to check that your mask and pressure are giving you the correct therapy that you need.

Also you may want to get some blood work done to see if you have anything else going on besides sleep apnea. I had low thyroid which makes you VERY tired and also gain weight rapidly. I now take meds for that--feel much better. Then about a year ago--notice heavy legs, feeling tired and started gaining weight again--boom--I have borderline diabetes now. So once I got that under control the energy came back and the weight is coming back off. SO you may want to see if Sleep Apnea may not only be your only health problem. Good luck--let us know what you find out,
Carrie

[BlackSpinner]

Before CPAP I was buying ibuprofen by the super size bottle - Headache at 1pm guarantied for the last year. For the last 2 months I have taken ibuprofen maybe 3 times , twice for headaches/migraines (One due to stress - sick kid, sick dog, sick dad...)
Funny thing is I hadn't thought about it until now, lack of pain is subtle, pain you notice, lack of it just is not noticeable.

[ricochetv1]

My wife gets migraines due to Sturge-Webber Syndrome. She uses a drug called Zomig when she gets one of them migraines, and it knocks it right out of the ballpark. Gone in less than 5 minutes. You might look into that to deal with any lingering migraine attacks you might have.

[sleepless4boymom]

Thank you all for all the info! I use zomig too and it is wonderful! I am also buying the large sam size bottles of ibuprophin and excedrine migraine I talked to my doctor about this after I went to the sleep study. I have blood work every three months because I do have thyroid issues so I know that it is ok but I am also entering that wonderful stage of life...the change, you know the night sweats and hot flashes and all that, and I feel I am young to be going thru all of this but oh well! I am like many others and am just tired of being tired and want an answer! My doctor referred me to a surgeon to consider the surgery, I would have several at once. Uppp, tonsils, deviated septum etc... I don't want the surgery but I don't want to be a hose head either.

[ricochetv1]

Thank you all for all the info! I use zomig too and it is wonderful! I am also buying the large sam size bottles of ibuprophin and excedrine migraine I talked to my doctor about this after I went to the sleep study. I have blood work every three months because I do have thyroid issues so I know that it is ok but I am also entering that wonderful stage of life...the change, you know the night sweats and hot flashes and all that, and I feel I am young to be going thru all of this but oh well! I am like many others and am just tired of being tired and want an answer! My doctor referred me to a surgeon to consider the surgery, I would have several at once. Uppp, tonsils, deviated septum etc... I don't want the surgery but I don't want to be a hose head either.

Well, my sleep dr. described the surgeries like UPPP as wholly ineffective. Now, as for the deviated septum, You may want to go for that, as it'll help with nasal breathing, if nothing else.
Tonsils can also lend to it, and if they're scarred and such, you can get them taken out if you want... otherwise, they do help to keep infections from getting further down your throat if they're still functional.
My ultimate suggestion, become the hoser you're destined to be... eventually, they'll have an implant that will automatically stimulate the nerves in your throat to prevent the apnea, but that's still in early trials.

[MoneyGal]

My $0.02 -- it may be that a LOT of the other things you are experiencing are related to lack of sleep.

I had incredibly bad insomnia, but now do not. I realize that my poor body was just trying to keep me alive, and knew that if I fell asleep, my chances of not waking up were high.

Headaches? Check. Weight gain? Check. Indigestion? Check.

But I never put all of those things together. CPAP has changed my life in the most positive way. I now have what feel like endless reserves of energy and in low-energy moments (like now!) I know I can recharge with a CPAP-assisted nap.

I suggest getting your CPAP therapy working well before you decide that you need surgery or any other medical intervention, like a new headache drug. You may well have overlapping conditions -- lots of people here do -- but you'd be surprised at how far-reaching the effects of fragmented sleep and low oxygen are. Restful sleep and sufficient oxygen are absolute basics for good health, and getting those right will have the biggest impact on your overall health. You should focus your attention there (in my opinion) and build up once you've handled these basics.