Headaches are definitely one of the things that can ruin your entire day. Sleep apnea can make you wake up with a bad headache so to help you out, let me tell you the things I know about sleep apnea headaches.
So, how to get rid of sleep apnea headaches? Check out these 7 tips that you can try for curing sleep apnea and its symptoms such as headaches.
- CPAP Machine Treatment
- The CPAP method is an all-time effective treatment that can treat sleep apnea and prevent causing sleep apnea headaches.
- Rapid Maxillary Expansion
- For children with obstructive sleep apnea. This process places an expandable brace on the roof of the mouth that increases the width of the upper jaw (maxilla).
- Over time, parents can adjust the brace using a special key to increase the amount of pressure for the teeth. This can help your children avoid sleep apnea and headaches.
- Jaw Advancement Surgery
- For teenagers and adults. This process will surgically break the jaw bones, moved forward and then fixed properly with screws and plates and will change the person’s facial structure or profile.
- It might take months to recover but it will provide immediate relief after surgery and prevent sleep apnea headaches.
- Surgical Airway Advancement
- Similar to the jaw advancement example. Bones of the upper and lower jaw will be repositioned in a way that will relieve airway obstruction, relieving sleep apnea headaches as a result.
- Reclining Chairs
- Sleeping in reclining chairs or with your head elevated will reduce the risk of sleep apnea and the headache it can bring.
- Nasal Strips
- An alternative to CPAP machine. It provides relief and prevents sleep apnea headaches
- Oral Appliance
- Also an alternative to the CPAP machine, more suitable for people with weight problems but works the same as the other treatments, preventing sleep apnea and headaches.
There are also other things you can do to prevent sleep apnea headaches and sometimes, it simply starts with your lifestyle.
So then, aside from these medical tools or procedures, what else can you do to prevent sleep apnea headaches? What causes sleep apnea headaches in the first place? Read on to learn more!
How to avoid sleep apnea headaches
For some cases, you can avoid sleep apnea headaches just by simple changes in your basic lifestyle. Small things can do a lot for our health without us noticing, but that’s what makes it still important.
- Lose weight
- Being overweight or obesity can be a cause of sleep apnea. You can potentially get rid of sleep apnea by getting plenty of exercises and maintaining a healthy, balanced diet.
- Stop or avoid smoking too much.
- Excessive smoking can cause or worsen sleep apnea. Reducing your smoke intake per day will also reduce the risk of sleep apnea. If possible, quit smoking to potentially get rid of sleep apnea.
- Avoid excessive alcohol consumption
- Drinking too much alcohol before sleeping can cause and worsen sleep apnea just like smoking.
- Avoid sedatives before going to sleep
- Certain sedatives can cause sleep apnea. Consult a medical expert to determine what type of sedative may be the cause.
- Maintain a proper sleep routine.
- Sometimes, we end up getting exposed to sleep apnea since we simply don’t sleep at the right time. Try to avoid staying up late and sleep early.
- Try to keep a proper sleeping position as well. Try to sleep with your head elevated or sleeping in a recliner chair.
- Don’t overwork yourself all the time.
- Going to sleep exhausted can make us a lot more prone to sleep apnea. It’s important to relax a little bit at first before going to bed to lessen the risk of sleep apnea.
- Treat chronic allergies
- Some allergies can trigger obstruction in your body’s airways and may cause you to have sleep apnea. Treat or avoid triggering your allergies to prevent sleep apnea.
How sleep apnea causes headaches
Sleep apnea can cause migraines due to disrupted sleep which may result in sleep deprivation and dysfunctional brain activity that leads to headaches.
When you are having a sleep apnea attack, the air will be trapped in your lungs and eventually becomes a de-oxygenated air which is also called as carbon dioxide.
The carbon dioxide will eventually build up and circulate in the bloodstream which will end up affecting the brain since there is a lack of oxygenated air going up to your brain.
An increased amount of carbon dioxide is not good for our body since it causes the blood vessels within and around the head to expand and cause headaches or migraines.
Imagine a car running out of “fuel”, it will not be able to function well and you will end up stopping. Without air, your brain will suffer and leads to headaches.
On top of that, since your brain is unable to receive the right amount of air it needs, the brain might force you to wake up for a brief moment and cause you to gasp for air.
This can happen without you noticing, but every second will disrupt your body’s system since when we are asleep, our muscles should be relaxing.
However, since the brain is not getting sufficient air, our body cannot relax which also explains why having sleep apnea causes people to wake up feeling tired since they could not get a proper good night’s rest.
Not having a good night’s rest will also definitely lead to headaches the moment we wake up.
What worsens sleep apnea headaches
There are several factors that can be the cause of your sleep apnea headaches. The main reason why we get sleep apnea is because of obstruction in our breathing but there can be other contributing factors.
Some of these factors are our natural anatomy which can only be fixed through surgeries and some cannot be fixed at all.
Sometimes, it’s also about hereditary conditions. The thing is, it’s important to understand what is the reason behind our health complications.
- Obesity
- Can make breathing difficult even while asleep or not moving
- Hypothyroidism
- The condition wherein your body does not produce enough thyroid hormones, which is needed to control how to use energy received from food through metabolism. Bad metabolism can affect heartbeat and breathing.
- Acromegaly
- Opposite of hypothyroidism, acromegaly produces too much growth hormones which can affect your overall health.
- Allergies
- There are certain allergies that can worsen sleep apnea. Allergies that result with difficulty in breathing are the likes.
- Smoking cigarettes
- Excessive smoking can cause sleep apnea or worsen it.
- Drinking liquor
- Too much liquor and drinking before going to sleep can cause sleep apnea.
- Drug usage
- Sedations or other types of drugs especially when being abused can result in sleep apnea or worse.
- Being male
- Observations reveal that males tend to have sleep apnea more than females
- Being old
- Observations also revealed that older adults are more prone to sleep apnea than younger ones due to more complicated health issues that may trigger sleep apnea.
Other natural causes of sleep apnea can be a thick neck, narrow throat and having a round head. These factors can be the cause of the other, they are accompanying conditions and worsen each other over time.
When you don’t get rid of sleep apnea headaches
If you are already experiencing headaches caused by sleep apnea and haven’t treated it, you should consider getting proper medications immediately. There are a lot of risks sleep apnea can bring.
From a simple headache, you can end up facing these fatal situations.
- Heart failure
- May lead to fatal conditions such as brain damages or even death
- Heart attack
- Can also be severely threatening
- Irregular heartbeat
- Worsens the ability to breathe
- Can trigger anxiety
- Stroke
- Can leave permanent damage
- May lead to paralysis
- Depression
- Not an easy condition to treat
- Weight gain or loss
- Untreated sleep apnea can drive a person to have an uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss
- Diabetes
- Leaves you prone to more heart attacks
- High Blood Pressure
- Aside from your physical health, this can also affect your mental health and relationship with people around you including your work
- Increases ADHD
- Sleep apnea reduces your ability to focus which is what happens when you have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
- Having a lack of control to focus can lead to frustration
- Lack of daily energy
- As mentioned, your energy will be reduced since you are unable to sleep well.
- Seizures
- Sleep apnea patients are more prone to seizures during sleep compared to epilepsy patients without sleep apnea.
What are the signs that you might have sleep apnea
Aside from having a headache every morning, there are also other signs of sleep apnea that you can look out for.
- Heavy snoring
- Maybe, it can be a sign of fatigue but snoring loudly and usually can be a sign of sleep apnea.
- Gasping for air during sleep
- The feeling of drowning without knowing it and suddenly you’re out of air.
- Insomnia
- Having trouble going to sleep because you have breathing problems that you may not notice
- This is also why we feel sick later on, the lack of sleep means lack of energy.
- Hypersomnia
- Having trouble staying awake in the morning because you were unable to sleep well due to your sleep apnea. We may also confuse sleepiness for sickness.
- Waking up with a dry mouth
- With sleep apnea, the person tends to snore and keep their mouth open when gasping for air which leads to a dried up mouth once we awaken.
- Decreased ability to focus
- Sleep apnea can give lack of sleep which will also result in difficulty to focus on anything
- Feeling uncomfortable
- Your lack of energy due to sleep apnea can make you feel uncomfortable and irritable without your knowledge
- Pauses in breathing during sleep
- Your housemates should notice this and tell you about it. Sleep apnea can disrupt breathing that may last for up to 10 seconds which is already risky.
Related Questions
Do sleep apnea headaches last all day?
No, sleep apnea headaches do not last all day. The headache will fade away during the first few hours after waking up since the normal breathing will be restored and the oxygen levels are regulated again.
What does a sleep apnea headache feel like?
A sleep apnea headache is a migraine-like headache with mild throbbing, mild dizziness and slight irritation or mood changes.
Unlike a regular headache that is more steady, sleep apnea headaches can be changing.
