1% Thursday: Watch Your Sleep Schedule

This week, start watching how your sleep schedule impacts your symptoms.

Now before you write me off, saying – oh, I get enough sleep or, I sleep just fine, stop and listen.  Sleep impacts us in a number of ways, and sometimes in ways we don’t think of.

For one thing, it’s not always the number of hours you sleep.  It’s also the quality of sleep (something you’re not always aware of), and it’s when you sleep.

One of the biggest triggers for many people is a change in sleep schedule.  There could be many reasons for this.  The body does get used to a schedule, and any change can cause problems for someone who has migraine, cluster headache or similar diseases.  It may also impact your blood sugar levels, when you’re used to eating or being up at certain times, and then you sleep in.

Sleep apnea (sleep apnoea) is something we’ve talked about a number of times, but it can impact your sleep without you being aware of it.  If you’re waking up tired, it may be worth going to a sleep clinic.  Grinding or clenching your teeth can also impact your sleep.

Some herbs and supplements that help you sleep have helped some with their symptoms, such as melatonin.

So things to watch for this week?

• Try getting up and going to bed at the same time every day – get into a schedule.  It’s especially important to get up at the same time every day.
• Be sure to get enough sleep each night.
• Watch to see if you’re waking up tired.  Do you have a headache when you wake up?  Do you wake up sore?  Where and how?  These are things worth mentioning to your doctor.
• Read these tips from our visitors for getting to sleep with migraine.

What is 1% Thursday?

Every Thursday at Headache and Migraine News (weather permitting) we’ll talk about one measurable, practical thing we can do to make our lives just 1% better.  Usually it will be something very easy, sometimes it will be a challenge.  Let us know if you try it, or share an idea of your own – and maybe a year from now we’ll see that things have really changed for the better!