Migraine – Wakeful Nights and Sleepy Days?

Another study has demonstrated that migraineurs do have problems with sleep.

This study comes from the National Institute of Mental health and Neurosciences in Bangalore, India.  The study of 90 patients who had migraine without aura compared migraineurs with another 90 non-migrainuers.

These were migraine patients who were not currently taking preventative medication.

Question #1: Do Migraineurs have trouble sleeping?

Yes!  A full 2/3 reported significant sleep problems – as opposed to less than 8% of the non-migrainuers.  Quite a difference!

Question #2: Do Migraineurs suffer from Daytime Sleepiness?

Maybe a little surprising, but there were far fewer who had significant daytime sleepiness.  However, in the general population it was only 1.1%.  Yes, that means that there were 13 times more migraineurs with this issue.

The researchers mentioned other issues that were much more likely to plague those with migraine:

• "non-refreshing sleep"
• nighttime sweating
• morning dry mouth
• sleep paralysis (inability to move when you’re falling asleep or waking up)
• restless legs syndrome
• nocturnal myoclonic jerks (muscle jerks when you’re falling asleep

Patients with migraine without aura were also more likely to take sedatives.

It is important to tell your doctor if you’re struggling with any of these issues.  These are obviously interrelated to migraine.  Treating one may help the other, and there may be ways you can treat both at the same time.

You may opt to undergo some testing – there are questionnaires, and full night sleep tests, and other tests that can be done to track down the symptoms and the underlying problems.

What about you?  Which of these, if any, have you experienced?