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Does Migraine Make You Sleep More – or Less?

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A recent study and review of previous studies came to an interesting conclusion. Maybe migraine headache pain isn’t causing as many sleep problems as we think. But that doesn’t mean migraine and sleep aren’t related.

wanting sleep

The study, published earlier this year in the journal Brain Communications, reported on a study with mice to see just how much migraine pain interfered with sleep. And the surprising result was: not much.

Let’s put it this way. Looking at this research and other studies, migraine does seem to affect sleep in certain ways (for example, migraine may affect REM sleep). But we can be forgiven if our perception is an exaggerated connection – when you’re writhing in pain, you’re desperate to sleep – and sometimes sleep just won’t come.

However, for some patients, they do sleep more with migraine. This may be a physical result of migraine itself, or simply because they’re trying to sleep more, and looking for a dark, quiet room.

I would be interested in your comments below, to hear if you have found that migraine pain actually results in less sleep or more sleep overall.

But that’s not the end of the story. The researchers confirmed again that migraine is associated with sleep disorders, and that sleep problems may trigger migraine attacks. In fact, sleep disorders may play a part in migraine becoming chronic. The connection between sleep and migraine is real, but complex. As a simple example, a poor night of sleep may not mean a migraine attack the next day, but it may increase your risk the day after that.

Sleep schedule, along with diet, may be one of the most powerful indicators of future migraine attacks. Though we all get frustrated when we can’t “sleep away” a migraine attack, we should also pay attention to daily sleep patterns in order to prevent future attacks.

Why won’t my Doctor treat my TMD?

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Are you having trouble getting treatment for TMD? You’re not alone.

Mysterious jaw pain? It might be affecting your migraine pain...

TMD stands for temporomandibular disorder/dysfunction, a group of disorders which includes issues with the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Symptoms may include having trouble opening your mouth wide enough, or feeling pain in your jaw when you open. There may be a clicking sound when you open your jaw, sometimes or all the time. It may be related to clenching or grinding your teeth while you sleep.

There is a complex relationship between TMD, migraine, and other headache disorders. It’s very important that your doctor be aware of TMD issues as your headaches are treated, because solving one problem may help solve the other. So – why are so many patients not being helped?

In an interview published by NeurologyAdvisor, Dr. Paul G. Mathew explained that many patients aren’t aware that there are good treatments available for their TMD. Some doctors aren’t really aware of the strong connection between migraine and TMD, and don’t know which questions to ask. Worse, some doctors simply tell patients that they don’t treat it, and move on to the next thing.

As many of us know from experience, we’re sometimes so focused on the “headache” that we don’t spend too much time on other lesser symptoms. So we may intentionally not mention these “smaller” issues to our doctors – or maybe we just don’t think of it. Sometimes we’re just not aware of the relationship between the different kinds of pain or discomfort.

But that needs to change, because TMD can have a major impact on migraine symptoms. It may also be related to sleep disorders, which can have a major affect on migraine and other headache conditions.

If you’re ready to get serious about looking into TMD and its treatment, check out this interview with two experts. Dr. Matthew, mentioned above, is a headache, sports concussion and neurology specialist. Dr. Steven D. Bender is a dentist, Director of Facial Pain and Sleep Medicine with the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Texas A&M College of Dentistry.

Here’s the interview: Experts Weigh in on Evaluating, Treating Comorbid Migraine and Temporomandibular Dysfunction

Does Migraine Affect Sleep in Children and Adolescents?

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We often discuss the links between sleep and migraine here. But studies are mostly focused on adults – what about children and adolescents?

A recent study published in the Journal of Medicine and Life has confirmed what we already suspected – there is a strong link between sleep problems and migraine.

Children and sleep - how well are they sleeping?

In this small study, researchers chose 18 patients with migraine, and a control group of 16. Each patient was evaluated and underwent a sleep test. So this is a general sleep test, not a test to see how well patients slept when they were actually having a migraine attack. So the question is, how well do migraine patients sleep during a regular night?

In this study, researchers found that children and teens with migraine did tend to have less deep sleep and more light sleep. They had more “arousals” during the night. And it took them longer to fall asleep.

These indicators could be a sign of a sleep disorder. And researchers did note that the numbers were more likely to indicate sleep disorders in the children with migraine.

Studying migraine in children is an extremely complex issue. It can have very different symptoms in children compared to adults, and those symptoms can change quickly. Because this is a time of growth and development, diagnosis and treatment can be challenging, but it is also all the more important. Both migraine and sleep disorders can have a major impact on normal growth and learning.

Parents and doctors need to pay special attention not only to “headaches”, but to other symptoms, and to sleep and sleepiness during the day. Diagnosing a sleep disorder can be a major step forward in treating migraine early. And although this was a small preliminary study, it does confirm what other studies are telling us, and hopefully will lead to a quicker diagnosis of sleep problems in children who are experiencing migraine symptoms (which often include stomach pain and nausea in children).

Read a summary of the findings of this study here: Researchers Investigate Relationship Between Sleep Disorders, Migraine in Children

Full study: The Role of Polysomnography in Identifying Sleep Disorders in Children with Migraine

Why does Migraine become Chronic?

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Why is it that some people start with the occasional migraine attack – and then months or years later they’re having an attack every other day – or worse? Is there some way to stop this from happening? Can it be reversed?

When Migraine becomes ChronicThere have been some studies that point out “risk factors” for “chronification” of migraine. That doesn’t mean that the factor causes the attacks to become chronic necessarily. In fact, we really have very little understanding of what is happening, in spite of what you may have heard.

We do know that women tend to end up with chronic migraine more than men – however, it does affect everyone.

Some possible risk factors include:

  • GENETICS
  • Poor treatment (including ineffective medications, or using “too much” medication)
  • Depression
  • Physical trauma (brain injury)
  • Emotional/mental trauma (a history of abuse)
  • obesity
  • Sleep disorders (sleep apnea, snoring)

I shouted out genetics at the start there, because that may actually be the biggest key factor. In other words, no matter what the other risk factors may be, some people will get it, some won’t.

Medication overuse is a commonly cited factor. But it’s very tricky – is the medication causing more attacks (this does seem to happen), or is the patient taking more medication because of more attacks?

Either way, it’s important to get the best treatment available before your attacks start increasing, to avoid this outcome.

The other factors above are difficult, though providing treatment for each factor may help with migraine (counselling? diet?)

Chronification may also be a result of another underlying disease, which is why you need to talk to your doctor if you see your migraine attacks increasing. For example, idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is suprisingly common in chronic migraine patients. If there are no obvious IIH symptoms, it’s easy to write off the problem as chronic migraine (researchers in Italy expressed concern about this a couple of years ago).

Besides seeing your doctor as soon as possible, what else can you do if your migraine attacks are becoming chronic?

Obviously your doctor can help you with specific treatments and preventative medications. There may be medications that you’ve taken in the past that you now need to replace with something else to break the cycle. You may also find that you’re suffering from more than one type of headache.

Secondly, pay attention to the risk factors above. If you need treatment for depression, obesity, a sleep disorder – these should be treated along with the chronic migraine.

I appreciated Dr. William Young’s top recommendation in his talk at the World Migraine Summit. Recognizing the severe disability some people experience with chronic migraine and daily headache, he said this:

Just my personal take, recently I’ve become more and more convinced that movement is key and that patients whose migraines are so severe it hurts to move and then they stop, they have got to do something. They should walk a half an hour a day. If they can’t, they should walk 10 minutes three times a day. If they can’t do that, they should walk three minutes 10 times a day.

Yes, if you can’t do anything else, walk for three minutes 10 times a day. Even that may seem overwhelming, but I agree with Dr. Young that this is critical – get moving. Even if you start with three minutes the first day, and four the next.

Although we’re not sure of all the reasons why migraine becomes chronic, we do know that it’s common – 1-2% of the general population, and about 8% of patients with migraine. And we do know that it can be reversed – there is lots of hope for anyone with chronic migraine that you’ll experience major improvement with the right treatment.

For more information, see Chronic migraine: risk factors, mechanisms and treatment. and Migraine “Chronification”: What You Can Do (pdf file)

Sleepwalking, Headache, and Pain

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Just how common is sleepwalking? Estimates range quite a bit, although a study in 2012 suggested that almost 30% of us walk in our sleep sometime in our lives.

Those who sleepwalk on a regular basis do tend to complain that they’re sleepy during the day. But there may be a lot more to the condition than we realize. Sleepwalking is closely related to other disorders, including depression, headache, and migraine.

Sleepwalking, Headache and Migraine
Photo courtesy Herzi Pinki

The relationship between sleepwalking and migraine is a complex one. For example, depression and migraine are also linked. Magnesium levels are linked to both migraine and sleepwalking. Changing sleep schedules are linked to both. Certain medications may affect both, such as antihistamines, mild tranquilizers and a few antipsychotics. Obstructive sleep apnea is also strongly related to both.

This spring a report on a fascinating sleepwalk study was released. The authors of the study confirmed that migraine and headache were highly associated with sleepwalking. (This doesn’t mean that most migraine patients walk in their sleep. It does mean that if you sleepwalk you are much more likely to have migraine.)

But a fascinating twist is that patients were very unlikely to experience pain while sleepwalking. In other words, banging your knee on the table while you’re sleepwalking is unlikely to even wake you up. In fact, one patient fell off his roof and broke his leg, but didn’t wake up until the morning!

There are obviously many mysteries about pain still to be solved. However, there are some key things you can do about sleepwalking, especially if you have migraine as well:

Focusing on your sleep may actually help relieve migraine and stop sleepwalking. It’s funny in fiction, but it needs to be taken seriously in real life.

For more on the recent study into sleepwalking and pain, read Sleepwalkers feel no pain, remain asleep despite suffering injuries from ScienceDaily. Also check out this Sleepwalking Overview from emedicinehealth.

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The articles on Headache and Migraine News are © 2004-2024 J. Cottrill.
Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of each article, and to point you to further sources of information. However, this site is for informational purposes only and should never replace a visit to your doctor.