# Poll: Headaches and lack of sleep

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-headaches-and-lack-of-sleep/274770>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 14, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-headaches-and-lack-of-sleep/274770 "2004-11-14T22:19:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![RickQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@RickQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickQ)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-headaches-and-lack-of-sleep/274770/1 "2004-11-14T22:19:19Z")

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I sometimes wake up with headaches and have asked my wife if she gets them too and she said that she does not. I have been to an MD and been checked out and everything seems fine. I also have Hydrocephalus, but those headaches do not go away and I know the difference. Usually the headache will go away at some point during the morning and maybe return in the evening unless I have an early night.

Does anyone else get these types of headache? Does anyone know why these kinds of headache occur and why some people get them and not others?

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**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-headaches-and-lack-of-sleep/274770/2 "2004-11-14T23:15:51Z")

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Are they just on one side of your head? they could be cluster headaches, I get those too but I get them during the daytime. Most cluster headache sufferers have them during REM sleep.

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**Author:** ![williamweigand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b3f665/32.png) [@williamweigand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williamweigand)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-headaches-and-lack-of-sleep/274770/3 "2004-11-15T15:22:23Z")

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Could you be grinding your teeth while sleeping? This might cause headaches.

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**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-headaches-and-lack-of-sleep/274770/4 "2004-11-15T16:31:38Z")

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Maybe sleep apnea? My brother gets horrible headaches from “forgetting” to breathe while he’s asleep. That is, until he got a CPAP machine.

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**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-headaches-and-lack-of-sleep/274770/5 "2004-11-15T16:42:19Z")

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I woke up with one this morning, after having nightmares all night. I think mine may be from tension, clenching my jaw and stiffening my neck. I wake up not only with a headache, but totally exhausted, usually more exhausted than when I went to bed. 😕

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**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-headaches-and-lack-of-sleep/274770/6 "2004-11-15T17:31:28Z")

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I wake up with a headache if I sleep too long – more than about nine hours, unless I’m really exhausted. They’re low-level and they stick around for a looong time, but eventually they go away.