Sleep Apnea and Cluster Headaches
are one of the worst forms of pain that you can experience. They are so bad that your WOULD wish them on your worst enemy. Cluster headaches tend to start about an hour or so after you’ve gone to bed. For some unknown reason, they happen to men more than women. There has been a theory bandering about that sleep apnea may have something to do with cluster headaches.
Please keep in mind that I am not a doctor and this all mostly speculation on my part. (So, what else is new?)
Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is when your breath is cut off momentarily when you sleep. If you’ve ever had to sleep in the same house as someone with sleep apnea, you never forget the noise. Sleep apnea can be from malformations, growths or other problems with the throat.
However, it tends to happen in people that are overweight. The weight of the flesh on the neck is enough to choke off air. But most cluster headache patients are concentration-camp thin. This is because most cluster headache patients with sleep apnea have OSA (obstructive sleep apnea).
Studies
A study was done in 2000 on sleep apnea and cluster headaches that appeared in Neurology. Sleep disordered breathing in patients with cluster headache mentioned that 5 in 20 human volunteers had both sleep apnea and cluster headaches. Some of those 5 didn’t even know they had sleep apnea. This could suggest that some cluster headache patients might not realize that they also have sleep apnea.
There is a new paper planning to be published this year written by The Pain Center at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles that backs up the former study.
Hope this helps.
March 26th, 2009 at 8:59 am
I have cluster headaches, they often wake me after i’ve been sleeping about an hour. My ex partner informed me I also have sleep apnea.
March 29th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
The study you site states that 20 out of 25 people had more than 5 episodes of wakefulness per night. That equates to 80%, not 5 out of 20 as you state
April 16th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Just wanted to let you know that after dealing with these CH’s for years, and trying to find the root cause (treating the symptoms - yes, the 2am wakeup, crawling banging my head on concrete, pushing and pulling on my left eye, pounding my temple, nostril plugged, waking the neighbors…) I found (due to back pain) from a Chiropractor that I had extremely terrible posture…said it’s probably so bad that my sleep is disrupted from lack of oxygen… everything started to click. Why at 2am? Why the drop in melatonin? Why the jump in cortisol and adrenalin? Why the jump im bloodpressure and pulse? Why this nerve? Why this side of my head? Why does O2 treatment ease the pain quicker???
Because I stop breathing in the middle of the night, my brain is starved for oxygen and my body goes into ‘fight’ mode? Hmm.
Then I searched for apnea - and found this info - supported the thought.
I bought some nose strips, throat spray, and used a thin pillow… and for the first time in years, no CH. Three nights in a row and counting (I’m in the middle of a cycle and they’re gone - without all the meds). I know that three points of data is small, but you can’t understand the WOW.
Then I monitor my breathing patterns and find that sometimes during the day, by breathing is slow and shallow - finally an explanation for the day shadows and pain.
This may not be the answer for everyone, but after SO long, I’m living without the cluster - I’m running faster than the beast, and on top of it all, I have energy during the day - something I’ve not had in forever!
Thank you SO much for posting this information.
I hope that it helps others who find their way here.
God Bless.