Morning headaches

[tw27]

Hi, I'm 27 yr. old female. I drink once a week and ex-smoker. Medications currently taking - birth control pills, Zrytec D on occassion for sinus/allegries problems, Nasonex almost daily, Wellbutrin XL, Xananx on occassion, multi-vitamin along w/ numerous supplements. Sometimes that Advil. I do drink about 2-3 cups of caffinated coffee daily. My periodintist diagnosed me with TMJ, suppose to wear a splint at night but recently had tonsillectomy about a month ago due to chronic tonsillitis. Feels like splint doesn't fit right right now - think I need an adjustment. Huge fear of cancer (grandmother died of Ovarian cancer two years ago - thats when my anxiety/panic/OCD attacks started - attacks have mostly subsided now).

My problem - We have all electric heat in our home. We have just now started using a humidifier. Past few weeks I wake up almost every morning with dry & stuffy nose. I use to have really bad dry mouth but has since gotten better. The past few morning I have woken up with a sinus/tension type of headache. The headaches don't really wake me up. It feels somewhat like pressure around my forehead and eyes but also pulsating type but when I pop my neck it goes away. Could this be a sinus/tension headaches and is there anything else that I can do to eliminate this type of headache?  Or does this sound like somthing serious (ex. brain tumor). Any insight would be grateful. Thank you

[BigDane]

Ask your bed partner if you stop breathing and gasp for breath often, especially if you snore? Probably only relevant if youre overweight, but sleep apnea gives the cruelest morning headaches and sometimes day tiredness (in cars, meetings, etc). Doesn't sound like what you have though, but thought I would write a reminder.

Mind, Im no doctor, I just suffer from the damn thing =(

-Martin

[National Jewish]

The most likely causes of morning headache in a young woman are:  
1) uncorrected temporal mandibular joint (TMJ) problems resulting in muscle tension and,
2) a pillow that causes an awkward sleeping position where the neck is hyperextended.
Clearing up your morning headaches may be as simple as checking with your periodontist to see if your TMJ splint needs to be adjusted.

What is described is not the headache of a brain tumor.  To ease your anxiety/panic and give you peace of mind you may want to be seen by a neurologist.