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Migraines & Headaches Community
Welcome to the Migraine and Headaches Forum! This forum is for questions and support regarding migraine and headache issues such as: abdominal migraines, headaches caused by allergies, cluster headaches, headaches, headaches in children, migraine headaches, sinus headaches, tension headaches, visual disturbances.
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Morning headache
by Penrich, Sep 23, 2008 03:54PM
I go to bed most of the time feeling fine, and sleep very very sound. I then awake every morning with what I think is a tension type headache-like a band the base of my head. When I stand up or sneeze, it will help for a moment. I sleep on a cervical pillow on my back, with a small wedge pillow under the back of my knees. I sleep with a NTE device on my teeth, so that I don't clench. I do various stretching exercises and those for the neck muscles. I have had MRI's, sleep studys (no sleep apnea), deep tissue massages. The only thing that has relieved it is a round of steroids (combined with flexeril)-it went away completely for a few weeks then returned. My doctor gave me an epidural sterod injection (thinking that if the oral steroids worked, the injection would work better going straight to the spot). That was 4 days ago-I haven't seen a difference-still waking with the headaches-they wear me out. I have done everything to reduce stress-I work part time and have really slowed down. I am constantly aware of my posture. I feel like I've done everything to take care of my neck area and more, but still start my morning with the headache. What step to take next?
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Thanks for writing in.
Early morning headache raises the suspicion of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is one of the main causes of early morning headaches apart from anxiety, depression and raised BP.
Do you snore at night?
If yes then it is quite possible that you have sleep apnea. If you have neck issues it is important to get a CT scan or X ray of neck done to rule out disc herniation or prolapse.
Sometimes it takes time for the epidural injection to produce an effect. Please wait for a few more days and see if your symptoms improve.