Night Time Headaches

[cmartin2112]

Hello,
I just started experincing some pretty rough headaches in the middle of the night (1-4am). Last night was the second night that it happened to me. I have headaches like these before but it seemed that if I laid my head a certain way they would go away by the time I woke up in the morning. When I woke up for work this morning the headache was almost completely gone but I did some research and found that this is like a main symptom of a brain tumour. I just moved into a new state about 5 months ago and have yet to get a doctor but I plan on getting one soon to get checked out.
Here is a little info on me.I am a 22 year old male, I do have asthma, I do smoke (I know its stupid), I dont drink or do drugs.
I am really scared cause I heard that this is one of the main symptoms of a brain tumour....


Thank you for your help!

[cmartin2112]

Thanks Christopher,
I have a appointment scheduled with a doctor on monday the 14th. I dont get the headaches anymore at night (thank God!)... But now I am in this stage where my head feels super cloudy and weird... I dont know if I just worried my self (I am a really bad hypochondriac) and caused a whole bunch of stress... Or if I am really having issues...
A little about my past, I had this issue about a year and a half ago and had a CT scan of my head (which came out normal) and had blood tests. The doctor told me that I had a vitamin D defincey (sp) so i started taking the vitamin and stopped after a while cause it made my stomich hurt. All in all the feeling went away and I stopped feeling like this...
I dont really know about issues with cancer in my family.. It seems like alot more blood, heart issues, and lung issues...

[Christopher R Newey, DO]

Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with a doctor.

Without the ability to examine and obtain a history, I can not tell you what the exact cause of the symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.

There are several causes of headaches. Headaches can be divided into primary and secondary. Primary headache disorders are headaches without a direct cause. These are diagnosed after secondary causes have been excluded. Secondary headache disorders are due to an underlying problem, there are many many causes but some include medication side effects, systemic illness, nervous system infection, tumors, bleeds in the brain or clots in the veins of the brain, and others.

Primary headache disorders are much more common than secondary ones. There are several primary headache disorders, over 50 different types.  For example migraines are a primary headache characterized by a pulsating throbbing one-sided pain with nausea and discomfort in bright lights that lasts several hours. Another type is cluster headaches, which are sharp pains that occur around and behind the eye often at night and are associated with tearing of the eye and running of the nose.

You mentioned brain tumor being a cause of nocturnal headaches. Another possibility is sleep apnea. This is due to the hypoxia that occurs at night. It typically improves with activity.

I suggest you follow up with your primary care physician for further diagnosis and management.

Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.