Why oversleeping causes headaches

Too much sleep can absolutely have some pretty unfortunate effects on your health. Common sense dictates that not getting enough sleep each night can leave you feeling tired and anxious, but perhaps it might surprise you to learn that getting more than the required amount of sleep can do the same.

Instead of feeling refreshed and ready to take on a new day, sleeping too much can actually make you more tired. Chronic oversleeping can leave you feeling lethargic, unmotivated and even more likely to hit that snooze button. Chronic oversleeping means sleeping 10, 11 or even more hours per night on a regular basis. Too much sleep can actually cause headaches, as well. For those of us prone to headaches, even just sleeping longer on the weekends can induce head pain. The reason for this seems to be that oversleeping has an effect on the release of serotonin in our brain.

When our body is in a habit of sleeping a fixed number of hours then a disturbance in that routine sometimes aches the head which can be highly troubling. Most of us do not put an alarm on weekends. We like to wake up organically without any interruption. But this no alarm wake up can be the reason for headaches and groggy feeling.

It is strange but absolutely normal. If you are one of those who gets hit by a headache due to oversleeping then here we will let you know all about why it happens, how to get relief and precautions. Getting relief from oversleeping headaches is easy. Here are a few tips to counter that headache you have caught after a heavy dose of sleep:. Ohayon, M. Prevalence and risk factors of morning headaches in the general population. Archives of Internal Medicine, 1 , Korabelnikova, E.

Sleep disorders and headache: A review of correlation and mutual influence. Pain and Therapy, 9 2 , — Pergolizzi, J.

Exploring the connection between sleep and cluster headache: A narrative review. Strohl, K. Merck Manual Professional Version: Obstructive sleep apnea. Morning headache as an obstructive sleep apnea-related symptom among sleep clinic patients—A cross-section analysis. Brain Sciences, 10 1 , Chen, P. Morning headache in habitual snorers: Frequency, characteristics, predictors and impacts. Cephalalgia, 31 7 , — Schwab, R. Circadian rhythm sleep disorders.

Merck Manual Professional Version. Kikuchi, H. Does sleep aggravate tension-type headache? BioPsychoSocial Medicine, 5 1 , Kim, J. Insufficient sleep is prevalent among migraineurs: A population-based study. The Journal of Headache and Pain, 18 1. Yap, A. Sleep bruxism: Current knowledge and contemporary management. Journal of Conservative Dentistry, 19 5 , Lee, W.

Effect of sleep posture on neck muscle activity. Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 29 6 , — Fischer, M. Medication-overuse Headache. In StatPearls [Internet]. Healthy Sleep. Learn more about Physical Health and Sleep.

By Danielle Pacheco October 8, By Danielle Pacheco October 1, Some signs of good sleep quality would include falling asleep in 30 minutes or less, sleeping soundly throughout the night and not waking up more than once, and being able to fall back to sleep within 20 minutes if you do wake up once in the middle of the night. Poor quality sleep — the kind which migraines can lead to — is characterised by trouble falling and staying asleep, feeling restless, and waking up early.

Of course, poor sleep quality can affect how much you get to sleep. After all, if it takes you hours to fall asleep and you need to take up to an alarm, then you might not get enough sleep. When it comes to protecting your well-being and avoiding conditions like migraine, sleep quality and quantity both matter. When your sleep quality is affected as a result of migraines, this can make the condition more difficult to deal with.

This is because the quality of sleep we get can affect our experience of pain. For example, if you get a healthy amount of sleep around seven to nine hours , then the better you will be able to emotionally and physically manage pain. In contrast, a study from the University of California, Berkeley, found that a lack of sleep less than six hours makes your experience of pain more intense. So, the less sleep you get, the more painful your migraines may be.

The team behind the University of California study discovered that sleep-deprived brains had higher activity in brain regions that detect pain signals. Brain scans also revealed less activity in regions responsible for natural pain relief. If you are unable to sleep well, for whatever reason, then your migraine symptoms the next day could be quite unmanageable, getting in the way of your everyday activities.

Migraines can be extremely painful. This is often why doctors will prescribe certain kinds of pain medication for those suffering from regular migraine attacks. If you struggle with migraines yourself, then you know that the pain can last throughout the day and remain when you are trying to get to sleep. This experience of insomnia is an added challenge that many migraine sufferers have to deal with and it can present many issues, including — as we have seen — more painful migraine symptoms.

The rapid eye movement REM stage of sleep, a crucial aspect of the sleep-wake cycle, can help to explain why too much or too little sleep can trigger migraines. There are five stages of sleep : two stages of light sleep, two stages of deep sleep, and then one stage of REM sleep. When you sleep less than 6 hours a night, you will spend more time in the first half of sleep, experiencing less REM sleep overall.

REM sleep plays a critical role in painful conditions, including migraines. For instance, researchers from Missouri State University have demonstrated that not getting enough REM sleep can lead to higher levels of specific proteins that trigger the headaches and chronic pain associated with migraines. This is one way that migraines can start when you are asleep and resting. If someone with migraines who gets up during the week at 6 a.

Oversleeping can trigger migraine attacks because it disrupts the sleep-wake cycle.