The Connection Between Sleep and Migraines

Roughly 37 million people in the United States suffer from migraines, an often painful condition that can leave sufferers wiped out for days. Their frequency can depend on a number of factors, with one of the biggest being sleep. About half of all migraine sufferers report disrupted sleep as a headache trigger.

Pinpointing Migraine Triggers

About half of all migraine sufferers report poor sleep quality as a trigger. And insomnia isn’t the only culprit; people with obstructive sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, narcolepsy and other conditions that disrupt sleep are also more likely to have migraines. Researchers have tried to pinpoint the connection, but their findings have only raised more questions.

The connection is there, it's the details they're trying to pin down. Fragmented, inefficient sleep does raise a person’s migraine risk — but maybe not how you’d expect. In a recent study spearheaded by Brigham and Women’s Hospital, researchers followed 98 migraine sufferers for 6 weeks, during which time participants each kept a diary recording their nightly sleep quality and whether they experienced migraines. Migraine odds appeared unaffected by the previous night’s sleep, but those odds skyrocketed to 39% the following day.

Migraines and Triggers

The researchers still don’t understand the science behind this correlation but hope future studies will uncover more answers. For now, the best way to avoid a migraine is to avoid your personal triggers — and if sleep issues are contributing to yours, then restoring your sleep quality is a good place to start. But it may help to keep a diary of sleep patterns because it's not as simple as a direct next day correlation.

Sleep Therapy for Migraine Sufferers

There are many ways to get better sleep and much depends on the cause of poor sleep. Sleep apps may help or sleep apnea testing may reveal a treatable condition, but cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTi) is one way that has proven useful to many. In one month, participants in one study, funded in part by the National Headache Foundation, experienced an average of 6.2 fewer headache days.

A variation of CBTi, digital cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (dCBT-I) could be just as effective. This method of therapy is brought to the user’s fingertips via mobile apps and other online programs. This can come in three variations:

• Supportive dCBT-I works as a supplement to face-to-face therapy.

• Therapist-guided dCBT-I is online, but with the assistance of a psychologist.

• Fully automated dCBT-I is a program only, with no human guidance or support.

Users can tailor their experience based on their needs. Even better, dCBT-I is available whenever the person needs it, day or night.

Migraines can steal precious days from a person; adequate sleep could give some of those days back. Do you suffer from both disrupted sleep and migraines? Talk to your doctor to see which therapy option is best for you.

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