CPAP and headache reductions.

[Mark Douglas]

My MIL is am evil B**** and frankly I wonder if she doesn't deserve/earned her debilitating headaches. However I love DearWife so if would help her by helping MIL....... I...... guess.... I...... would.
MIL has had all manner of voodoo enacted including some sorta brain surgery but I honestly wonder if the headaches are not related to some form of apnea. I doubt she would listen to anyone however if there is an avalanche of headache reduction success stories here perhaps DW could print them and offer to her mother. If there are, and she does, I hope DW includes my OP.

[TyroneShoes]

No one deserves pain. There is no god inflicting it as punishment. If there were, I can see how this might actually give certain people comfort, but the cold truth is that everything is random, which might be harder to accept.

Headaches are sometimes a symptom of OSA, but rarely are debilitating headaches a symptom. Look elsewhere.

XPAP therapy can actually cause headaches during the acclimation period.

[DariaVader]

one of the immediate benefits i had from cpap - and one of the reasons i was highly motivated to continue therapy when things got hard is that the majority of my headaches were alleviated! I get headaches the way some other folk get stomach aches... something is wrong? head aches! so i have a million reasons for getting a headache - it seems. The headaches caused by apnea seem to be part of an overall inflammation pattern that I get in response to allergies, illness, stress.... but in the months since starting cpap the number of headaches I have suffered is down by at least 85%

[Mark Douglas]

Thank you DV

[Mosquitobait]

Lots of causes for headaches, but I must say that the recent ones I have had caused by lack of sleep all went away in just over a week.

[Mark Douglas]

Thank you Mosquitobait.

That's two already!

[PaulaO2]

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) has a primary symptom of "wakes with headache". Headaches and even migraines are linked to several sleep disorders, including OSA. Google 'sleep apnea and headaches' and see all that comes up.

It did reduce my headaches some but mine are caused by other factors. They are mostly controlled now through several methods (medication, neck brace, etc).

[GWild]

Two votes for APAP providing headache relief (wife and I both carry excess weight and have diagnosed and treated Apnea).

Though I am also pretty sure I had undiagnosed Sleep Apnea throughout high-school, even with running 15 miles a day for cross-country training... Spent most days with terrible headaches and always groggy.

[archangle]

If you have apnea, starting CPAP is a bit like stopping smoking, drinking, drugs, etc. There are the immediate obvious good effects, but there might be a number of other problems being caused by untreated apnea.

If you have problem X, and it goes away with CPAP, be happy.

Headache relief is one of the things many new CPAPers experience.

Of course, you can still have a headache if you don't have apena, so it's not a sure thing.

[OpalRose]

My usual morning headaches went away within the first week of CPAP therapy. I remember waking up and thinking...WOW...I feel good. I don't have a headache!