What Causes Severe Headaches In The Morning?

Posted on Mon, 4 Sep 2017

Question: Hello I've had some pretty bad headaches for a good couple of weeks now and are really bad most mornings although not as bad some days . I've got really bad memory loss, feeling a bit sick at times and lose my balance on the odd occasion. I've been told this could be a brain tumour of the start of one ? Is this possible as some days my headaches arnt to bad compared to others

Answered by Dr. Sanjay Kini (3 hours later)

Brief Answer:
You need to meet a neurologist and get CT scan or MRI

Detailed Answer:
Hello Dear. Headaches that are prominent in the morning may be caused by sleep apnea, bruxism (grinding of the teeth), or depression. Interestingly, the early morning hours (between 4 and 8 a.m.) are when the body has its lowest levels of natural painkillers, so most headaches — including cluster headaches, migraines, and those caused by muscle tension — can be present and have their worst symptoms when you wake up.

But definitely early morning headache should not be neglected and is a serious concern. Though rare but brain tumors have to be ruled out. Kindly meet a neurologist who may ask you to get investigations like CT scan and MRI to rule out any brain tumor.

If the reports come normal then it may be due to other causes like migraine, cluster headache etc which can be treated with medications.

Hope i have answered your question. Feel free to contact me if you have any more questions. I ll be glad to help you.
All the best
With warm regards
Dr Sanjay Kini

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Kampana