Why migraine symptoms are worse in patients who get little sleep

Medical Xpress / Norwegian University of Science and Technology / Cephalalgia ^ | June 19, 2025 | Anne Sliper Midling / Petter Moe Omland et al

[ConservativeMind]

For the first time, researchers have studied what happens in the brains of people who have migraines when they haven't slept enough: The mechanisms in the brain that should reduce pain don't work as well.

"It is well known that sleep can relieve migraine headaches, migraine attacks can start during or after sleep, and many people with migraine say that disturbed sleep triggers attacks," says Omland.

During the course of two studies, 140 people sacrificed sleep and had their brain's nervous system studied and measured.

The subjects were subjected to pain in order for the researchers to find out more about the connection between sleep and migraine.

The participants in the study were divided into two groups, one group who had migraine, and a second group of healthy control subjects. The study was blinded.

Participants were examined twice on different days. All were examined after two nights of normal sleep, and after two nights of reduced sleep. All participants also had to keep a sleep diary, as well as use an electronic meter that logged sleep.

During examination, the participants wore a cap with EEG electrodes. The EEG electrodes were used to measure activity in the brain during two types of pain stimulation, one with a laser and one with electrical stimulation.

The study shows that the cerebral cortex in people with migraine responds differently to pain than in others when the migraine sufferers haven't had enough sleep. In another recent study, the researchers showed that lack of sleep affects systems in the brain that slow down the activation of nerve cells in those who have migraines.

"The mechanisms that are supposed to reduce pain do not work quite as in people who do not have migraines. The pain is not dampened as much as in healthy people," says Omland.

[ConservativeMind]

It seems there is a reason finding ways to get quality sleep can prevent migraines. It also seems that some people can start getting migraines simply due to a lack of sleep for too long.

[ConservativeMind]

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[jerod]

I’m always perplexed by people who get headaches... I’ve never had one.

[Organic Panic]

I get migraines. Horrible things. But now, a few tokes of some marijuana and it gets rid of them in minutes. Only thing that ever worked.

[murron]

I used to suffer with cluster headaches, which are migraines that occur during a period of several weeks and then disappear for a couple of years and return again in “clusters”. I’m 77 years old and thankfully the last set of cluster headaches I had was 30 years ago. I also suffered with ordinary headaches for years and took heavy doses of aspirins until the aspirins thinned my blood to dangerous levels and I became severely anemic. I was told to not take aspirins and I listened and have not had any headache for 6 years now.