Nightmares associated with migraine headaches

"I have noticed that I have had nightmares when I've had alot of medication for a headache and other times I can only describe them as very strange dreams. Just yesterday I managed to wake up before I got to the screaming stage (I've done that too) in what I could only recall as being the worst version of a horror movie I've ever being subjected to. And no, I wasn't watching any the night before. I can't blame it all on the drugs. This isn't always the case or I would have changed meds by now. Sometimes I manage to sleep like the dead, for a few hours at least."

(Connie Carroll, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Nightmares, August 26, 1996)

"I also have nightmares when I have a migraine and take too much meds. At first I did not associate the two together, but it happened too often to be ignored. Glad I'm not the only one."

(Diane, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Nightmares, August 26, 1996)

"I have had migraines for about the last 50 years. I first noticed them when I was about 11 years old... Over the years, I have noted the following and I wonder if anyone else has seen the same thing... relationship to consumption of MSG [Mono Sodium Glutamat = Natrium Glutamat, a common flavor enhancer] and certain other food additives... MSG in particular, causes dreaming of a frustrating nature - like always trying to get somewhere but the way is blocked. I am not sure whether the dream causes the migraine or the migraine causes the dream. It has often seemed to me that a headache attack related to the ingestion of MSG also leads to the dreams. Have any other people noted ... the frustrating dreams?"

(Jean, Rondas Migraine Page, Case Histories – October 1996 (4/5); additions in square brackets by Klaus Podoll)

"I had the most bizarre occurrence this morning. My daughter came and woke me up shortly before my alarm went off. When she woke me, I was in the middle of a bad dream/nightmare. When I finally woke up fully, the back of my neck was killing me (you know ... that brain stem pain) and within an hour or so, I had a migraine. Bizarro ..."

(Jensen, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Nightmares triggering migraine, January 29, 1997)

"I have the same experience of bad dreams causing headaches. And what's frustrating is that I can't take an analgesic to stop the headache, because by the time I wake up from it it's in full force."

(Glenn Richard Weiser, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Nightmares triggering migraine, January 29, 1997)

"I have several dreams every night and migraine 'aura' almost every night, but not a migraine every night. If I develope a migraine during sleep, my dream will be very vivid and bordering on a nightmare."

(Richard, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Nightmares triggering migraine, January 30, 1997)

"I too can get some pretty strange dreams. Sometimes they trigger a migraine(or maybe it's the struggle to wake out of them that does) and sometimes not. Some medicines do make these dreams worse, but if, like you say, the drug helps you feel better generally then the dreams are livable with. Once or twice I've used one as a base for a poem, but most of them are rubbish. Oh well."

(Eve A. Smith, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Nightmares triggering migraine, February 2, 1997)

"Here's a question for everyone - for those of you who wake up in the morning with a migraine - have you ever noticed any connection with your dreaming? Most of the time, I'm not even aware that I've dreamed at all (although I know we all do, every night). Those mornings that I wake up remembering the dreams, whether it's a nightmare or just something so strange that I begin to wonder about my mental health (like last night - a teddy bear that walks - what in the heck was THAT all about?) - I invariably wake up with a monster migraine. Anyone else ever notice that? Might the migraines be giving me those weird dreams? Or might the dreams be giving me migraines? Or might I just be paranoid about my head? Any theories? Well, hope you all have a pain-free day!"

(Kristine, Ronda's Migraine Page, On-Line Journal, January 11, 1999)

"I've always thought my daily morning headaches came from having tense dreams at night. Last night was a very good example. Note that recently I read a newspaper article about earthquakes and how they cause tsunamis. (a 'tsunami' is a gigantic tidal wave) I live in Seattle where they are continually warning us to expect a 'big one' (earthquake that is) –
My dream was that I was in my house and we had a tsunami. After it was over I peered out the window and my neighbors' houses were without roofs, and pretty much demolished. My house was OK except it had been moved way off it's foundation. Then my dream changed (like weird dreams do) and the tsunami happened again except instead of water it was mud. So I was in my house buried alive in 20 or so feet of mud. I didn't know if the air would last, if the house walls would collapse, if I would drown in mud. Then I woke up.
That's a typical example of my 'tense dreams'. Yes, I have a pretty bad headache this morning! "

(Sally Zitzer, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: ? adjusting to the NTI, January 27, 2000)

"I sometimes have a vivid dream where there's a skeletal creature with a face like the monster in Pumpkinhead, and he's got his long fingers wrapped around my head. The fingers are growing into my head like roots, and this guy is squeeeezinggggg. Hell, maybe he's real! A Chinese friend's mom once told me I had fallen asleep with my mouth open, and a snake (spirit?) crawled in and is residing in my brain. When he wakes up and thrashes around... yikes! That'll teach me to ask advice about migraines!"

(Timujin, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, October 16, 2000)

"I remember lots of my dreams and rarely have bad dreams. Except when I have a migraine. If I wake up with a rip-roaring migraine (most of my headaches come on during the day), invariably I will be in the midst of a bad dream. I am not sure if the migraines cause the bad dreams or vice versa."

(Laura, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Is there a connection between dreaming and migraine?, February 13, 2002)

"Hi all, After my last post I got thinking over the last week. I now have discovered that depending on what dream I have relates to how bad my headache is. As I said before I wake up some mornings or even in the middle of the night with headaches despite not having one all day. My dream recall is pretty good and I can remember the 'jist' of most dreams.
I realised this since I went to sleep and had a dream that I was a secret agent and had to rescue a group of people from this mad doctor type bloke. I actually failed and ended up on a table. I remember well being strapped down and the last thing I remember was seeing the doctor with something nasty to inject me with. I woke up at that point and my heart was beating very fast
and strong, it's a wonder I didn't have a heart attact it was going that strong. I had only been to sleep for about 2 hours if that and didn't have a slight headache even before going to bed. Seems very coincidental to me.
It happend this morning also. I can't put me finger on the dream at the moment but it was some action packed dream (most of mine normally are). I woke up this morning feeling like a truck had ran over me several times, and with a headache of course. This feeling I have had a few times. it's last most of the day also. MY dreams tend to be very long winded and packed full of action packed adventure. though I always wake up feeling like i've been beaten up. this is very true for the 'running' dreams, when you are doing a lot of running from something, I wake up feeling like i've actually ran 100 miles.
Going by all of this it would be more restfull for me not to go to sleep at this rate. I think I have proved a link with my headaches here. While I am talking about dreams I might as well add to the old descussion of 'what happens if I die in my dreams'. This happend to me only once years ago. It was one where I was been chased by guns, bombs, plains, you name it, it was fireing at me. after a very long time they all caught up with me and with total exhaustion collapsed and died. I am normally viewing from 'myself' and 'from above' at the same time, hard to explain though. though I felt I had died and I saw myself on the ground dead also. normally dreams end suddenly but this one was strange since I felt relaxed and calm after, I was looking at myself dead for a while before I woke up.
Anyway, getting a bit off track here, I doubt dreams can be suppressed so I guess there's not much which can be done for my headaches in this case...."

(Chris, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: dreams and headaches and things, July 31, 2002)

"Before I get a migraine the night before I will dream I am cleaning the house and can never get the work done. I will clean a room and when I go back into it, it will be a mess again. I wake up very tired with a migraine or it will come on later in the day."

(Ronnie, Newsgroups: alt.support.chronic-pain, December 3, 2002)

"I don't know if I brought this up before - but one thing I have noticed is often when I am having a bad dream I will wake up with a headache, and it will often (though not always) escalate into a migraine. I wonder if I am having a bad dream because of the pain that I haven't noticed consciously yet, or it the bad dream brings on the headache..........?"

(MKC, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches, Subject: Re: another anxiety aspect? Just curious...., February 7, 2003)

"I'm with you. In my case, I have been plagued with nightmares, vivid dreams and sleep paralysis since I was a little girl. I'm happy to say they have lessened somewhat, but I definitely experience dreams that incorporate migraines... and have had stressful dreams/nightmares that intensify my migraines. Sleep well, Jasmine"

(Jasmine, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches, Subject: Re: another anxiety aspect? Just curious...., February 8, 2003)

"It also bubbles under in my unconsciousness, during and shortly after a migraine attack I have terrible dreams... like dreaming that my house burns down, that I forget my children somewhere, that one of my children dies..."

(Basil, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Remember your first headache/migraine?, October 22, 2003)

Conny K. Jonsson, dis-harmonic, 2003. © 2003 Conny K. Jonsson

"When this dream appears I'll always wake up with migraine! I do not have that dream before every migraine attack though. - The bad dream: I'm standing in front of the bathroom mirror and watching slippery snakes and worms popping out of my head, ears, nose, mouth and eyes. I try to grab them and get rid of them, unsuccessfully of course. After a while I get aware of that I'm dreaming though! And directly I start fight my self out of sleep and the headache is already there. An unpleasant - and very weird - dream, believe me... The headache lasts for hours. No visuals or vomiting, just nausea. I've had it for about 30 years - got my first migraine attack at my early twenties - but this dream appears not so often really... hmm, maybe 4-5 times per year ... This dream does not appear when I'm awake, just in sleep-mode."

(Conny K. Jonsson, Emails to Klaus Podoll, May 25-26, 2004)

"Migraine sufferers have dreams containing extreme fears (perhaps because they fear the onset of another headache)."

(Dr. Trisha Macnair, MA, MB ChB, Dip Anaesthetics, lost webpage, July 28, 2004; see here)

"headaches, neck spasms, and dreams - For reasons unknown... the familiar migraine and neck spasms have reappeared again. The migraine is horrible -- but I have my methods of managing the pain...and afterwards, I feel like my brain's been swiped clean. Lots of new ideas spring to me after a migraine. But paired with neck spasms, I feel daunted.

Then the dreams -- Last night, I dreamt of life changing news. My doctor told me that I was really a man. I spent the dream in a panic, reviewing my life, reviewing my identity, wondering what to tell my husband."

(Christine Lee Zilka, Website, November 27, 2004)

"I don't have dreams about migraines before I get them, but I do have highly-anxious dreams about stuff going wrong in my life that may have happened or that I fear will happen, and I'll wake up with a doozy. I never thought to explore the 'bad dreams = migraine' theory before. I'll try that one on my therapist in a few weeks."

(Ann R., Wet Canvas! forum, Subject: I'm Dreaming Of A...Migraine?!, December 25, 2004)

"Migraines may start in childhood and dreams (of the sufferer) can warn parents of impending attacks. Aggression is often experienced in pre-migraine dreams, but even more common are dreams of complete terror. To detect the presence of an impending migraine attack dream, it is important that you sit down and talk with your child about their dreams on a regular basis."

(Maljonic's Dreams, Warning Dreams, May 15, 2005)

Mella Wyrden. © 2005 Mella Wyrden

"I am not quite sure if this is related, but I have had absolutely horrifying dreams in the past and woke up with dreadful migraines. I don't remember them most of the time and sometimes I can't even recall them but when I wake up, I have a horrible feeling of fright and some of the worst migraines I get. I haven't ever really timed it, but the feeling does last longer than it may normally, perhaps maybe an hour. Lately whenever I can recall a nightmare or feelings of one it is associated with a migraine." [more]

(pixels in love, LiveJournal for Support Group for Migraine Sufferers, Subject: migraines and dreams, August 10-12, 2005)

"Hey, the other day I had a really odd dream that reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. I did some research online, and I found that I was lucid dreaming. Some of my friends are into lucid dreaming, like inducing the dreams, but I hadn't done that. I realized I had these lucid dreams regularly (at least once a week) all of my life since I was kid. So I did some research again because I remember your website about dreaming and mingraines to see if lucid dreams are connected to migraines. I found a couple interesting articles relating lucid dreams and migraines. The really odd part is that when I lucid dream it is usually a nightmare, and then I sometimes wake up with a migraine. It's like my body is telling itself to wake-up because I am in a deep sleep and cant feel the pain. I just really found it all intriguing and very oddly connected. Also, its kind of odd how for the last couple days I keep comparing my dream to Alice in Wonderland, and that is the last entry in your journal. heh. I thought you just might find it interesting. ~~Katy"

(pixels in love, ksomething's LiveJournal, March 17, 2006)

"the only time i dream is with a migraine. i don't always remember the dreams, but it's the only time i even have the feeling that i dreamt. the re-occuring dream goes like this:

(A) i'm standing at a sink full of dirty dishes, stacked higher than my head. There's a tiger w/ a head of a miniature pastel marshellow standing on his hind legs threatening me to eat my thumbs if i stop washing dishes. as soon as i get done with one dish and put it in the drying rack, it becomes even more dirty than it was before, and reappears on the stack of dirty dishes. this can go on for what seems like forever. if i try to talk to the tiger-

CUT to: (B) i'm in my grandfather's study. (backstory here, grampa's a neurosurgeon) he's lying on his stomache on a massage table researching polio for my sister. i'm sitting in his second chair, and am held down somehow, even though i have no body. he has chopsticks taped to his toes, and he's wielding my grandmother's biggest butcher knife. it seems he's trying to cut at my head, but he never quite does. if i try to talk to him-

CUT to: (A) tiger.

this can go on and on and on and sounds hilarious beyond all reason when i talk about it when i'm awake but i'll wake up sobbing, screaming or trying to bash my head agaist the wall in an effort to make it stop." [more]

(dame wilbur, LiveJournal for Support Group for Migraine Sufferers, Subject: dunno if this help, August 16, 2005)

"I found another dream in my journal that I remember had really affected me at the time, and I woke up feeling distressed (with a migraine).
I was in a healing facility which was a serious of hot and cold pools -- I was there to get my spine fixed. My spine was exposed at the back of my neck, I kept having to pull my head upwards to keep it from tilting overwards, because this would be painful. I tried to get into the pools so that I could get well, but the cold pools were freezing cold and the hot pools were so hot that people's flesh would come off the bone. I put my hand into one of the hot pools and my hand simply disintegrated. I saw my mother fully immersed in one of the hot pools, and she was screaming. I wanted to get to her and help her, but I couldn't move since my spine was exposed ... every time I moved the bones would creak against one another and it would hurt terribly.
When I woke up I had a terrible migraine. - Yes, that was a one-time event. The 'typical' dreams I guess for me would either be the 'chasing' dreams or the dreams with someone hitting my head."

(Ladypeculiar, Emails to Klaus Podoll, August 23, 2005)

"Based on the dreams I just had when I took a nap, and what happens when I look at the ceiling or doors [see here], I'm really starting to question my sanity... I'm an Alias fan [hit TV series created by J.J. Abrams] which if I spoil anything for anyone I'm sorry. In my dream, I was Syd and I saw Vaughn get killed right next to me in a bathroom. Sloane got decapitated. But it was so real, I woke up crying. That's really the only one I remember... Yeah, it wasn't a recurring dream. Thank god. I had gone to bed with excruitating pain - so I'm not sure how that works out - it certainly wasn't any better when I woke up, but I don't remember if it was worse or not."

(nabba, LiveJournal for Support Group for Migraine Sufferers, Subject: problems a plenty, October 23-24., 2005; additions in square brackets added by Klaus Podoll)

References

Todd J, Dewhurst K. The significance of the Doppelgänger (hallucinatory double) in folk-lore and neuro-psychiatry. Practitioner 1962; 188: 77-82.

top