How I did it: As it turns out - I was suffering from sleep apnea for more than a year.  After particularly bad nights my oxygen level would drop so significantly, that I'd wake up with a skull-crushing headache.  Never correlating the two, I worked with my doctor for over a year before I found out that I had apnea.  Now that I use a CPAP, the headaches have almost totally disappeared. 

It's worth considering if you've tried everything else.  I found my cure by accident.

Lessons & tips: Obviously, see a doctor.  Consider theories that may not be related.  My pulmonologist told me that if apnea is severe it can cause any number of maladies.  Some you'd never think to relate to not sleeping.

Resources: A sleep study.  Sleep over night in a clinic while being monitored for quality of sleep.

---

Aug 17, 2010, 10:58AM PDT | 0 comments | 2 cheers