*Early morning headaches -Normal or something of serious concern*

A headache is a pain in your head or face that's often described as a pressure that's steadily beating, constant, sharp, or dull. Headaches can differ greatly in regard to pain type, location, and number of times occurring. It's a common condition that most people will experience during their lifetime. The main symptom of a headache is pain in your head, and the common types are tension and migraine headaches.

Tension headaches are usually mild to moderate, and they cause pain on both sides of the head. Tension headache pain usually comes as a squeezing sensation. While;

Migraine headaches These headaches usually start from mild to severe pain. It is usually on one side of the head and also leads to nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to lights and sound. Both migraine and tension headaches happen in the morning. We have other types like cluster headaches, a less common type of headache that can also occur when waking up. They cause severe stabbing pain, usually behind one eye. Stress, sleep problems and lifestyle are some factors that may contribute to all types of headaches; some are dangerous, while some are signs of an underlying condition.

Early morning headaches are a throbbing, pounding pain in your head or face that occur for a variety of reasons. It can be as a result of strained muscles in your neck or after a poor night's sleep or when experiencing stress, or you may experience them regularly. Early morning headaches may also be a result of changes in your body's physiology in the early morning hours. Your body's level of internal pain reduction may be lowered. Additionally, your body may make more adrenaline during this time, resulting in migraine episodes. Early morning will often wake you up after 4 am, or it may be present when you wake up. Early morning headaches can be normal sometimes, but they can also be a sign of something to be concerned about depending on the frequency and how persistently they happen.

I do wake up in the morning feeling a sharp pain in my head and sometimes on the side of my eyes down to my neck. And what I thought was the possible cause of my own headache is poor sleeping habits because I love using double pillows, and when I wake up, I will definitely feel pains in my head, and sometimes when I go through a lot of stress during the day, it will affect my sleep, and it will cause a lack of sleep for me, which is insomnia. In addition, when my blood pressure or blood sugar is low, I do have these pounding pains on my forehead, and it starts at 3 am until I eat food or take any energy drink; that's when the headache disappears, and I will be fine again.

It's not okay to ignore early morning headaches. Because when it is ignored, it can lead to another serious problem, especially persistent headaches or the ones that are caused by simple things that can be addressed, like stress, insomnia, dehydration and low blood sugar (hypoglycemia, especially if you are diabetic or skipping meals all the time.) If it happens occasionally, it might not be a cause for concern, but if it is frequent or severe, or if the pain is interfering with your daily life, it shouldn't be ignored. These could be a sign of an underlying health condition for which you need to see a doctor.

Causes early morning headache

Early morning headaches again can be annoying, but they don't necessarily indicate a bigger problem. Doctors don't really know what causes most headaches; according to some estimates, only 10 per cent of headaches have a known cause. But there are contributing factors that can trigger chronic headaches, such as alcohol, caffeine, dehydratio, Hunger, lack of sleep.

• Sensory triggers such as bright light, loud noise, and unpleasant or sharp smells
• Stress and anxiety Oversleeping
• Mood and mental health
• Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) Medication abuse.

Explanation

• Alcohol triggers a headache for some people that take more than usual, and a night of excess drinking of alcohol is more likely to result in a hangover, which often includes an unpleasant morning headache.

• Caffeine is another substance that causes morning headaches, especially if it's caffeine withdrawal, which is when you change the time of taking caffeine, and the headaches usually begin 12-24 hours after the last intake of caffeine. So if one is taking a lot of caffeine in the morning, for example, your body may be waking you up with a craving for more caffeine, and if you did not take it, you would have a headache.

• Dehydration: causes early morning headaches. If you do not have the right fluid balance or enough fluid, it can also occur from losing fluid through vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, or excess sweating, and some medications like diuretics also cause dehydration, which leads to early morning headaches.

• Hunger: If you are not eating well or skipping meals, it may wake you up with a headache. And if you are sensitive to some certain foods Like chocolate, cured meat, fermented foods, and food that contains artificial sweetener. It will lead to early morning headaches. Lack of sleep If the airway is partly closed during sleep, it causes morning headaches by disturbing the usual sleep cycle. Oversleeping, or excessive sleeping, often causes headaches. Because any change in circadian rhythm or the body's internal clock triggers headaches. Some people will experience weakness of the body, which happens because you have slept much longer than usual, and it has disturbed your circadian rhythm.

• Sleep position: a poor sleeping position that puts stress on the neck and shoulders, along with neck pain and stiffness, causes early morning headache. Poor sleep is associated with cluster headaches, tension headaches, and hypnic headaches. Hypnic headaches occur most times in older adults and can wake people from sleep.

Like me, poor sleeping position has always been my problem because sometimes I don't use a pillow the right way, and at the end, I will wake up with a headache in the morning. Whereas I know I'm supposed to sleep on my back and use a supportive pillow and a good mattress that will help me get the best night's sleep, but the reverse is my case.

** Mood and mental health**, Headaches Can often be linked to other disorders, including depression, anxiety, allergies and temporomandibular joint dysfunction, also known as TMJ. In addition, stress interferes with your mood and mental health and affects your sleep, muscles, and hormones, which results in early morning headaches.

If I'm working under someone and I feel a persistent early morning headache, I will go to work. That's because I know the pounding pain in my head is primary. Though it might be bothering and annoying, I just have to go to work because I'm working for someone, and I know I'll get over it because there's often a treatable issue behind the discomfort.

The remedy for early morning headache is not drugs; the remedy is daily exercise. Managing and addressing stress and depression Also, improve with better sleep quality, stay hydrated always, avoid skipping meals, avoid caffeine after midday, and do not take lots of alcohol. And talk with your healthcareprovider about it if it doesn't get better or interferes with your quality of life. Don't let early morning headaches steal your day; eat well and embrace a healthy lifestyle.