Night dehydration and migraine

I want to share something that I have discovered:
I have come to a conclusion that many of the morning h/a that we wake up with, are caused by the dehydration during the night.

My eyes also get very dry, and this leads me to believe that so is "my brain" and that is is what is causing many of my morning h/a. I also get very hot at night, no matter what time of year, so there must be also much water loss, due to perspiration.

Dehydration is a well known migraine trigger of course, therefore I make sure that I drink plenty of water thorughout the day, and always carry a small bottle with me, wherever I go.

However I do not drink much, and nothing at all from about 8 pm in the evening until I wake up again, say at 7/8 am.

The reason I do not drink in the evenings is becasue this would wake me up at night, and once I wake up it is extremly difficult for me to fall asleep again.
Little sleep makes me feel quite ill and prone to get migraine the next day, so I make sure that my night sleep is not interrupted and by reducing fluid intake in the evening I make sure that I am not woken up, just becasue I need to go to the bathroom.

I am not sure what to do about this dilemma, any ideas? I am at a loss how to handle this.

BTW I am sure, that I am not alone when it comes to the night dehydration and morning h/a connection.

Hi Mini

I know exactly what you mean. I can't drink anything past about 8 either without waking up in the middle of the night and barely able to get back to sleep after. Warm drinks are the worst so there's no way I have them in the evening! I don't know how to combat the dehydration and often wonder myself if that is contributing to things. I always have a glass of water by my bed and if I do wake up, drink that or at the very least, drink it first thing in the morning but it doesn't help the previous 10+ hrs of no water. Its like we need a slow release tablet or something! Sorry, no ideas on how to resolve this though :-(

Lissy

Thank you for the tip, Lissy - I will try to drink only cold drinks and see if it makes any difference.
Do you also get dry eyes with migraine? It drives me mad and makes looking at compuer really hard, at night and in the mornings - I am quite sure it is to do with dehydration.
I use special drops prescibed by eye Dr, but they soon "swim away" and only help for a minute or so.
Mini

Yes - dry eyes are a constant annoying factor! I've always suffered from dry eyes and dry mouth though they seem to be hightened with the migraines. My hayfever has been the worst ever this year and this seems to agrivate migraine symptoms as well. With so much inflamation running around in the body symptoms like dry eyes just seem to be worse. I do use some eye drops and they do seem to work quite well though - I couldn't live without them! I generally only need to use them twice a day - they are long lasting drops. Perhaps you need to try a different brand Mini?

What is the medical name of your drops, Lissy? I will perhaps ask my Dr for prescription and see if they work any better, or rather longer.
Mine feel fine, but they soon flow out with blinking. They are called HYLO-Forte and it contains sodium hyaluronate.
They were prescribed to me specifically for the "persistent dry eyes" condition. Like with all medicines it is so often trial and error.
Yes, I agree it is the inflammation that is the cause of most of our problems. I also have dry mouth problem.

Hi Mini

The eye drops I use are called "Systane Ultra - high performance". I actually just get them over the counter at the chemist - no need for a script. My Optometrist actually recommended them as they are safe to use every day. Worth a shot.

Cheers,
Lissy

I have always felt the same way about hydrating before sleep. I personally drink coconut water before sleep. It's like super charged Gatorade, so you don't have to drink a large quantity of it before bed to stay hydrated. If I chug water, I end up having to go the the washroom several times in the night.

hmmm coconut water. Where do you buy that? I've never heard of it for hydration before.

I was wondering about the same thing, Lissy (I am in UK, so it is not most exotic place on earth).
Thanks for the name of the eye drops - I will investgate, but I was very busy lately with summer visitors (from Australia).

lissy wrote:hmmm coconut water. Where do you buy that? I've never heard of it for hydration before.

You'd be surprised how many grocery stores carry it. Any grocery store that has an Asian foods section may have it. Even my local Walmart carries it at times, but they sell out quickly. It's very popular as a sports drink right now. If you do a Google search you will get a million results.

The main place to get it is Asian grocery stores and health food stores though. Or, you can order it online. A lot of the Asian grocery stores even sell the green coconuts, and you can get the water right out of them.

They sell various flavours as well like Mango etc, but a lot of the flavours have added sugar so I just use the plain kind, and mix it with a bit of fruit juice.

Just make sure it's coconut water and not coconut milk. Different thing.

it's pretty amazing how well it re-hydrates you. My girlfriend started drinking it recently and is impressed. I don't drink, but she says it's fantastic for hangovers lol.

That's about all the relevant info I can think of lol.

Thank you for the explanation tdu.
WE can get coconuts in ethnic shops here in UK, but I know from experince that thye are impossibly difficult to crack open, let alone to save the water as it spurts uncontrollably.

I am not sure I have ever seen coconut water for sale, but I will keep my eyes open. I think dehydration is a big problem at night no matter how much I drink during the day.

thanks TDU. Haven't seen it for sale here but will keep looking!

Mini wrote:Thank you for the explanation tdu.
WE can get coconuts in ethnic shops here in UK, but I know from experince that thye are impossibly difficult to crack open, let alone to save the water as it spurts uncontrollably.

I am not sure I have ever seen coconut water for sale, but I will keep my eyes open. I think dehydration is a big problem at night no matter how much I drink during the day.

If you are buying the raw coconuts for water, it has to be the green coconuts not the brown ones. Which are easier to open.