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People normally sleep in cycles during the night that involve 2 states of sleep:
There are 4 stages of sleep: 3 stages in NREM sleep (Stages 1 to 3) and 1 stage in REM sleep (Stage 4). We dream during REM sleep. The NREM stages are:
Research has shown that people with migraines have less total REM sleep than people without migraines.
During an evening, people move through the sleep cycles about 4 to 6 times. The states and stages of sleep are collectively called sleep architecture.
Learn more about what happens to your body in each state and stage of sleep.
It’s thought that dreams clear out old information from the brain, build and organize memory, and help with learning and problem solving.
Sleep is controlled by the body in 2 ways:
Sleep pressure is the body's strong push towards sleep. It steadily builds throughout the day. Sleep pressure is strongest at night and makes it hard to stay awake.
Adenosine is a substance in the body that helps with sleep pressure by binding to special receptors. Unfortunately, caffeine can bind to these receptors and prevent adenosine from working like it’s supposed to. When this happens, it may take longer to fall asleep and there may be less deep sleep.
Napping (especially after 3 p.m.) can also push back sleep pressure.
Headache researchers Ong and Park found that some common short-term ways to cope with headaches, like taking naps to sleep off a headache or using caffeine during the day, could lead to long-term sleep problems and possibly worsen headaches over time.
They suggest using other headache management strategies, as well as regular sleep hygiene and stress management techniques. These are covered later in the module.
Circadian rhythms help control sleeping and waking. The brain’s “biological clock” drives these special rhythms. There are also special molecules in the body’s cells and tissues that support these rhythms.
The clock receives lots of input, but information about light has the greatest impact. The clock has nerves that connect to the eyes and, through connections in the brain and spinal cord, to a gland in the brain that secretes melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone that is released when the eyes detect that the environment is dim or dark. The highest amount of melatonin is released around midnight. Regular routines for sleep, meals, work, and other activities can help support circadian rhythms.
Shiftwork can disturb a person’s circadian rhythms. Research on shiftwork and migraines is mixed: some researchers report that shiftwork doesn’t impact headaches, while others report that it does.
For information about coping with shiftwork, see Sleep Hygiene: Troubleshooting.
