Daily headache cycles
 

Do people find that their headaches and/or "off" feeling follow a predictable daily cycle? Overall, my headaches have lessened a lot, but they still follow a somewhat predictable pattern:

- If I sleep badly, I notice them more in the morning
- If I sleep well, my mornings are generally good
- My best hours tend to be from about 11 am - 2 pm
- Late afternoons are not bad, but can go either way, depending on how much I've exerted myself that day (and the day before)
- Often I notice a headache coming on around 6:30 - 7 pm

Some things I've found helpful in heading them off:

- Keeping my stress level low (this is huge)
- Not overexerting myself (some mental stimulation and physical exertion is good, just not too much)
- Resting for a half hour or hour - either napping or just reclining and doing something restful
- Taking a hot bath (sometimes a couple of times a day)
- Mindful meditation (20 mins once or twice a day) - I know this isn't for everyone but I find it really helpful
- Eating properly
- Distracting myself with something relatively mindless (a bit of TV or half a movie can be good - again, moderate doses are good)

Oh, and far and away the best thing is a good night's sleep. Sleep, sleep and more sleep - this works wonders for me. Of course, sometimes I sleep well, sometimes I don't...