Premium
The Hypnic Headache Syndrome
Author(s) -
Raskin Neil H.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
headache: the journal of head and face pain
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.14
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1526-4610
pISSN - 0017-8748
DOI - 10.1111/j.1526-4610.1988.hed2808534.x
Subject(s) - bedtime , nausea , anesthesia , medicine , pediatrics , dream , lithium (medication) , vomiting , psychology , psychiatry , neuroscience
SYNOPSIS Six patients, all but one, men, between the ages of 65 and 77 years, were regularly awakened from sleep at a consistent time of night, sometimes during a dream, by a diffuse headache that persisted for 30 to 60 minutes and was often associated with nausea, without autonomic symptoms. In all cases, headache ceased or was substantially attenuated by a bedtime dose of 300 to 600 mg of lithium. The disorder persisted for one and a half to three years in three of the patients; the others continue to require lithium. It is proposed that this syndrome may be caused by perturbation of a biological clock.