What is hypnic headache?
Hypnic headache is a rare, distinctive nocturnal headache disorder that affects elderly men and women (after age 60). The attacks usually occur on both sides, but one-sided pain has been reported (Gould, 1997). The pain is throbbing in quality and occurs 2-4 hours after night-time sleep onset, although attacks after daytime napping are reported (Dodick, 1998). It is usually a short-lived attack with a duration ranging between 15 minutes to 3 hours. Generally, there is an absence of associated autonomic features, although nausea may be present. Hypnic headaches characteristically respond to lithium carbonate (300-600 mg. at h.s.), although caffeine (Dodick, 1998) and indomethacin are also reported to help (Ivanez, 1998). Both genders are affected; however, in Dodick’s recent large series, 84% of cases were women. It is generally considered a benign disorder (Gould, 1997;Mosek, 1997; Newman, 1991; Raskin, 1997). At this time, a relationship to cluster headache has not been established. H
