8 Things Your Morning Headache Is Trying to Tell You

Your body needs 7 to 8 hours to function normally. So when you get less, it assumes something must be wrong and starts to go into panic mode.

“Your fight-or-flight hormones start to kick in, resulting in an increased heart rate, higher blood pressure, and stress,” says Salvatore Napoli, M.D., of the New England Center of Neurology. And all of those things can contribute to a headache.

An over-the-counter pain med like ibuprofen or naproxen can help you make it through the morning, says Dr. Napoli. They’ll ease the pain by reducing inflammation.

Related: 5 Crazy Things That Can Happen When You’re Short on Sleep

And if you still feel zonked and crappy, take a 20 to 30 minute nap, which will give your body more of the rest it needs to function normally. (Longer naps will probably leave you groggy, making your headache worse.) And get back to a normal sleep cycle so you don’t wake up in pain again tomorrow.