Monday Headache

Updated on October 10, 2011
S.K. asks from Minneapolis, MN
14 answers

Hello! For the past few years nearly every Monday that I work I get a headache. I am a teacher so this is happens every Monday for 9 mths/year. I do not get a headache when I am home on Monday (day off) and I also didn't get them when I was pregnant or nursing. My DR thought it could be due to hormones in my birth control pill so I stopped them for awhile but that didn't help. Another DR suggested work stress but other days of the week are more stressful and I don't get headaches.

Two questions:
1) Any idea what is causing MONDAY headaches?

2) Any suggestions to make them go away fast? I am terrible at swallowing pills so I tried taking the children's melting Tylenol but they don't help. The main thing that works is to go home and take a nap but when they start at 12:00 noon and I pick up my own 2 kids after school, it can be 7 hrs with a headache. Help!

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M.P.

answers from Raleigh on

I have to second the caffeine. I also get headaches on Monday morning, but I swear it's caffeine withdrawal. I don't drink as much coffee on the weekends, and my Monday morning, I wake up with a headache. I had one today, and took some Advil. It finally went away. Instead of Tylenol, maybe you could take Childrens Advil. Advil just works so much better.

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L.R.

answers from Washington DC on

If you drink any caffeinated drinks (not just coffee, but sodas too), look at your weekend intake versus your intake, if any, from Sunday night through the time these headaches hit on Monday. You say the headaches start at noon (If I read it right, it's a little hard to tell); do you not have any caffeine (any form! ) Monday before noon, whereas other days you do?

Changes in your caffeine intake, if you have it regularly, really can affect you. My best friend wondered why she always had awful Saturday and Sunday headaches by lunchtime. She figured out that she drinks several cups of coffee in the mornings Mon-Fri at work, but on Sat. and Sun. she sleeps in until at least 9 or later and then starts errands etc. -- once she started having coffee on weekends as soon as she got up, the headaches stopped. (Yes, mamas, she has no kids!) But I would not advocate increasing caffeine; really I would advocate reducing it every day, having a little each day if you must, but overall declining until you can do without it. Caffeine can promote benign cysts in the breast and increase fibrocystic breast problems. Not all women are prone to this, but if you ever have unexplained breast "twinges" that come and go, caffeine can be to blame, since the cysts it promotes come and go too.

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J.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

I actually used to have a full blown cold every Monday. I used to start feeling better by Wednesday/ Thursday. It tools months for me to figure it out but it was my in-laws dog. I knew I was allergic to him since he always made me sneeze but I think after eating at my inlaws every Sunday night my sinuses would just be so aggravated and inflamed I would feel really sick on Monday. Hope you can figure it out and it is something you can prevent in the future.

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C.M.

answers from Bismarck on

My MIL was a teacher and she got a terrible headache every Friday when the school week was over. She would have it all Friday night, all Saturday and Sunday it would start to feel better. It sounds like something stress related--talk to you doctor and I hope you find some relief. Those kinds of headaches are no fun at all.

2 moms found this helpful

E.A.

answers from Erie on

When I used to get migraines and bad tension headaches they were always post-stress. Also look at your diet, I know there were a lot of foods I was sensitive to, and I had to avoid them for years. Don't know if that will help, but it's something to think about.

1 mom found this helpful

T.N.

answers from Albany on

Hmmm, maybe something environmental at school? Cleaning product, mold, lighting, etc?

Some of the common pain meds otc have the melt on your tongue thing. Have you tried that?

Feel better!

:)

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S.K.

answers from Dallas on

Could it be related to caffeine intake after the weekend? LIke are you drinking caffeine on Monday morning after not having it all weekend so its kind of a sudden shift for your body? And likewise if you took the day off on a Monday perhaps you wouldn't drink caffeine and therefore not get a headache? And I'm assuming you would have cut caffeine out while you were pregnant and nursing too...

I know for myself, I get headaches if I do NOT have caffeine because thanks to my kids I'm addicted to it, but my mom gets a headache when she DOES take in caffeine. She has long suspected she is allergic to it.

Just a thought! Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

M.S.

answers from Omaha on

Sounds like you are stressed more on Mondays because you are coming back from the week-end. When I have a headache I hold the meaty part of my hand between my thumb and pointer finger. Just pinch it with your other thumb and pointer finger. Accupressure method. Takes the edge off.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.L.

answers from San Diego on

There are several reasons that you could be getting headaches.

1. could be allergies.
2. could be stress - even though it doesn't happen the rest of the week.
3. could be tension - different from stress - as you start your week out.

I would be hard to have the doctor examine you at his office when you don't have one. So I would go to my doctor and tell him just what you told us. There are several medications out there that MIGHT help you. Imitrex is for migraines and you might find that useful. Like any medication, it will be different for anyone that takes it.

I am truly sorry that you are in pain. If you believe in chiropractors, I would suggest trying one. I use one every week and I'm rarely sick.

1 mom found this helpful

T.K.

answers from Dallas on

I'm sorry, it's not funny when you're in pain, but this is kinda funny. "I'm a teacher, I get headaches on Mondays, but only when I go to work." Sorry our kids are giving you migraines! Hahaha Work sucks. I get a headache and a bad case of the "I dont wannas" on Monday too! Sorry, I Know it's really bothering you. I'm not trying to make light of your pain. Stuff just tickles me sometimes.

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K.C.

answers from Cleveland on

maybe its just that its Monday. Its the worst day of the week, and you're mad that the weekend is over. Try to take medicine like aspirin, Tylenol or Motrin to help soothe it.

1 mom found this helpful

J.W.

answers from St. Louis on

Do you have allergies? I have a lot of mold in my building so on Mondays I get headaches. I also get them on Wednesday because that is one of my longer shifts. I guess after that my body gets used to it. Then the weekends and we start all over.

1 mom found this helpful
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B.B.

answers from Detroit on

Excedrin Extra Strength or Excedrin Migraine works really well for me.
Put one on your tongue and take a big gulp of water to wash it all down.
Keep trying if need be....it really works.

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D.B.

answers from Charlotte on

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