My doctor has made a tentative diagnosis of OSA for me, pending a sleep test.  The thing that got me into his office was daily headaches, occasionally severe.  I've had them for 3 or 4 years.

I have several other symptoms: drowsiness, high blood pressure, memory problems, concentration problems, snoring, etc.

My question: has anybody else out there had headaches as a symptom of OSA?  Is it rare?

I have had headaches during the night and in a.m. since pre l997, together withother symtoms but my Dr. only clued in this year when someone noticed that I stopped breathing when asleep.   Don't know how common this is but it is certainly listed as one of the symptoms as are your others.   I don't have them now as on  cpap for 6wks but still tired, still got memory problems and feel a bit foggy, guess it's the mouth leaks, the chin strap not working maybe.     Do some homework on what is available, prices etc and shop around for a place with good service, there are some crummy outfits out there.      They should also put you in a reclining position when you go to try masks on.   Good luck

I get headaches all the time. I never really thought about it being associated with another health problem until I was diagnosed and then I heard it was a symptom of sleep apnea!

Very common- especially morning headaches from lack of oxygen overnight. All of the other symptoms you listed are associated with apnea- even if they are not caused by the apnea they can be made worse by it.

Hi Alan,

Yes, headaches are a very common symtom of apnea, probably due to hypoxia (low O2) as stated previously.  Just my own personal thinking that increased levels of CO2 have to muck things up a lot also and might contribute too.  If I nap without my CPAP, I get an apnea headache.  That was the first improvement an older friend of mine noticed when she started on her CPAP, her headaches went away.  Wouldn't that be great for you,  going from this   , to this    (I love playing with these things).

Vicki