Sleep Apnea the Cause of Percy Harvin’s Lifetime of Mystery Migraines

While in the hospital after collapsing on the field last month, Percy Harvin’s doctors made a startling discovery. Harvin had been suffering from migraines since he was a child, and his doctors had tried almost everything to treat them. The NFL offensive rookie of the year and Vikings receiver had headaches that kept him from practice and games several times last season, and he blamed his collapse on the migraine medication he had been taking.

During his overnight stay in the hospital, the doctors discovered he had stopped breathing during while he was asleep several times, and tests proved his heart had stopped twice. They immediately suspected sleep apnea and ordered him onto a breathing device, most commonly used is the CPAP, (Continuous Positive Airway Passage) which treats sleep apnea by providing a steady flow of air through a mask that it placed over the nose.

Since then, Harvin has been sleeping with the device, and the  results have been remarkable. According to Harvin, his migraines are gone and he no longer needs the migraine medication. Doctors believe that the lack of sleep he was suffering due to the sleep apnea had triggered his migraines. According to Harvin, he is getting more uninterrupted sleep and “feeling great,’” he told Pioneer Press at Twincities.com.  "It's a 100-percent difference, I'm not waking up groggy. I'm refreshed and ready to go. Hopefully, that's it," he said.

Harvin is lucky indeed that his sleep apnea was diagnosed and he is now receiving treatment. During a sleep apnea event, the airway becomes obstructed during sleep, blocking air flow and resulting in an emergency arousal that causes the person to gasp for air. Besides migraines as a symptom, sleep apnea and its related sleep deprivation can cause a variety of daytime issues including irritability, burnout, depression, and poor job performance, lack of concentration and memory loss. What’s more, because sleep apnea affects the heart it can lead to arrhythmia or abnormal heart rhythm, or enlargement of the heart. Since it can drop one’s blood oxygen level abnormally low, it can lead to high blood pressure, stroke and lung dysfunction if it is left undiagnosed.

If you’re suffering from daytime symptoms such as the migraines that Harvin experienced, or if you suspect you may have sleep apnea, it is important to seek diagnosis and treatment from a board-certified Otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat specialist). It’s important to proactively seek treatment, because the chance of accidentally discovering sleep apnea is rare, and lucky indeed. If you’re in the New York tri-state area, schedule an appointment online at the Manhattan Snoring and Sleep Center.