Link Between Headaches and ADHD

You might not realize it, but if you or your children live with ADHD, these issues could bring on or worsen headaches — and they might even worsen your ADHD. For some people, headaches might stem from undiagnosed ADHD. When headaches are frequent and debilitating, students miss school days, and adults lose time at work, adding to the stress.

Wait, you might say. There’s a connection between headaches and ADHD? Research says yes, and it might be worse for women. Help may be elusive, as physicians who treat migraine headaches might not be familiar with ADHD and the factors that can lead to or aggravate this condition.

• The connection between migraine headaches and ADHD
• The factors that may lead to or worsen headaches in people with and without ADHD and women in particular
• Strategies to reduce or stop migraines
• Resources to help you overcome the problems that lead to headaches

More than a third of women with ADHD and 22.5% of men with ADHD who participated in a recent study also reported experiencing migraine headaches, suggesting a comorbid solid link between the two conditions in adults, particularly women in their 50s.

We don’t have to tell you that attention deficit disorder (ADHD or ADD) can be a headache — mainly for adults not correctly diagnosed and, thus, treated.

A new study suggests that ADHD and migraines, excruciating headaches associated with other symptoms like nausea and light sensitivity, are “comorbid conditions” in adults — meaning they often occur together. These findings were published on October 16 in the journal BMC Neurology.