Daylight saving time is famously brutal on the body, disrupting sleep and leaving much of the nation groggy for days afterward. It can also be a headache, literally.
Americans spring forward at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 8, setting clocks ahead one hour and losing one hour of slumber in what’s become a controversial annual tradition.
“Be aware you may get a migraine or headache attack the next day,” Dr. Fred Cohen, a headache specialist and assistant professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, tells TODAY.com.
“Anything that disturbs the sleep pattern could instigate a headache.”
People who get migraines reported “a significant increase” in those attacks after the transition to daylight saving time, a 2026 study found. They also experienced a “significant reduction” in deep sleep, the type needed to feel refreshed in the morning.
Clock transitions are “not good for brain health,” said Sasikanth Gorantla, a UC Davis neurologist and sleep expert who led the study.
“Our findings show that even a small disruption to the body’s internal clock can have an impact on people living with migraines,” Gorantla told UC Davis Health.
“The increase in migraines and drop in deep sleep after the springtime change suggest that circadian stability is essential for migraine management.”
People who get migraines have a hypersensitive nervous system, which makes them more sensitive to any changes to their routine such as a clock change, the Association of Migraine Disorders notes.
But anyone can be affected, not just people who regularly get headaches or migraines, Cohen says.
It can happen in November, too, when Americans fall back one hour and slumber longer because that’s a change in sleep pattern as well, he adds.
Still, the transition is particularly tough on human health in the spring: People face a greater risk of stroke in the days after losing one hour of sleep. They can experience mood disturbances.
There are also more fatal car accidents, medical errors and hospital admissions, studies show.
Some studies have also reported a greater risk of heart attack, though more recent research finds daylight saving time may not trigger myocardial infarction after all.
Sticking with one time year-round, particularly standard time, would lead to a decrease in the prevalence of stroke and obesity, a 2025 study found.
Why you can get a headache with Daylight Saving Time
Changes to the sleep cycle are a headache trigger for many people, Cohen says, including himself.
It has to do with the role of sleep in reducing inflammation. When we’re going about our day thinking and feeling, our body uses messenger molecules called neuropeptides and neurotransmitters, he explains.
“When they’re used, it’s like spent fuel — there’s a waste product. This waste is inflammatory, and the body doesn’t like it, so when you sleep, the body cleans itself up. That’s what the brain is doing — it’s cleaning itself up,” Cohen says.
“If that gets changed, those waste products could remain, hence inflammation,” which can lead to headaches and migraines, he notes.
Seasonal changes, particularly in the spring, can also trigger cluster headaches, described as “bouts of extreme, stabbing pain” around the eye and temple at the same time every day, according to the Association of Migraine Disorders.
It happens because the changing amount of daylight can reset our biological clocks, affecting everything from hormone levels to body temperature, and these irregular circadian rhythms are linked to cluster headaches, it notes.
March 21 marks Cluster Headache Awareness Day because most sufferers experience a “reactivation” of attacks during the seasonal shift in the spring as well as in the fall, the International Headache Society notes.
Because cluster headaches can appear in the spring, they can be mistaken for allergies or sinusitis. They’re considered “one of the most painful things humans can experience,” Cohen says.
How to avoid a time change headache
Adjust your sleep accordingly to maintain your regular routine. If you normally sleep seven hours a night, make sure you still get that amount when the time change comes, Cohen advises.
Since the start of daylight saving time means waking up one hour early, go to bed one hour early until you adjust. Get good quality sleep and don’t let the spring forward transition disturb your sleep pattern.
Exercise can naturally enhance deep sleep, Gorantla said. Sunlight exposure within 30 to 60 minutes of waking up helps synchronize the body’s internal clock, he added.
“No one is immune to a headache,” Cohen says. “For good headache health, you need good sleep health.”
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