Chronic migraines and sinus issues affecting exercise

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bbontheb
bbontheb Posts: 718 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi there,

I am trying to get back to exercising a bit-even just walking and have had chronic migraines and sinus pain/pressure. I am wondering if anyone struggles with the same, and how do you manage it. Do you try to fit in very short bursts when feeling a bit better?

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  • ladeeda103
    ladeeda103 Posts: 12 Member
    edited August 2016
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    I struggle with migraines as well. Nausea, throwing up, light sensitivity, blind spots, the whole horrible thing. Everyone's migraines are triggered by something different, so it's important to figure out what's causing yours. If yours are truly debilitating talk to your doctor obviously. But it might also be worth checking out food triggers. You may have food allergies or sensitivities you didn't even know about. It's best to cut out all usual suspects for a few days-processed food, soy, dairy, nuts, etc. then add them slowly to see if any of them trigger a migraine. Keep in mind, the reaction doesn't have to be immediate either. You can have any combination of triggers-foods, hormones, sleep cycle problems, low or high blood sugar-and they may trigger a migraine a couple days after the incidences. For example, if I exercise when my blood sugar is low, I can get a migraine 48 hours after it happens, even if I got my blood sugar back up. After paying attention to all these things, I learned my personal main triggers were msg, irregular sleeping, hormones (pms), and low blood sugar.

    Once you develop a system to estimating when you might have a migraine, it helps significantly when planning to exercise. You can take steps to avoid the likelihood of getting them too. You might also find that the healthier you are, the cleaner you eat, the less you have them.

    You might also look into short 10 min workouts, and do 1-3 of them on your workout days depending on how you feel. YouTube is full of all different kinds-cardio, strength, low impact. 10 min is always better than nothing. Always!
  • YvetteK2015
    YvetteK2015 Posts: 653 Member
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    I have chronic daily migraines. Literally every single day. My list of triggers is so long it's not even worth putting down on here. The only thing that changes for me day to day is the intensity of the migraine. So if I'm at a 4, I can go on the treadmill and walk. It's not until it hits about a 6 that I know I can't exercise that day. But it's not uncommon for me to go on the treadmill and a few hours later my migraine shoots up to an 8 or higher. Along with the migraine, that's the exertion headache adding to the pain.
    My headache specialist knows how exercise affects me, but he wants me to be on the treadmill every day (as long as my migraine is not an 8 or higher). TBH, the more time goes on, I'm finding it easier to exercise without the migraines affecting me greatly, or I should rather say, adding to the headache that is already existing.

    I do the best I can. If I can only do 10-15 minutes, that's all I do. Though I do have to admit that sometimes I push through because I know the endorphins will kick in and I know the pain will go away for a little bit. But I walk slowly, and if my nausea kicks in, I stop immediately. That's all you can do. Start out slow, and if you can work up little by little, perfect.

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