Terrible Headaches - WHY?

noirelb

smc92079 wrote: »

noirelb wrote: »

I'm 5'10'' and started at 248, dropped weight quickly for the first 1 month at a 2lbs/week loss so 1360calories per day. After that month I started having headaches daily for the rest of the day, asked the same question on MFP than you. Girls o my height and weight told me that since at that point I only had 40lbs left to lose (wanting to get to 185lbs), than I should increase to 1lbs/week loss and 1800 calories. I didn't but I did increase it to 1500-1600 calories and I eat about 50-75% of my exercise calories back. No more head aches!! - and if I did, I would eat more.

Seems like 1) You lost 10lbs from eating pretty high in calories for the first week and too little on your second week (where you started the headaches). ... My guess is that 1) you have a very muscular body and higher metabolism than what MFP thinks or 2) You are not calculating your calories right and therefore under eating. Are these 2 things possible? Nonetheless, I would take that as a BLESSING, I would keep my calories at 0.5lbs/week and eat back 50-75% of my exercise calories and drink a little more water. I bet you will lose much more than 0.5lbs/week. Then, reassess in a few weeks if your weight loss has slowed too much. Maybe you will want to try lower calories for a week and assess your headaches then?

Thanks for your reply. I hadn't clicked on the first week being higher calories. I think that I'm being pretty accurate about the calorie counts, at least this week, as I've been much better about weighing/measuring everything and scanning packages instead of just searching the database. I suppose it is possible that my metabolism is higher than MFP thinks, especially now that I'm getting some regular exercise.

Oh most definitely, especially if you only started weighing this week, it means last week you ate even more than your diary says...yet still lost weight. That's pretty awesome. I would definitely stay at 0.5lbs/week if I were you. My diet was so much harder to stick too due to head aches and now it's a breeze for 200-300 calories more a day. It's worth loosing weight slower to have a better lifestyle.

Need2Exerc1se

If you're eating foods new to your diet or increased the amount of them it's possible that these could also being triggering headaches. Even 'healthy foods' can trigger headaches.

RedSierra

smc92079 wrote: »

xproofx wrote: »

Did you cut out caffeine or drop your sugar intake precipitously?

Less diet soda at night because I've been drinking more water. I was drinking A LOT of diet pepsi from after work until bed before I got my water in line.

It might be a caffeine withdrawal headache, which can last for several days. If you're going on and off caffeine, you might be giving yourself several headaches.

Do you take any over the counter headache meds (aspirin, Ibuprofen, Excedrin, etc.) ? Some people get rebound headaches when the med wears off in their system, so they take another pill and get into a cycle. Google rebound headache for more info.

If the headaches persist I agree with the people who said see a doctor. It could be a medical problem unrelated to your food and drink.

lindarpolk

I also agree that a lot of the problem can be your change in eating habits. Your headaches could be your body's way of screaming for more calories and nutrients.

sharonmiller4

Might want a checkup with your doctor. I get terrible headaches if my sugar gets too high.

theclubbreakfast

I always switch to green tea when quitting coffee no withdrawal headaches.