Lifting causes migraines- anyone else?

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EliseTK1
EliseTK1 Posts: 479 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm 34 and have gotten migraines my entire life. I see a neurologist regularly and am on preventative meds which help tremendously. I've tried just about everything over the years to get rid of them.

My problem is that one of my major triggers is weight lifting/strength training. I am no longer getting them instantaneously during a set (thank you Depakote/Emgality!) but sore muscles are about 95% guaranteed to be coupled with a migraine within 24 hours. If I don't get sore, I don't get the migraine. Cardio doesn't cause problems.

Has anyone else dealt with this? Did you push through it, and did it ever get better? I'm about five weeks into lifting 3 x week, which I haven't done in years for this reason.

My secret weapon is calorie restriction- my migraines all but disappear a few days into eating at a deficit. This is AWESOME, but obviously it's unsustainable once I'm at goal. (My neurologist is baffled as he's never heard of that helping before.)

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,962 Member
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    I had migraines for decades. Even treated I still got them when I exercised - any kind of exercise.

    Try playing around with different foods that you may be restricting when you are in a calorie deficit. For instance wheat was a food I learned to avoid - and of course the standard often-recommended citrus, cheese, chocolate, caffeine, peanuts, nightshade fruits, MSG, sulfites, alcohol.

  • mochapygmy
    mochapygmy Posts: 2,123 Member
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    That sounds awful. I'm so sorry.

    You mentioned soreness which is normal for new activities. Lifting is one of the most beneficial fitness activities for many reasons but one that may be impacting you currently is that lifting impacts the brain differently (more positively) than cardio. The connections aren't 100% understood at this time.

    Why not change your program to minimize soreness until your brain catches up to your body. Instead of lifting heavy for fewer sets switch to lifting lighter for longer sets and see how sore you get. Build endurance now and strength later.
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
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    Sounds like stress induced migraines - exercise specifically being the triggering stressor. I do keto for my migraines and it has been magical almost 2 years now. If you don't want to go full keto, then maybe just keto on the lifting days, or the day after??? You might be able to play with that and and the timing to see if that will help keep them away???
  • gottswald
    gottswald Posts: 122 Member
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    I have "CDH" w/ Migraines and I get migraines while/post lifting if I push myself too much on certain things like leg press. I think it is from the blood pressure elevation. I also find that the migraine response ceases to be a 'sure thing' after a few weeks of it as my body adjusts. Whether that is adjusting to the specific exercise or just the gap between starting a new weight and then increasing in strength until I earn the next new weight, I'm not sure yet. Curious if speed changes things, now that I think about it.

    It's hard though since I have a lot of headaches and migraines without strength training. What caused what when? They have me on propranolol ER and I hate it in part because, for me, it blurs the lines of headache vs migraine and when things start. Instead of a clear escalation, it is a slow development and thus often too late for the triptan to work. I've looked at botox, emgality, etc but I have concerns and the wonder the actual efficacy of them. I have heard Keto is good for migraines and epilepsy, but I don't know anything about scientific studies into that relationship.

  • EliseTK1
    EliseTK1 Posts: 479 Member
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    Thank you all for sharing your experience and giving some great suggestions. I've looked into keto for migraine- I theorize that I'd be a good candidate since anti-seizure meds work relatively well for me, and I see relief with calorie restriction. I'm just hesitant to do such a radical diet unless I have no other choice. I'm back-pocketing that.

    I've looked into what foods might be different- I gave up all major sources of caffeine a year ago which helped. I was gluten free for two years- no change in the headaches. The only real difference between my diet restricting vs not is the amount of sweets, but I do still eat chocolate daily. That has never given me problems. Maybe more calories from processed sugar makes it worse? It's definitely worth an experiment.

    I'm glad to hear that there's a possibility my body will adjust. It does tend to be much worse after a long period of time without training.

    My big fitness goal is mild weight loss with major body recomp, and I can't back off lifting heavy unless I let go of the recomp. Right now I am unwilling to do that. I am one of the lucky ones who (now that I'm on maintenance meds) can kill a migraine in an hour with 600 mg solubilized ibuprofen. I have no doubt I'd be singing a different tune if that weren't the case.
  • lollie1285
    lollie1285 Posts: 239 Member
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    I get this with cardio. Ugh, the worst. Right now I'm sitting here just feeling drained and awful -- and my workout was five hours ago. It doesn't happen with strength training in my case but I do feel for you.
  • gottswald
    gottswald Posts: 122 Member
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    pyrusangeles wrote: »
    I've looked into keto for migraine- I theorize that I'd be a good candidate since anti-seizure meds work relatively well for me, and I see relief with calorie restriction.
    The one I tried didn't work for me, interesting take on possible connection though. (I haven't tried Keto)
    pyrusangeles wrote: »
    I'm glad to hear that there's a possibility my body will adjust. It does tend to be much worse after a long period of time without training.
    I'm curious now if protocol (tempo?) has any effect. I can't tell you it does, but my trainer has me do a lot of different things and I wonder if that has an effect.
    pyrusangeles wrote: »
    I am one of the lucky ones who (now that I'm on maintenance meds) can kill a migraine in an hour with 600 mg solubilized ibuprofen.
    I've never tried it, I currently use Rizotriptan with 2 Gel Aleve. That maybe does it if I get it in the first ~30min, but it will be back in a day with slightly less intensity. Tordol injections will take it lessen it a good bit for a few hours but then it's back.

  • youngmomtaz
    youngmomtaz Posts: 1,075 Member
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    I don’t get them with lifting but do with raise in heart rate. I am now medicated daily to help prevent and that is going well for me, I had been at 13 migraines/month on average, now down to two. The heart rate raise causing them was the worst! I gained a lot especially with my pregnancies because even a slow walk on a warm day would trigger them if my heart rate went up to a moderate range. Aside from the daily preventative, gluten is a trigger for me, and keto eating works brilliantly when I can stick to it. I am on three weeks and then pms convinces me to eat all the candy and fruit and I go off. Oh well.
    I do wonder if you should talk to your doc about Botox. I seem to be a good candidate as the random neck and head tension(that you might trigger with heavy lifts?) coincide with migraines and they have told me that forcing those muscles to be more relaxed should help, but an 8-9 hour round trip drive for the injections every 2-3 months is what is deterring me from trying it. I wish you luck! Anyone who fights migraines is a hero!
  • gottswald
    gottswald Posts: 122 Member
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    How did you go from 13/mo to 2/mo?

    My understanding is that Emgality (and the similar drugs) are self-injections monthly, work at about the same rate as Botox and have been reported as working for people who were non-responsive to Botox. The system, as described to me, is that the drug company delivers it to the pharmacy of your choice. That might avoid that travel issue for you, but they're even more expensive than Botox.

    When I strength train, we keep it to under 30 seconds between lifts with no breaks. That is when the weight stack touches down, I'm moving to the next machine (or bench, whatever) and am under load again in under/around 30 seconds. Each lift is no momentum and no rest, just constant time under load. My trainer is either ahead of me prepping the next weight when I start or takes off while I'm on a long negative. We manage it most of the time. The intention is to increase the heart and metabolic benefit of strength training, but it probably increases the migraine reaction a bit too?

    How did you figure out gluten was affecting your migraines?

  • youngmomtaz
    youngmomtaz Posts: 1,075 Member
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    gottswald wrote: »
    How did you go from 13/mo to 2/mo?

    My understanding is that Emgality (and the similar drugs) are self-injections monthly, work at about the same rate as Botox and have been reported as working for people who were non-responsive to Botox. The system, as described to me, is that the drug company delivers it to the pharmacy of your choice. That might avoid that travel issue for you, but they're even more expensive than Botox.

    When I strength train, we keep it to under 30 seconds between lifts with no breaks. That is when the weight stack touches down, I'm moving to the next machine (or bench, whatever) and am under load again in under/around 30 seconds. Each lift is no momentum and no rest, just constant time under load. My trainer is either ahead of me prepping the next weight when I start or takes off while I'm on a long negative. We manage it most of the time. The intention is to increase the heart and metabolic benefit of strength training, but it probably increases the migraine reaction a bit too?

    How did you figure out gluten was affecting your migraines?

    I figured out the gluten by just eliminating it. I noticed and immediate improvement and when I reintroduced they came back. But keto-elimination carbs further is amazing for me. So, as I have not been tested for gluten sensitivity, it could just be the blood sugar spike. Hard to know for sure.

    I was on Topiramate for the past year and that dropped my migraine frequency to only two from 13/month. The spring was bad though with pressure changes and constant weather variation. The Topiramate had caused me some digestion issues already so instead of trying a higher dose I have switched to amitriptyline and am getting similar success.

  • gottswald
    gottswald Posts: 122 Member
    edited June 2019
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    I've tried Propranolol (regular and extended release), Verapamil, and Topiramate. The propranolol reduces the throbbing, but it 'rounds' the migraine into a slow surge and makes it a lot harder for me to use the triptans effectively as all migraines start as regular headaches and I get no sudden symptoms. Ultimately, this leads to more untreated migraines. I've tried Rizatriptan (with Aleve or Tordol) and Sumatriptan. The Rizatriptan can sometimes be effective but only if used early and often the migraine will reoccur within 24hrs, leading to this weird 'walking' migraine/cure/migraine/cure chain.

    I've done some eliminations and some supplements, but no change. How fast was your response to removing gluten? You said immediate, but how long did you go before you added gluten back to test? It's always so hard to know because of the natural variation in headache/migraine. I've tried physical therapy and occupational therapy/mindfullness, neither worked though the physical therapy was mildly effective while I was having a migraine. I'm working neck muscles as part of my strength training right now, similar to concussion prevention for athletes. I've considered chiropractic or acupuncture routes, but I am skeptical of those. I got my blood pressure down to below 100/70, no change. As far as I can tell I either have more eliminations (aka keto) or the injections (botox, emgality, etc) left and then I'm basically out of options?

    I refuse to let it win though and attempt to claw back as much of my life as possible. After nearly a decade of it though, I would be lying to say it isn't somewhat disheartening.
  • gottswald
    gottswald Posts: 122 Member
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    Anabirgite wrote: »
    I also am currently in my first month of Aimovig, and sure it will take 3 months before it takes effect for me. I tried Ajovy and after the 3 month had wonderful results but the 4th month but my arm swelled at injection site - so allergic to that drug ( BUMMER).

    When you had a reaction to Ajovy, how long did it take for the side effects to go away? I've read such a mixture of reactions to these drugs I'm not sure what to think and so far have taken the wait and see approach. Did you ever try botox?

    Have you tried the Butterbur Extract? I've heard about it but I have not tried it. I go back to see my neurologist in a few months but ever since she told me there wasn't a hope for a cure, just an attempt to manage the symptoms have left me wondering why I go to her.

    Honestly, it isn't even the pain or auras that hinders me most days, but how I feel like there is a layer of gauze wrapped around my thoughts. Everything is fuzzy and restricted.
  • Momjogger
    Momjogger Posts: 750 Member
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    I get headaches after lifting weights when doing back or shoulders. I think my headaches are related to my neck and back - when my husband rubs my back/neck the day after lifting, he can feel the knots and they are sore during massage, but feel better after. I am going to try therapeutic massage with a local physical therapist. I am hoping the stronger I get, the better my muscles will support my neck and back and the headaches will decrease. i think massage is an important part of self care when you are having problems with muscle tension.
  • mreichard
    mreichard Posts: 235 Member
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    OP this may be totally unhelpful, but - my son got headaches lifting until he really worked on his breathing to make sure he was getting plenty of oxygen and usually breathing out a bit out during the positive part of reps (esp. on OPH and bench, not on deadlifts where you have to maintain tightness).

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