Migraines/Headaches interrupting exercise schedule

houlee

I've never been a person prone to migraines or headaches, but over the past week I've been getting one or the other on a near daily basis. Besides taking a OTC painkiller and hoping it kicks in quickly, I don't really know what to do about these, and I have missed nearly a week of workouts. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Randee75

If you are getting migraines regularly than you should she a DR or Neurologist.

Tashry

For me personally, when I get a migraine I feel like I can't do anything except try to shut out the world. So I can agree that working out would be impossible until you get it under control. When I am hit with one I take Tylenol, a Gravol, and I drink a can of diet Pepsi for the caffeine. It seems to help me.
Since these headaches are new for you and coming on quite often, I certainly suggest you follow it up with your doctor. Perhaps it needs to be addressed. Also, there are prescription medications that may work well for you. Good luck!

erica79

have you switched anything in your diet latley? I used to get headaches when I didn't get enough caffine. If not I would talk to your doctor.

joybelles

Yes I do, becuase I have the same problem myself and it drives me nuts! It's so horrible wanting to exercise but being unable to because of a migraine or a headache.

I'd say the first thing is to find out if you really do suffer from migraines, or if you've had a succession of bad headaches. If it's a migraine, your GP should know and then ask him for a range of different migraine tablets so that you can work out which ones are the best for you. If it's really a migraine it's probably better not to exercise until it's completely over. That at least has been my experience - I had a 3 day migraine which turned into a 2 day headache recently and it really knocked me out.

Then try and ease back into exercise, doing some lighter exercise the first two sessions before resuming normal routine.

Hope this helps! I'd love to hear of anyone else who has the same problem, as I can't seem to get started again after a bad migraine attack for weeks....

maz123

hey i totally feel your pain. if you have removedchocolate or caffeine from your diet these could be why you are getting these headaches. or sometimes people getthem alot with dairy. i myself am prone to them and on bad days i cant exercise either. i lie down in a dark room if possible. but i did go to the doctor and am on tablets that are controlling them so it would be no harm to go if you havent done anything drastic with your diet. hope they go girl theres nothing worse:)

knittnponder

First, I agree that you should see a doctor if these are a new thing for you.

I'm suffering with you right now. I have bad seasonal allergies and the tree pollen season actually starts in January. It just doesn't seem fair that I have allergy migraines when there is snow on the ground! Where I live though the trees are also beginning to bud (the snow was a freak thing for us.)

If yours turns out to be allergy migraines here are a few things I do:

This morning I've done my Neti pot to rinse my sinuses. Tonight when I go to bed I'll be slathering petroleum jelly all around my nose (helps trap allergens before they enter the nose.) It's also important to keep your room humidified so your sinuses don't dry excessively overnight. I will also begin eating one teaspoon of local honey a day as that is supposed to help inoculate you against local allergens. I do also take an OTC allergy med but I can't go for anything stronger since I don't have medical insurance.

I also need to go buy a new vacuum and give my room a really good cleaning! I spotted some mold in there the other day which I'm sure is a big part of my problem. I've cleaned it but now I need to clean every other surface since the spores travel. I'll be doing a deep clean this week in hopes of not waking up feeling like a woolly mammoth has taken up residence in my skull and is now tap dancing to native drums!

Hope you figure out what your issue is and get it handled. Migraines suck!

ETA: When I do have a sinus migraine I put my face over a gently simmering pot of water with a towel over my head to help get the sinuses to drain. Between that and the neti pot it usually helps.

houlee

Thank you everyone for all your help and suggestions! I'll watch what I eat more carefully and see if the adding/removing of foods has caused it, and also see if possibly just an allergy thing I never noticed/connected. If not, I guess I need to schedule a dr appointment. Thanks again!

Willstephens1

I know this is probably an obvious one, but have you made sure you are not dehydrated. When i first started cycling, i was getting really dehydrated, and was constantly getting headaches and migraines.

Once i figured out what was causing them, soon as i felt one coming on i would drink plenty of water and they would clear up within the hour.

Worth a try...