Terrible Headaches - WHY?

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smc92079
smc92079 Posts: 219 Member
in Getting Started
I started making sure that I stayed within my calories late last week. MFP gave me 1770 a day at 1lb loss per week. I'm 5'8", 238.8. Since Tuesday I've been having absolutely horrible headaches that begin at the end of my work day and last all evening. I have also found myself being extremely hungry from that time and for the rest of the evening. I've done my evening walks through the pain, but last night I couldn't take it anymore. I adjusted my program to be at 0.5lbs loss a week. This pushed my calories per day up to 2020. Is it possible that my deficit was too big too fast for my body to handle? I don't do well with headaches (I was a migraine sufferer from 8-16 and any headache now tends to give me extreme anxiety, even 20 years later). Also, everything that I could manage to find on here and through Google suggested that you shouldn't have headaches unless severely restricting calories (1,000 to 1,200 a day). Just looking for thoughts from people who have been at this longer than I have.

I will say that I have used other, similar programs (SparkPeople for example) and have never had the headache problem before.

My diary is open, if that helps.

Thank you!
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Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,943 Member
    edited July 2017
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    You have been undereating...leaving 300/400/600 calories at the end of the day is undereating. Of course if you just changed your calories, that's probably why your diary looks like you've bee undereating by so much since it doesn't reflect backwards on your goal. Stick with the 0.5 for a couple weeks and see how you do. You will likely lose more than that.

    Keep your calories up to the recommended level. So at the end of the day, be as close to zero as possible at the very bottom of your food page.

    I used to get migraines too. Too little food is really stressful for your body and you will be producing a lot of cortisol - I was really sensitive to that in my migraine days.

    I know being dehydrated caused me to have migraines. Exercise caused migraines too - especially when it was hot outside. Some people find that certain foods will trigger them too. I feel for you. Migraines can bite me.
  • AriesGal329
    AriesGal329 Posts: 236 Member
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    I'm not a doctor, of course, but it could be from withdrawal from something you've cut way back on like sugar or alcohol. If they don't subside soon I would go see your doctor just to be safe.
  • xproofx
    xproofx Posts: 43 Member
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    Did you cut out caffeine or drop your sugar intake precipitously?
  • smc92079
    smc92079 Posts: 219 Member
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    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. Sugar has been mostly from fruits and such instead of added sugars which is a change as well. I considered these things too.
  • smc92079
    smc92079 Posts: 219 Member
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    AriesGal329 wrote: »
    I'm not a doctor, of course, but it could be from withdrawal from something you've cut way back on like sugar or alcohol. If they don't subside soon I would go see your doctor just to be safe.

    Yes. I'd like to be able to do that but my new job doesn't allow time off for the first 90 days. I can always hit up the Urgent Care if it gets too bad though.
  • Gizziemoto
    Gizziemoto Posts: 430 Member
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    Caffeine withdrawal. If you have cut down on the soda, this is it. I had it when I gave up soda and a woman I work with is going through the same thing. She actually added some back in and is slowly decreasing.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,503 Member
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    xproofx wrote: »
    Did you cut out caffeine or drop your sugar intake precipitously?
    This would be my first thought.

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  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
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    Too much water, maybe?
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Agreed on the caffeine. Either drink diet soda (it won't hurt your weight loss) or take time to cut back (a couple of weeks).
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    Gizziemoto wrote: »
    Caffeine withdrawal. If you have cut down on the soda, this is it. I had it when I gave up soda and a woman I work with is going through the same thing. She actually added some back in and is slowly decreasing.

    This is quite likely the cause. If you like tea or coffee, try having a cup when you get home from work or before you leave and see if that helps. Or drink a diet Pepsi if that is what you prefer. They are all calorie free (provided you don't add sugar or cream to the tea/coffee).
  • Clawsal
    Clawsal Posts: 255 Member
    edited July 2017
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    Are you restricting carbs (including sugar)? Head aches are a possible side-effect of a low carb diet, they tend to go away after a few days.
    Also make sure you are drinking enough liquids.

    edit: I just read you cut your soda intake. I had awful headaches when I stopped drinking coke zero (I was drinking 2 liters a day). I substituted with coffee and slowly stopped the coffee and now all is well and I drink water.
  • DebLaBounty
    DebLaBounty Posts: 1,172 Member
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    Add back some of that diet soda. Caffeine withdrawal hurts!
  • wesley58
    wesley58 Posts: 129 Member
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    When I started to cut down on coffee, I am a Ag Salesman, drinking something with someone was part of a deal everyday, and coffee, well to see me without a cup of it was very rare. I tried to quit cold turkey, and the headaches were more than I expected. I now substitue warm water for coffee and have cut out probably 4 pots a day, it took a while, but now I am headache free.

    I find your body fights every change, so you have to find someway to fight back, maybe try a little stevia in the water, not very muc though.
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,298 Member
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    I wonder if before you changed your settings, were you "eating back" your exercise calories, if not you were effectivly increasing your defficit and probably were eating too little. I note you have made other changes which can make a difference too, as mentioned above caffeine and sugar can have surprising results. If you do not see any significant change in the next day or two Please take medical advice.
  • noirelb
    noirelb Posts: 216 Member
    edited July 2017
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    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?
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Another vote for caffeine. I suggest a diet pepsi, coffee or tea just before you leave work. Hold back that demon!
  • smc92079
    smc92079 Posts: 219 Member
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    Fuzzipeg wrote: »
    I wonder if before you changed your settings, were you "eating back" your exercise calories, if not you were effectivly increasing your defficit and probably were eating too little. I note you have made other changes which can make a difference too, as mentioned above caffeine and sugar can have surprising results. If you do not see any significant change in the next day or two Please take medical advice.

    I was eating back some of them but mostly not all of them. I've read such mixed info about eating back that I wasn't really sure what to do or if my calories burned were accurate. That may be a good portion of where the problem lies, along with caffeine and sugar. I'm going to give the adjustments a few days, add in an afternoon coffee and a bit of sugar, and see where that takes me. If I'm still having headaches I will definitely seek out a medical professional.
  • lindarpolk
    lindarpolk Posts: 70 Member
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    I agree with all the others who say that caffeine withdrawal is probably the main cause.

    Have you had any other big changes lately like moving to a new place?

    When I moved into the basement of my parents new house, I started getting severe headaches so much of the time that I was nauseous most of the time and vomiting occasionally. A neurologist put me on blood pressure medicine which seemed to help a little. He increased the dose twice and kept me on it so he could keep getting money for prescribing it. I finally got them diagnosed as migraines, even though I didn't have most of the usual migraine symptoms. After 10 years, I found out that the radon level in the basement was 3 times what it should have been. (I moved out of the house that day!) It still took a few years for it to get out of my system so I could start to feel normal.

    By the time I found out the real cause, I was already addicted to Excedrin because it was such an effective quick fix for me. But I then I would get rebound headaches because my head was still wanting the caffeine in the Excedrin. It has been a long road, but I'm a lot better now.

    When you're able to get to a doctor, I would suggest going to a neurologist to see what they find out--if you still need to after cutting back on the caffeine.
  • noirelb
    noirelb Posts: 216 Member
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    How could it be the caffeine withdrawal if you've had coffee in the morning and 12 or more ounces of coke 0 every day (lunch or dinner) in your diary. You skipped 1 day where you had another coffee instead and you skipped one day where these is none. I thought caffeine withdrawal would happen in the 1-2 days after reducing your intake which would have been 2 weeks ago if you reduced it.
  • smc92079
    smc92079 Posts: 219 Member
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    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.

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