Overtraining/migraines, advice wanted!

leopard_barbie · May 2012

This week I have worked out a lot more than I ever have before, 1 and a half-2 hours of exercise (Zumba DVDs, Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and 6 Week 6 Pack so mostly cardio/HIIT if you aren't familiar with these). On their own I find each of these a fairly moderate workout but doing 2-3 at a time when you're giving it your all is a lot for me. I was enjoying pushing myself and how many calories I got to eat back, the workouts made me feel tired but great.
However on Friday night I got hit by a really bad migraine and couldn't sleep/do anything except lie in the dark with a cold cloth on my eyes. It's eased off a bit since but I am still suffering with pressure headache/sickness now and it's Sunday afternoon

I spoke to my fiance who thinks it's because I've been pushing myself too hard this week and it's my body's way of telling me to rest a bit more, I looked it up on the internet as well and read that exercising a lot can cause headaches in somebody who is susceptible to migraines.
Just wondering if any of you have any advice or have had similar things happen to them? It could be a complete coincidence as I do get migraines every couple of months and there has been a change in the weather etc, could be numerous reasons, but thought it worth while looking into.
Can't wait for my head to stop throbbing so I can get back to working out!
Thanks for any input guys x

wendyjo3 · May 2012

exercising a lot can cause headaches in somebody who is susceptible to migraines.

I'd go with this then, I think you may be doing too much? just listen to your body. I think one hour a day (max) is probably sufficient to achieve your goals without making you feel like crap.

leopard_barbie · May 2012

exercising a lot can cause headaches in somebody who is susceptible to migraines.

I'd go with this then, I think you may be doing too much? just listen to your body. I think one hour a day (max) is probably sufficient to achieve your goals without making you feel like crap.

Yeah this is what fiance says too, im gonna tone it down this week! It felt great when i was doing the workouts but felt awful this weekend! Thanks for the advice hun x

Susabelle64 · May 2012

I have heard that lack of hydration can bring on migraines, you might ask your doctor about that. Certainly wouldnt hurt to up your water intake if your a little low.

mikes99mail · May 2012

do you watch the colour of your pee? I sweat a lot and in summer I have to drink crazy amounts to stay hydrated

Nuun or similar zero-calorie electrolyte tablets really help me too, they stop me getting cramps and headaches on long bike rides.

cmriverside · May 2012

I got migraines for 30 years. I'm sorry you are suffering with them too. I searched for answers, just like you are doing.

Start keeping a migraine journal. Since you are here, it is easy to track what you ate and how much water you are drinking, so focus on the barometer, exercise, your monthly cycle, and stress. They all can be migraine triggers. I found a lot of correlation between hydration and intense exercise and migraines. But only in one week of the month. Migraines are vascular. It makes sense that blood pressure differences can trigger them.

Good luck.

jenniejengin · May 2012

bump

ginajackie · May 2012

There are many things that bring on a migrane. As a sufferer as well I actually find working out helps. I dont suffer from the ones where I cannot see but if I have one I do my best to drag my *kitten* to the gym and then hit the cardio. Getting my heart rate up gets the blood moving and generally once Im done I feel relief. My advice...put on dark shades and try a 20 min walk. It might be difficult at times but I suspect you might feel some relief.

Dehydration, lack of caffeen, food or sugar withdrawl can bring these on as well.

You might have pushed yourself too far so try toning it back a bit but pushing the limits is the only way to get results.

enyo123 · May 2012

I have chronic migraines. (Good times!) My neurologist suggested two non-prescription things (along with my prescription cocktail) to help: 100mg of B2 and 100mg of magnesium supplements per day, on top of my multivitamin. It's helping. (I'm very seldom headache free, but my headaches are less intense.)

Maybe that could help you?

sweetpotatofry · May 2012

I agree with what everyone is saying: rest up, and drink more water! Dehydration gives me the biggest headache, and one thing I've found that helps if you're sweating a lot is reloading on electrolytes via coconut water or Emergen-C.

leopard_barbie · May 2012

Thanks so much everybody! The weird thing is that over the last few weeks ive been REALLY trying on the water drinking as well, been having 12-15 glasses a day and drinking loads whilst actually working out as well so i dont think its that.

Ive been cutting down on caffiene/sugar as well (drinking water instead of cups of tea) so this might have had an effect.

Will look at the supplements, electrolytes, walking and keeping migraine journal.

Thanks guys x

Mindmovesbody · May 2012

I suffer migraines as well and have had a bad one for four days. I cannot take my Maxalt for them because I am nursing so I have to just deal. I feel that sometimes exercise helps them and then when I got to level 2 of the 30 day shred I have had them everyday since. Tis level works traps and shoulders so I think this may have something to do with it. I have been to doctor after doctor, migraine specialists, Neurosurgeons...no one has any idea why I get them or what my triggers are. My food diary showed one correction and that was chocolate within 3 hours before bed, no matter what kind and I would positively wake with a headache. I get chronic. Hormonal migraines around TOM also. I would say continue to exercise but do just one 1 hour work out a day and do not over do it. If it helps than maybe that was the issue but it's hard to say for sure. My father just had Botox shots done around his whole head, supposedly this is supposed to help with headaches...we are waiting to see. He has had one everyday for FOUR YEARS. Immitrex has been his closest pal. Then he has a stroke in February

He is not overweight, exercises everyday and did one of the Insanity videos the morning of his work out. We have a horrible family history and he had slightly high blood pressure.

Good luck to you, I hope you feel better soon!

reneeileen · May 2012

I have had migraines for several years. It is awful and I'm sorry you got hit by a bad one. You may not be staying well hydrated during your workouts. I find that exercise really helps control my migraines. A number of things could have happened that made this one bad. You might have over-exerted yourself and had other factors playing into the development of your migraine. If you were highly focused on your workout, you might have missed your triggers.

After my first major ocular migraine I saw a headache specialist for several months. She helped me pinpoint my triggers, find the best medication, and develop a strategy for managing my migraines. It was the best commitment I have ever made to my health. It literally changed my life. I still get a debilitating migraine about once a year but I'm able to stem off about one migraine a month. If you don't have an ongoing management program, I highly recommend seeing a specialist if you are able. They have such a depth of knowledge and help demystify a lot of the problems like, is this behavior making it worse?

If you can't see a specialist for whatever reason, I'm sure you can find a lot of the same resources online, somewhere like WedMD or Healthwise - I think you can get into Healthwise from the Kaiser Permanente site for free. There are lists of foods and behaviors that may increase migraine frequency, headache calendars where you record the length, intensity, and frequency of your headaches and sleep patterns, and keep your food and exercise diary complete and accurate. I went cold turkey on all the foods and behaviors on my list and found that my headaches are stress related. I get a very specific and intense headache pain before my migraine begins and that's when I take sumatriptan. That's me but everyone is different.

Good luck!

leopard_barbie · May 2012

I suffer migraines as well and have had a bad one for four days. I cannot take my Maxalt for them because I am nursing so I have to just deal. I feel that sometimes exercise helps them and then when I got to level 2 of the 30 day shred I have had them everyday since. Tis level works traps and shoulders so I think this may have something to do with it. I have been to doctor after doctor, migraine specialists, Neurosurgeons...no one has any idea why I get them or what my triggers are. My food diary showed one correction and that was chocolate within 3 hours before bed, no matter what kind and I would positively wake with a headache. I get chronic. Hormonal migraines around TOM also. I would say continue to exercise but do just one 1 hour work out a day and do not over do it. If it helps than maybe that was the issue but it's hard to say for sure. My father just had Botox shots done around his whole head, supposedly this is supposed to help with headaches...we are waiting to see. He has had one everyday for FOUR YEARS. Immitrex has been his closest pal. Then he has a stroke in February He is not overweight, exercises everyday and did one of the Insanity videos the morning of his work out. We have a horrible family history and he had slightly high blood pressure.

Good luck to you, I hope you feel better soon!

Thanks for this, my mum gets them bad too and my sister had a stroke (though that was related to the contraceptive she was taking) so my family history makes me wary, ive had this one 3 days which is my longest ever. I get quite a lot of headaches and ive had more painful migraines before but its not fun! I am gonna try and do an hour a day or less and see how it goes. Thanks again and i hope you feel better too! x

leopard_barbie · May 2012

I have had migraines for several years. It is awful and I'm sorry you got hit by a bad one. You may not be staying well hydrated during your workouts. I find that exercise really helps control my migraines. A number of things could have happened that made this one bad. You might have over-exerted yourself and had other factors playing into the development of your migraine. If you were highly focused on your workout, you might have missed your triggers.

After my first major ocular migraine I saw a headache specialist for several months. She helped me pinpoint my triggers, find the best medication, and develop a strategy for managing my migraines. It was the best commitment I have ever made to my health. It literally changed my life. I still get a debilitating migraine about once a year but I'm able to stem off about one migraine a month. If you don't have an ongoing management program, I highly recommend seeing a specialist if you are able. They have such a depth of knowledge and help demystify a lot of the problems like, is this behavior making it worse?

If you can't see a specialist for whatever reason, I'm sure you can find a lot of the same resources online, somewhere like WedMD or Healthwise - I think you can get into Healthwise from the Kaiser Permanente site for free. There are lists of foods and behaviors that may increase migraine frequency, headache calendars where you record the length, intensity, and frequency of your headaches and sleep patterns, and keep your food and exercise diary complete and accurate. I went cold turkey on all the foods and behaviors on my list and found that my headaches are stress related. I get a very specific and intense headache pain before my migraine begins and that's when I take sumatriptan. That's me but everyone is different.

Good luck!

Usually i get the auras to warn me and take painkillers before the headache hits but this time either i didnt notice because i was focused on other things or it didnt happen as usual for some reason!

Rhea30 · May 2012

This week I have worked out a lot more than I ever have before, 1 and a half-2 hours of exercise (Zumba DVDs, Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and 6 Week 6 Pack so mostly cardio/HIIT if you aren't familiar with these). On their own I find each of these a fairly moderate workout but doing 2-3 at a time when you're giving it your all is a lot for me. I was enjoying pushing myself and how many calories I got to eat back, the workouts made me feel tired but great.
However on Friday night I got hit by a really bad migraine and couldn't sleep/do anything except lie in the dark with a cold cloth on my eyes. It's eased off a bit since but I am still suffering with pressure headache/sickness now and it's Sunday afternoon
I spoke to my fiance who thinks it's because I've been pushing myself too hard this week and it's my body's way of telling me to rest a bit more, I looked it up on the internet as well and read that exercising a lot can cause headaches in somebody who is susceptible to migraines.
Just wondering if any of you have any advice or have had similar things happen to them? It could be a complete coincidence as I do get migraines every couple of months and there has been a change in the weather etc, could be numerous reasons, but thought it worth while looking into.
Can't wait for my head to stop throbbing so I can get back to working out!
Thanks for any input guys x

You could try an ibuprofen and relax for a couple of days. You might had strained a muscle in your neck or shoulders which can cause migraines as well. I'm a chronic migraine sufferer and I use to be paranoid of working out because of the stress and tension it might place on my neck which would trigger one.

enyo123 · May 2012

I suffer migraines as well and have had a bad one for four days. I cannot take my Maxalt for them because I am nursing so I have to just deal. I feel that sometimes exercise helps them and then when I got to level 2 of the 30 day shred I have had them everyday since. Tis level works traps and shoulders so I think this may have something to do with it. I have been to doctor after doctor, migraine specialists, Neurosurgeons...no one has any idea why I get them or what my triggers are. My food diary showed one correction and that was chocolate within 3 hours before bed, no matter what kind and I would positively wake with a headache. I get chronic. Hormonal migraines around TOM also. I would say continue to exercise but do just one 1 hour work out a day and do not over do it. If it helps than maybe that was the issue but it's hard to say for sure. My father just had Botox shots done around his whole head, supposedly this is supposed to help with headaches...we are waiting to see. He has had one everyday for FOUR YEARS. Immitrex has been his closest pal. Then he has a stroke in February He is not overweight, exercises everyday and did one of the Insanity videos the morning of his work out. We have a horrible family history and he had slightly high blood pressure.

Good luck to you, I hope you feel better soon!

For the muscle tension related migraines, try stretching workouts and/or visiting a chiropractor. That's helped me through the years.

. Migraines suck.

ajbltn · May 2012

Are you substituting sugar for chemical sweeteners? Ie, aspartame or even splenda, sucrose, etc? I get migraines too and artificial sweeteners always bring them on for me. Almost instantly. I cant even chew gum with it. And I'm out for hours. Sometimes days. I can't take my normal migraine meds cause I'm nursing... They totally suck. I throw up and everything. So I hear ya on how bad they suck. But I digress. That's always something to look into. But you may very well be over doing it... Or lack of water. Take it easy for a couple of days and omit anything with the chemical sugars. See what happens.

Overtraining/migraines, advice wanted!

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