exercise induced headache mystery

I'm a 31 year old female who used to exercise a lot.  For the past six years I've been getting migraines after working out.  It seems that if I break a sweat, I can almost be certain a headache will be the result.  Of course I drink LOTS of water - before, after, and during and I've tried drinks like gatorade, too.  Also I've tried different food combos before and after exercise to see if that makes a difference.  NOTHING!  I've also noticed that I get very dehydrated (very dry lips, no tears) besides the migraines.  If the migraine is bad, I will vomit several times.  My body doesn't seem to want to take the water I'm giving it!  I am totally at a loss for the cause. Can somebody help me?!


This discussion is related to Exercise Induced Headache.

[rubyrunner]

I am a 45-year-old woman. I used to be a runner until, in my mid-twenties I started getting these horrible headaches after I ran. It started out intermittenly, then increased until it happened every time I got hot while exercising. Usually my face gets really red (I am fair with blonde hair and blue eyes). Then I start feeling a pressure in the back of my head and neck. My mouth waters and I get nasal discharge. The headache sets in within the hour and it's usually difficult to get rid of. As I've grown older, I noticed that anytime I get really hot outside (I live in Texas, so that's often), this can happen if I don't cool myself off quickly. I walk a lot now and use a cold, wet towel draped around my neck or spritz myself with a water bottle to cool myself off. I also run short distances on a treadmill in an air-conditioned room with a fan blowing on me. That seems to really help. I miss the benefits of running, though, and wonder what is causing this. I stay hydrated, have good blood pressure, have been tested and had MRI's, tried medication before exercise. If anyone knows why this happens, I want to know why.

[guildfordgal]

I have a number of similar problems that you have both mentioned. Relating to overheating when exercising or in hot climates, headaches/migraines during/after cardio exercise – the migraines will have me vomiting 4-8 times, light sensitive, throbbing headache and temples, dizziness and sometimes blurred vision. Also if I get hot outside in the sun I can get a migraine even if I'm sitting still. After having bloods checked, MRI scans, back checks, neck checks, tried drinking lots of water, keeping sugar levels up, starting gently, various medication etc.

However my personal trainer has moved me to low cardio work and high resistance training, using muscle strength with weight bearing exercises. I probably work harder doing this and burn more calories however my heart is not the muscle that is working the most and this seems to prevent the migraines.

Also check things like your sleep pattern - this heavily influences your health, I find it hard to sleep and this long term can really impact your body’s ability to function on a basic level. I try to exercise at lunchtime the mornings are never good, so I give my body time to wake up gradually, ensure that you eat within 30 minutes of waking to ensure that your body feels nourished and doesn’t go into starvation mode and then into stress/panic which can affect the number of headaches/migraines a person experiences. Eat frequently but healthy. Finally if your diet is healthy then look at your digestion, apparently this can impact it too.

I have been doing a lot of research on the internet on this (I've suffered for about 20 years now) and have come up with an article about these migraines/headaches being caused by early signs of heart disease. My father had a serious headache before he had a heart attack which ultimately took him away. If heart disease, diabetes or strokes run in the family please get your GP to check this properly, stroke victims sometimes suffer from migraines frequently and this can be a signal in health worries later.  Conventional medicine has not helped in the past 20 years however I am seeing a Chinese herbalist who mentioned problems with the heart and gall bladder and they are looking to try acupuncture and herbal remedies to remedy this. The treatment is in its early stages but it looks at treating the cause not the symptom.

I hope this helps