Headaches hours after workouts? [Forum Archive]

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Headaches hours after workouts?

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Posted by: mrmark

For some reason my Dad suffers from headaches a few hours after a work out. He eats healthily and always has a post workout protein shake and some sort of complex carb.

Any reason why this might happen? Any help would be great

Posted by: nsimmons

try drinking more water, i get bad dehydration headaches

Posted by: mrmark

Assuming he drinks enough, any ideas what else it could be?

Posted by: nsimmons

blood pressure?..if ive had too much caffiene and work out i get bad headaches too

Posted by: assassin

eat more vegetables and fruits ,,, having headaches means lack of vitamins mostly also try using multi vitamins....don't cut calories extremely......sure u'll be ok

Posted by: nsimmons

Quote:

Originally Posted by assassin

eat more vegetables and fruits ,,, having headaches means lack of vitamins mostly also try using multi vitamins....don't cut calories extremely......sure u'll be ok

Thats pretty definitive. Any evidence to back up lack of a multi causing headaches?

Posted by: assassin

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsimmons

Thats pretty definitive. Any evidence to back up lack of a multi causing headaches?

ofcourse try not eating vegetables and fruits and multivitamins for a week while u r training....u'll get dizzy and u'll have headaches also u'll feel weak

headaches could mean mental weakness ...... if u lack sleeping u'll have a headache if u over train u will have a headache

Posted by: bandaidwoman

Your dad probably has benign exertional headaches.. They are usually recurrent and taking NSAIDS prior to the workout can sometimes abort them from happening.

In a very small number of people it can be from intracranial lesion.(ie:mass)

Another possibility is as subtype of migraines called "effort migraine." These people have a history of migraines in the family 50% of the time. They can often be prevented by gradual warmup prior to activity.

He may want to just see his family doc or internist.

Posted by: Trouble

Don't exertional headaches occur *during* activity, not several hours after?

Could be a couple different causes involved. We need to think about cause and effect here. So what happens several hours after physical exertion?

Release of inflammatory factors, natural response to tissue damage at the cellular level. You're thinking...what? I can see it in muscle, but not brain!

Let's say you got mild, age related blood pressure problems. Vasoconstriction. Now, your muscles are sucking up oxygen dsuring this workout and for a brief period afterwards, so endogenous circulating oxygen levels in brain could fall off a bit during exertion. Now you have mild hypoxia, and also with mild dehydration (from the shake, 1-2 hours after consumption, same time frame as continued hydration needs from elevated energy consumption post workout), so you've got hyperosmotic conditions in the brain and other tissues as well.

Thats damaging to cell membranes, and is known to elicit an inflammation response. Bodywide. Thats on top of the typical microtissue damage from reactive oxygen and nitrogen intermediates that naturally occurs from respiration in cells, fueling the workout --> they occur at much higher rate than normal.

But here's the kicker. CNS response is sending out signals for cell damage clean up and that means a plethora of inflammation-related chemicals are released into the blood stream from the workout itself. Some of them signal for muscles in the head/neck/torso to tighten, and with them, additional cardiovascular constriction occurs, and that combination in the upper body, on top of midly elevated blood pressure from the workout with a high threshold (midly elevated resting BP)...might be sufficient to trigger a headache event.

So what to do about this? First thorough hydration. Second, use of antioxidants (to reduce the ROS and RNS surge after exercise). Third, if he isn't doing cardio, he needs to start, to raise blood oxygen levels during strength training. Fourth, he can try supplements that help normalize blood pressure if his is elevated (he needs to work with his physican if he's on BP meds). If he is diabetic / has blood sugar issues, he's also may have hyperosmotic (glucose-related) with the use of that whey shake...its insulinogenic.

Tumeric and cayenne pepper extract may help with inflammation management, depends if he has GI problems. I use a product called Infammend, a mixture of a dozen or so proven natural extracts that oblock COX (cyclooxygenase, the primary enzyme responsible for biosynthesis of inflammation agents in the body) action would be my recommendation.

I'm not so keen on use of NSAIDs. Too many adverse reactions on liver and kidneys for my taste.

If these headaches are transient and short lived, I would suspect dehyration and hyperosmotic hit after workout to be the trigger for these headaches.

This make sense?

Posted by: bandaidwoman

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trouble

Don't exertional headaches occur *during* activity, not several hours after??

Not necessarily. They can occur with no neurological symptoms, and can last for up to 24 hours.

Here is a link via medscape on a neurology article about exertional headaches
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/529751

Quote:

Primary exertional headache is a bilateral, usually throbbing, headache brought on by physical activity and lasting from 5 minutes to 24 hours. Some of the activities that can cause this headache are running, rowing, tennis, and swimming. In some persons, the headache may be precipitated by one activity but not others. Exercise can trigger a migraine in migraineurs. Depending on the clinical scenario and number of headaches, secondary causes may need to be excluded, such as SAH, sinusitis, brain tumors, pheochromocytoma, cardiac ischemia (anginal headache), and intracranial arterial dissection. The headaches may be prevented by a warm-up period or by avoiding particular activities. Indomethacin may be preventive. Migraineurs with exertional headache may respond to migraine preventive medications.

Posted by: Trouble

Thanks for the clarification of onset and duration for this type of headache.

See that reference to TMJ..that goes along with the hyperstimulation of adrenergic receptors in the spinal column, reflected in elevated tension in head/neck/torso and which elevates prostanoid local action at the base of the brain. Migrainers also have problems with hyperosmolarity. Taurine supplementation has been shown to be effective for control of all three issues (BP regulation, nerve and ion regulation).

A spectrum of exertional headaches. Green MW. Dept. Neurology, Columbia University. Med Clin North Am. 2001 Jul;85(4):1085-92.

Headaches that have an explosive onset with exercise, including sexual activity, generally are benign in origin. A subarachnoid hemorrhage, a mass lesion in the brain, or an anomaly of the posterior fossa must be considered, however. The mechanisms that produce sexually induced or cough headaches of abrupt onset are unknown. It is known, however, that a rapid increase in intrathoracic pressure suddenly reduces right atrial pressure and presumably decreases venous sinus drainage from the brain. This situation results in a transient increase in intracranial pressure. Jaw pain that occurs with chewing often is considered to be TMJ dysfunction when arthritic in quality and if subluxations of the jaw can be shown on the physical examination. Giant cell arteritis and common or external carotid artery occlusive disease should be considered when the pain is ischemic in quality. An anginal equivalent is another possibility.

Headaches that worsen with vigorous exercise are commonly migrainous. When their onset is apoplectic with exertion (particularly exertion against a closed glottis), the most likely diagnoses are increased intracranial pressure, a posterior fossa abnormality, or benign exertional headaches. Most cardiac induced headaches, but not all, are of a more gradual onset. If there are significant risk factors for coronary artery disease, an exercise stress test is appropriate. A therapeutic trial of nitroglycerin may help to establish a diagnosis if it improves the headache. Using antimigraine drugs as a diagnostic test is inappropriate because triptans and ergots are contraindicated in the presence of coronary artery disease, and a positive response is not diagnostic of migraine.

Edit: Didn't realize you were a physician. Singing to the choir..sorry.

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