Can Exercise Give You Headaches?

[Connery]

Stay hydrated!!! This does not just apply to cycling, but any activity. I go to Zumba classes and other forms of high intensity exercise. Hydration is key as is loosening up and stretching.

" Bicycling is a low-impact sport, but it’s not exactly low pain. Nearly half of male cyclists have experienced an exercise-induced headache, often lasting into the next day, according to a new study in the journal Headache.

The biggest risk factors: extreme exertion, low fluid intake, and warm weather, all of which can cause dehydration. When you’re low on fluids during a hard ride, your body breaks down muscle tissue, triggering inflammation, says Stephen Silberstein, M.D., former president of the American Headache Society."
Can Exercise Give You Headaches?

Any thoughts?

 

[sfcalifornia]

A few years ago I started back up at the gym and I was getting exercise headaches. So I did what everyone does when they have concerns about their health: I self-diagnosed on Google.

This was what I came up with:

Exercise headaches - MayoClinic.com
Exercise headaches occur during or after sustained, strenuous exercise. Activities associated with exercise headaches include running, rowing, tennis, swimming and weightlifting.

Doctors divide exercise headaches into two categories. Primary exercise headaches are usually harmless, aren't connected to any underlying problems and can often be prevented with medication. Secondary exercise headaches, on the other hand, are caused by an underlying, often serious, problem within the brain — such as bleeding or a tumor — or outside the brain — such as coronary artery disease. Secondary exercise headaches may require emergency medical attention.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I worried for a while thinking I had a tumor but then at some point, I think it was while watching CSI and the victim was some guy who drank a whole boatload of water and wound up drowning from it, it dawned on my that maybe I was drinking too much water. I stopped chugging mass quantities of it and the headaches went away. 4 cups per hour sounds right. I was drinking a gallon.

 

[freedombecki]

Stay hydrated!!! This does not just apply to cycling, but any activity. I go to Zumba classes and other forms of high intensity exercise. Hydration is key as is loosening up and stretching.

" Bicycling is a low-impact sport, but it’s not exactly low pain. Nearly half of male cyclists have experienced an exercise-induced headache, often lasting into the next day, according to a new study in the journal Headache.

The biggest risk factors: extreme exertion, low fluid intake, and warm weather, all of which can cause dehydration. When you’re low on fluids during a hard ride, your body breaks down muscle tissue, triggering inflammation, says Stephen Silberstein, M.D., former president of the American Headache Society."
Can Exercise Give You Headaches?

Any thoughts?

That's absolutely good advice for people who exercise a lot.

Another cause of dehydration a lot of people don't know about as they age and start adding prescriptions for such things as heart health, stomach health, immune issue pain (neuralgia, fibromyalgia, diabetes, etc.)--is how important it is to drink plenty of fluids or carry around a lowgrade headache, not to mention other problems. Drinking 8 cups a day is almost a necessity for someone who must lower cholesterol, fight heinous pain, or fight an acidic gi tract.

Thanks for the reminder, and I hope it reaches a lot of members here at USMB.

As for brain tumors, they're rare, but if the headaches persist after people know they are adequately hydrated, they should always see a physician to get to the bottom of their problem. That's when he or she can run the tests to zero in on a brain tumor or other somatic cancer.

Other brain helpers are blueberries, an apple a day, blackberries, and acai berries.

But water? Regular exercise requires it!

8 glasses a day is what I vaguely recollect from nutrition classes a zillion years ago. Now nutrition sites are saying that's too much for some people and not enough for others. Things change, but failure to hydrate when exercising is really a great way to acquire regular headaches.

 

[Sarah G]

Stay hydrated!!! This does not just apply to cycling, but any activity. I go to Zumba classes and other forms of high intensity exercise. Hydration is key as is loosening up and stretching.

" Bicycling is a low-impact sport, but it’s not exactly low pain. Nearly half of male cyclists have experienced an exercise-induced headache, often lasting into the next day, according to a new study in the journal Headache.

The biggest risk factors: extreme exertion, low fluid intake, and warm weather, all of which can cause dehydration. When you’re low on fluids during a hard ride, your body breaks down muscle tissue, triggering inflammation, says Stephen Silberstein, M.D., former president of the American Headache Society."
Can Exercise Give You Headaches?

Any thoughts?

Do you have high blood pressure?

 

[Connery]

Stay hydrated!!! This does not just apply to cycling, but any activity. I go to Zumba classes and other forms of high intensity exercise. Hydration is key as is loosening up and stretching.

" Bicycling is a low-impact sport, but it’s not exactly low pain. Nearly half of male cyclists have experienced an exercise-induced headache, often lasting into the next day, according to a new study in the journal Headache.

The biggest risk factors: extreme exertion, low fluid intake, and warm weather, all of which can cause dehydration. When you’re low on fluids during a hard ride, your body breaks down muscle tissue, triggering inflammation, says Stephen Silberstein, M.D., former president of the American Headache Society."
Can Exercise Give You Headaches?

Any thoughts?

Do you have high blood pressure?

No last I checked it was 90/77. I just had a full physical with a fasting blood sugar and all my numbers were just fine. I posted this as a cautionary tale as it is spring and more peolle will be outdoors exercising.

 

[Connery]

Stay hydrated!!! This does not just apply to cycling, but any activity. I go to Zumba classes and other forms of high intensity exercise. Hydration is key as is loosening up and stretching.

" Bicycling is a low-impact sport, but it’s not exactly low pain. Nearly half of male cyclists have experienced an exercise-induced headache, often lasting into the next day, according to a new study in the journal Headache.

The biggest risk factors: extreme exertion, low fluid intake, and warm weather, all of which can cause dehydration. When you’re low on fluids during a hard ride, your body breaks down muscle tissue, triggering inflammation, says Stephen Silberstein, M.D., former president of the American Headache Society."
Can Exercise Give You Headaches?

Any thoughts?

That's absolutely good advice for people who exercise a lot.

Another cause of dehydration a lot of people don't know about as they age and start adding prescriptions for such things as heart health, stomach health, immune issue pain (neuralgia, fibromyalgia, diabetes, etc.)--is how important it is to drink plenty of fluids or carry around a lowgrade headache, not to mention other problems. Drinking 8 cups a day is almost a necessity for someone who must lower cholesterol, fight heinous pain, or fight an acidic gi tract.

Thanks for the reminder, and I hope it reaches a lot of members here at USMB.

As for brain tumors, they're rare, but if the headaches persist after people know they are adequately hydrated, they should always see a physician to get to the bottom of their problem. That's when he or she can run the tests to zero in on a brain tumor or other somatic cancer.

Other brain helpers are blueberries, an apple a day, blackberries, and acai berries.

But water? Regular exercise requires it!

8 glasses a day is what I vaguely recollect from nutrition classes a zillion years ago. Now nutrition sites are saying that's too much for some people and not enough for others. Things change, but failure to hydrate when exercising is really a great way to acquire regular headaches.

Thank you very much for the info becki!!!!!!