Yet another victim of "weightlifter's headache"

[Nota]

GO TO THE CHIROPRACTOR!! One trip will probably fix it- twice in my life I've been like you described and the chiropractor was a miracle cure.

True.

You could have a pinched nerve.

Being your breathing and hydration is in check.

[Hey-Iwas51]

Thanks again all for the replies.

Hey-Iwas51: ...As for my caffeine intake, I am very guilty. I love energy drinks, but I believe the last time I checked my BP I had downed an Amp drink and my BP was still pretty low. I dunno, I will keep an eye on it.

Well, I wonder if after caffeine you are more susceptible to spikes in BP? That is, if you got the caffeine on board, can a vigorous work out bring on a spike? I don't know, but I have been recently using green tea daily, and have been noticing my head starts to pound during dead lifting (I don't DL big time, but like 3 sets of 12 reps of small diameter @ 185 lb.) May just be a coincidence. But just a thought. Then again, I AM taking a BP med. (Got a couple years on you!)

Hope you figure it out!

Dan

[clifsgoals]

My wife and I started working out 4 months ago and she has had migraines for about ten years, but now that we are working out she gets these head aches in yer eyes, and then they go real foggy. The only thing that helped is a message on her traps and shoulders, and upper back. Guess it may be common. Thanks for the info from all....

[rockscar24]

I feel for you man. I've had this and it sucked, big-time. I was doing chin ups to exhaustion and decided to jump up and do a few slow negatives. I took a deep breath, jumped up, took my weight, and my head exploded. I staggered over to a bench, put my head between my legs, and assumed that I was about to die of a ruptured aneurysm. When I didn't die, I slowly gathered my things and shuffled home. Thereafter, every time my heart rate got up a little, I'd get a headache. It didn't take much. Body squats, push ups, even sex would trigger a nasty headache that would linger for most of the day.

Based on my research, the problem was "exertion headache" and the only thing that fixed it was time off. Exertion headache pain is not always as debilitating or easily triggered as mine was. I knew a guy in Ireland who told me that he got a headache every time he squatted heavy (400+), but the pain wasn't enough to keep him from squatting.

Anyway, I wish you a speedy recovery. You might check with your doctor just to make sure your problem isn't something more serious or to see if he has any wisdom to offer other than to take two aspirin and stay out of the gym.

OK, I know I'm way late on this, but I consider it my civic duty to respond anyway. Last summer I experienced the exact same scenario as sytennison described previously. The first time it happend, it came on suddenly during bench. The headache peaked initially and lingered the rest of the day. The next day, it happened again while doing pull-ups.

It persisted with each workout, but I learned quickly that it was worse when I did high-exertion exercises (both arms/legs) than it was while doing alternating arm/leg exercises. I tried emphasizing proper breathing, proper form, backed off the weight....it mattered nada. When it proved to be consistent (and I wasn't just constipated), I started Googling. I found these posts, as well as many others threads that ultimately ended with no resolution.

I went to my family physician and had a MRI done, just to rule out an aneurysm or something else wrong with my noggin. The MRI found nothing, besides the usual cobwebs n' question marks. However, unlike steps many other folks have mentioned taking, I also had a simple blood test done. The results showed that my creatinine level was very high, indicating that my kidneys were being overworked. This was actually sort of a kick in my own ass, because I had recently been trying to determine if the benefits of creatine were greater when taken before or after workout. Because I couldn't find a solid answer online, I simply said F-it and just took it both before and after...lol. So, I stopped the creatine, layed off the gym for a few days, drank lots of beer (for medicinal purposes, of course) and when I went back....no headache.

I still ponder why my kidneys being overloaded would cause exersion headaches. What would your kidneys have to do with intracranial pressure? Once again, I scoured the underbelly of the wide-wide-world-o'-web, but couldn't find an answer, other than the groundbreaking wisdom that symptoms associated with elevated blood creatinine levels (aka kidney dysfunction) include "many other nonspecific symptoms."

Nonetheless, taking too much creatine seemed to be my problem. I still take creatine, just not as much, and have not had any more problems.

[Stenn]

Nonetheless, taking too much creatine seemed to be my problem. I still take creatine, just not as much, and have not had any more problems.

Is it possible that you were dehydrated from the creatine and that's what was over working your kidneys and giving you headaches?

[theKurp]

Day 2: still with some mild soreness at the base of my neck and some tender spots on my traps.

I think you've pretty much nailed the cause right here as being muscular in nature rather than any number of other causes.

The pain you describe is EXACTLY what I've suffered in the past and continue to suffer on occasion because I sometimes neglect to pay attention to ALL parts of my body when performing a routine.

The first clue came to me when looking at some of Victor Costa's videos on youtube. He makes a special point for people to relax ALL parts of their body EXCEPT the targeted muscles (and of course, synergist muscles when doing compound exercises). I can't tell you how many times I catch myself tensing my neck and traps when doing chest, arms, legs, and ab routines. It takes practice to relax those neck and trap muscles but if you concentrate it can be done.

Other than the headaches, the major motivation I have for practicing this is in preparation for jaw surgery that I'm going to have in the coming months. Without even asking I guarantee you the doc is going to say "lay off the weights for X number of weeks." Ok, if X > 2 weeks then I'm going to have a problem with that. Logic would dictate that the doc will be concerned about tensing of the jaw during weight-lifting and obviously this is counter-productive to the healing of jaw fractures. Ok, I can buy that. However, if I can learn the art of relaxing all muscles except the ones I'm targeting then there should be no danger of tensing jaw, neck, traps during weight-lifting routines. Right?

[rockscar24]

Is it possible that you were dehydrated from the creatine and that's what was over working your kidneys and giving you headaches?

I doubt it. I make a point to stay hydrated, moreso when taking creatine. I think there was simply too much creatine in my system. I had follow-ups after coming off the creatine and everything went back to normal.

Just to note, regarding some of the other accounts on this thread, I had no muscle pain associated with my headaches.

[Stenn]

I doubt it. I make a point to stay hydrated, moreso when taking creatine. I think there was simply too much creatine in my system. I had follow-ups after coming off the creatine and everything went back to normal.

Creatine-related headaches? That's very interesting. Most consider creatine to be relatively harmless except for some instances of bloating, pooping, and dehydration. Thanks for the info.

[rockscar24]

Creatine-related headaches? That's very interesting. Most consider creatine to be relatively harmless except for some instances of bloating, pooping, and dehydration. Thanks for the info.

I don't really think it was the creatine specifically. I think it was just the catalyst that caused my kidneys to go into overload. I'm sure too much Tang would've done the same thing. The headaches were probably just my body's way of saying Uncle.

[gynogravy]

I am recovering from this right now. 4 days ago I was on my 6th rep of 16 plates on a leg press when it felt like someone shot me in the head. Every time my heart would beat it would send a very sharp and intense pain through my head. It made me dissy and I felt like I was going to pass out. I tried to finish early with leg curls but couldn't fight the pain so I left the gym. The pain continued throughout the night. Fortunately I already had an appointment with the spine-brain doctor to look at my back two days after this happened. When I told him about it he said that isn't good and I should have gone to the ER. He then gave me a cat scan to look for bleeding in my brain thinking that I could have bursted some blood vessels. It was fine. He told me to stay out of the gym until my follow up with him next week and take motrin for the pain. The back of my neck is swollen at the moment. I just hope it heals up ok... Sucks not being able to lift at all.

[mavrick77]

working out actually makes 99% of my headaches go away, get the blood flowing, yeaaaaa

[cell-tech-ABUSE]

I too have the same problem - I find it goes away when I yell at the top of my reps (which I have been doing)- I just wish there was another way (no health insurance) besides yelling.

[warped]

No one here has mentioned stress related. I had this happen to me a few years ago. Started a new job where I was dealing with customers and end users. Never put 2 and 2 together that I was stress out at work. As soon as I started to lift I would get the headaches. After a few weeks into the job they went away.

Has anything change recently that would cause additional stress?

[Matrix333]

I believe I have this exact same headache. It started off while doing squats with a sharp (and very painful) pain shoot up from my left trap and into the back of my head. For the next few days, the back of my head hurt real bad. After about 5 days of that, the headache is throughout my entire head, but the back of my head is a little more intense.

As long as I am on Asprin, it is very tolerable. However, I really want it to go away and hate the fact that I am taking Asprin every day. So, I have decided to take a week off of lifting and see if it gets any better. During this time, I will discontinue taking creatine, just in case rockscar24 was right.

[ttreewalkerr]

This is all about not warming up properly,, gotta get that blood pressuree up slower, during a warm up... Do 100 sit ups whaen you get to the gym,, do 50,, then wait a minute then do another 50... Then move to the free weeight room,,,, start w/ the low weeights,, get the sweat going and reed face.... Now start lifting... 15 min. warm up


I used to do just 5 min. then start pounding the weeights... Well it creates that weeight lifters headache... It's intese,, like no other headache. Once you get it,, might as weell just switch to jogging and go on cut for 6 weeks,,, your done ... 6 weeks cardio,, light weeights and jogging.

[Whiskeyjack]

In my readings, I think "occipital neuralgia" is the most appropriate diagnosis. Also seems there isn't much I can do about it except rest and nsaids. I am holding out on seeking evaluation for now. I promise if things aren't better soon, I will get it checked out.

I have a neuralgia on the top of my head, caused by a heavy blow there. A neuralgia is (permanent) nerve damage. Now I can't speak for all neuralgiae or others who have them, but what I can say about mine is that Idon't feel it unless external pressure is applied. That is, if I press a certain spot on my skull, even very lightly, I get a pain that can only be described as like an electric shock. I never feel it when working out; there's no headache. I've read that some neuralgiae, however, are caused by tumour growth (I had a CT scan for that) or changes in artery size.

But to be frank, your situation doesn't sound like a neuralgia; it sounds like either a pinched nerve or the exertion headache my good friend Sy described.

[campersand]

I'm wondering if the OP ever recovered from this and, if so, how? I've been getting these for the last week and it's really a bummer. Sounds like the things to do are A) warm up properly, B) keep proper form when lifting, C) take some time off. Hoping that I won't have to do C.

[phigg]

Creatine-related headaches? That's very interesting. Most consider creatine to be relatively harmless except for some instances of bloating, pooping, and dehydration. Thanks for the info.

Actually I've gotten some nasty cramps from taking creatine and not enough water. I backed off the creatine a bit (I won't take it immediately before a workout anymore) and started drinking more water.
One time my throat muscles really tightened on me at the gym, it hurt to swallow, that one was kinda scary for a few minutes.

[Nodeal]

I was getting headaches from doing pullups/chins,especially those last few tough reps.Found out I was holding my breath.Sometimes I have to tell myself to breath dumbass breath.

[halogenic]

I use to get a headache every Wednesday, I'd feel it coming on Tuesday night after leg workouts. In my case it wasn't bad enough for me to stop, just a regular type headache. I had this problem for about three months, but think it's stopped now.

I saw this article about chiropractors recently which doesn't portray their profession in a good light. I wouldn't know either way.

What you should know about chiropractic
http://www.newscientist.com/article/...ropractic.html

[Zyn]

This happened to me last year, and I thought I was having a stroke. It hit hard and sudden during a heavy push. After my workout, I did some research on the net and found out what caused it.

it's usually caused by a pinched nerve in the neck during a heavy lift. Many posters on forums shared their experiences and it matched mine perfectly. I saved my money on a doctor visit and took it easy for a few days. I was fine within a week, but was careful with the heavy lifts for a few weeks.

Funny thing is, even though I thought I was having a stroke, I finished my workout. It was a good 5 minutes of incapacitating pain before I could finish, but I did. My wife thought I was nuts.

[aed86]

I dont know if this helps, but a while back when I was on the legpress I strained myself too much. As soon as I got up, I felt a blinding headache. It wasn't necessarily from the neck up, but it was frequent throughout the day. Long story short, went to see the doctor and he prescribed some anti inflammatories as I had pulled a muscle in my neck. After a week, the headache completely disappeared. Hope it helps

[Taichichuan]

This happened to me last year, and I thought I was having a stroke. It hit hard and sudden during a heavy push. After my workout, I did some research on the net and found out what caused it.

it's usually caused by a pinched nerve in the neck during a heavy lift. Many posters on forums shared their experiences and it matched mine perfectly. I saved my money on a doctor visit and took it easy for a few days. I was fine within a week, but was careful with the heavy lifts for a few weeks.

Funny thing is, even though I thought I was having a stroke, I finished my workout. It was a good 5 minutes of incapacitating pain before I could finish, but I did. My wife thought I was nuts.

"A STROKE"? I had a stroke that laid me out for six months! I felt like a little baby and I had to be spooned feed! It wasn't pretty! Terrible time! After that three more strokes hit me and I couldn't walk. Stubborn me, I didn't go to any hospital even though I'm covered
by the VA. I'm hoping that the next stroke I get will take me away, if not I may live to be 200! LOL

[dustem]

So glad I found this thread.

Three or four days ago, I was doing squats. Not any heavier than I've done before, and during the middle of my 3rd set, mind splitting headache. lightheaded, hurt real bad. I finished up a little lighter, figured it was a fluke. My spotter said my form looked fine, and I felt like my form was fine, however I'm thinking maybe my head was a little too high or something of that nature? The pain was pulsating, as if someone was repeatedly smashing me in the back of the head with a hammer every half second. Anyways, I walked over to the leg press, toughed out 2 sets before it was incapacitating and I went home, frustrated. When I got home the pain took about 45minutes to die down, but it was definitely lingering and irritated me until I went to sleep. I never get headaches or migraines, as far as I know I've never had one before in my life, so it definitely freaked me out a little bit.
The following day it was gone, so I took a few days off, then Sunday I went again and did heavy bench, and sure enough, came back stronger than ever. Completely irritated, I walked around for a few minutes then continued, then did some other heavy pullups and whatnot which just kept bringing it back. Towards the end I played an hour of racquetball which was a terrible decision. When I got home, the pain didn't go away, till maybe 5am.
I finally woke up at noon, the pain definitely lingering and noticeable, but tolerable. I went to the nurse at school and told her what was up and she seemed freaked out that I didn't instantly rush to the ER as soon as it happened. I gave my parents a call to see what they thought, they concurred, so sure enough I drove over to the hospital. Freaked out about the hospital because I've never been to one in my life, everyone seemed pretty chill.
I got a CT scan, doctor said its 95% accurate, and it came back negative. He recommended me for a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to check to see if there was blood in the fluid, which would detect whether or not I had a bleeding anurism or whatever. Getting a spinal tap runs a lot of risks that quite frankly, I am not willing to take. There was no sense for me to get the test done if they could potentially cause problems when I don't have any wrong, and that test coming back negative would leave me right where I started.
So they want me to schedule a MRI for sometime in the near future, but I'm just going to ride it out for a little while and see what's up.

Things I noted:
Squats triggered it all. It wasn't my first time doing squats in a while, I just did them a few days before. It wasn't a lot of weight, so I'd like to think my form and breathing is easier to maintain when I'm not maxing out. Again I think my head might've been a little too high, like neck cranked back a little bit.

Some people said high blood pressure was the cause, and that heavy lifting would cause that pressure up in my dome. Again, it wasn't heavy weight, and when I got to the hospital the first thing they did was take my blood pressure which was like 113/60 or something which I guess is "athletic low" according to the doctor.

It was probably an hour+1/2 after eating, I was definitely hydrated as well. I take CE2 creatine about 1/2 hour before my workouts usually, which could've effected it maybe? I doubt it though.

I didn't really stretch hardcore or do any warmups, but I really usually don't because I pyramid up usually, so my first few sets are with close to no weight.

I'm thinking it could potentially be a bad sinus infection. H1N1 all over the place, I've been sick for a few weeks now which really never happens, I never get sick, and I've been coughing up some nice glow-in-the-dark mucus....

The doctor pretty much told me that headaches and migraines are really under researched and if you had a terrible headache/migraine, a CT scan or MRI or anything else wouldn't show anything different than if you didn't have a headache/migraine, and they are obviously very real.

If the pain comes back again in a few weeks, I'll probably get an MRI to be sure everything's cool, but as of now I'm pretty sure its just an exertion headache or maybe a pinched nerve or a tense neck muscle. What I can say so far is that really..when it happens...bail. Save it for next time as frustrating as it is, cuz that second night was probably the worst I've ever felt in my life. The pain is still lingering now, but it's going away slowly but surely.

Sorry for writing a bible of a post, but I know reading what you guys wrote really helped me out a lot, so maybe this will help somebody.

[christos_swc]

Neurobion in tb form is a medicine containing Vitamins B1,B6 and B12.
It's often prescribed by doctors to patients suffering from nerve pains.
It doesn't do any harm to try it out since it's just vitamins.

[Taichichuan]

So glad I found this thread.

Three or four days ago, I was doing squats. Not any heavier than I've done before, and during the middle of my 3rd set, mind splitting headache. lightheaded, hurt real bad. I finished up a little lighter, figured it was a fluke. My spotter said my form looked fine, and I felt like my form was fine, however I'm thinking maybe my head was a little too high or something of that nature? The pain was pulsating, as if someone was repeatedly smashing me in the back of the head with a hammer every half second. Anyways, I walked over to the leg press, toughed out 2 sets before it was incapacitating and I went home, frustrated. When I got home the pain took about 45minutes to die down, but it was definitely lingering and irritated me until I went to sleep. I never get headaches or migraines, as far as I know I've never had one before in my life, so it definitely freaked me out a little bit.
The following day it was gone, so I took a few days off, then Sunday I went again and did heavy bench, and sure enough, came back stronger than ever. Completely irritated, I walked around for a few minutes then continued, then did some other heavy pullups and whatnot which just kept bringing it back. Towards the end I played an hour of racquetball which was a terrible decision. When I got home, the pain didn't go away, till maybe 5am.
I finally woke up at noon, the pain definitely lingering and noticeable, but tolerable. I went to the nurse at school and told her what was up and she seemed freaked out that I didn't instantly rush to the ER as soon as it happened. I gave my parents a call to see what they thought, they concurred, so sure enough I drove over to the hospital. Freaked out about the hospital because I've never been to one in my life, everyone seemed pretty chill.
I got a CT scan, doctor said its 95% accurate, and it came back negative. He recommended me for a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to check to see if there was blood in the fluid, which would detect whether or not I had a bleeding anurism or whatever. Getting a spinal tap runs a lot of risks that quite frankly, I am not willing to take. There was no sense for me to get the test done if they could potentially cause problems when I don't have any wrong, and that test coming back negative would leave me right where I started.
So they want me to schedule a MRI for sometime in the near future, but I'm just going to ride it out for a little while and see what's up.

Things I noted:
Squats triggered it all. It wasn't my first time doing squats in a while, I just did them a few days before. It wasn't a lot of weight, so I'd like to think my form and breathing is easier to maintain when I'm not maxing out. Again I think my head might've been a little too high, like neck cranked back a little bit.

Some people said high blood pressure was the cause, and that heavy lifting would cause that pressure up in my dome. Again, it wasn't heavy weight, and when I got to the hospital the first thing they did was take my blood pressure which was like 113/60 or something which I guess is "athletic low" according to the doctor.

It was probably an hour+1/2 after eating, I was definitely hydrated as well. I take CE2 creatine about 1/2 hour before my workouts usually, which could've effected it maybe? I doubt it though.

I didn't really stretch hardcore or do any warmups, but I really usually don't because I pyramid up usually, so my first few sets are with close to no weight.

I'm thinking it could potentially be a bad sinus infection. H1N1 all over the place, I've been sick for a few weeks now which really never happens, I never get sick, and I've been coughing up some nice glow-in-the-dark mucus....

The doctor pretty much told me that headaches and migraines are really under researched and if you had a terrible headache/migraine, a CT scan or MRI or anything else wouldn't show anything different than if you didn't have a headache/migraine, and they are obviously very real.

If the pain comes back again in a few weeks, I'll probably get an MRI to be sure everything's cool, but as of now I'm pretty sure its just an exertion headache or maybe a pinched nerve or a tense neck muscle. What I can say so far is that really..when it happens...bail. Save it for next time as frustrating as it is, cuz that second night was probably the worst I've ever felt in my life. The pain is still lingering now, but it's going away slowly but surely.

Sorry for writing a bible of a post, but I know reading what you guys wrote really helped me out a lot, so maybe this will help somebody.

There are so many misdiagnosed ailments that would bring down the medical profession!

I had a stroke in October this year and I was seen by over 20 doctors! Beat that huh?! LOL

Two of the docs said, "You have had a stroke!" I said, "What the "F"!
That last dead lift at 400lb. got me! It felt like something blew apart in my brain!
Now I'm paralyzed on my right side and it is difficult to type this. Take care

[erjkism]

this recently happened to me... i kinda feel obligated to tell it after reading so many others' on various forums.

3 weeks ago i was doing pushups. At the end of the set it suddenly felt like a bomb exploded in the back-left side of my skull/neck area. i continued to have a throbbing headache the rest of the day. i also started hearing a weird "clicking noise" behind my left ear whenever i started running around and whatnot
a couple days later i went to the gym and it happened again. once again i waited a few days and took advil beforehand, but i felt the pain coming so i gave up.
i read online that people have had fixed this by going to a chiropractor. i went to two of them... and they didn't help at all. i gave up and just decided to take two weeks off (which was extremely frustrating). after two weeks i saw a doctor, who basically demanded i get an MRI. i did... and it came back negative.

After the two weeks of rest, i started riding the exercise bike for 30 mins every other day. i did that for almost a week. i felt like i could still feel the pressure in the back of my head... especially at the beginning of the cycling.

two days ago i went back to the gym nervous as ****... i only lifted about 1/2 the weight of my old routines. i didn't get to the point of feeling any pressure.

today i warmed up on the bike for 10 mins before lifting. at the beginning i could feel the pressure in my head, but after getting my heart-rate up on the bike it was gone. i think it helped a lot; i lifted ~3/4 the weight of my old routines, and my muscles got an okay work-out. thank god. im going to continue this path till i get back to lifitng heavy weights again. hope this story helps someone out there.

[EggSuckingLeech]

I've had this but it would come and go. I would get it and could not rid it for a week or more. Like someone above described, even sex would trigger it. Debilitating headache for sure.

I went to my doc who actually sent me for an MRI. Nothing was found. He did prescribe for me Naproxen because he said that Ibuprofen wouldn't help as much and I found him right (so maybe look for an OTC with this instead of Motrin).

I agree that it's a case where time heals. I know for me, that first time back to the gym was like pins and needles. Keep breathing and say a prayer

[msuwo]

I've had this but it would come and go. I would get it and could not rid it for a week or more. Like someone above described, even sex would trigger it. Debilitating headache for sure.

I went to my doc who actually sent me for an MRI. Nothing was found. He did prescribe for me Naproxen because he said that Ibuprofen wouldn't help as much and I found him right (so maybe look for an OTC with this instead of Motrin).

I agree that it's a case where time heals. I know for me, that first time back to the gym was like pins and needles. Keep breathing and say a prayer

Same problem, sudden burst/rupturing feeling in the occipital area. So what did you tell your doc exactly to get the Naproxen prescription?

[theronin391]

I'm in the same boat, hopefully it will go away soon.... as long as its not dangerous I will keep lifting!