Exertion Headaches...anyone gone through this?

[grubman]

OP, how are you getting on now?

I've had stupidly bad headaches as soon as I do my very first lift, for the past two weeks. I went to the doctor last week, had blood tests and BP tests; all of which came back normal. The only thing was I was slightly dehydrated, but since the first headache came on, I've been conscious to up my intake of water and it hasn't gone away.

The only advice she could give was to lay off the gym for a week and go back to it at a lower intensity, building back up slowly. Frustrating when I can't be anywhere near my max, being only 3 months into the gym.

I want to make sure I don't do any permanent damage, but at the same time don't want to constantly be off the gym. Yesterday was my last gym session, and had to leave after 20 minutes because the pain just wouldn't go away.

Still fine. I'd take your doctors advice (and the advice in this thread). Take qa week or two off, start back slowly, stay hydrated, and watch your breathing...I'd also say stay away from breathing squats, or high rep squats if this is a problem for you. At least for a long while.

[ChristoRed]

OP, how are you getting on now?

I've had stupidly bad headaches as soon as I do my very first lift, for the past two weeks. I went to the doctor last week, had blood tests and BP tests; all of which came back normal. The only thing was I was slightly dehydrated, but since the first headache came on, I've been conscious to up my intake of water and it hasn't gone away.

The only advice she could give was to lay off the gym for a week and go back to it at a lower intensity, building back up slowly. Frustrating when I can't be anywhere near my max, being only 3 months into the gym.

I want to make sure I don't do any permanent damage, but at the same time don't want to constantly be off the gym. Yesterday was my last gym session, and had to leave after 20 minutes because the pain just wouldn't go away.

Saw your post so thought I'd give my opinion, seeing as I have had this.
When I was dealing with exertion headaches I didn't actually take any time off, however, I did take ibuprofen, which may have helped and I trained very light, with very low intensity. Maybe try this, and really warm up sufficiently, perhaps even do a 15 minute walk before you start lifting just to acclimatise your body to the increased heart rate other effects your body experiences when lifting.
I see your post was a while ago, so let me know if it has improved. These are really annoying. Good luck.

[CubitalFuBra]

Hey

2 Weeks ago I was benchpressing, hold the breath and BOOM. Got exertion headache. Thought I will die. I went straight home and slept. The Headache lasted 12 days and finally gone away now.
However since one week I have a slight vertigo. As the vertigo came up I went to the doc. They took a CAT scan, came out clear.

My question is, has anyone experienced this vertigo? How long does it last. Really annoying.
Want to go back to the gym ASAP

[MrCarrot]

This may sound really weird but I get headaches if I do strenous chores, such as mowing long grass, or even washing the car on occassion. But I never get them from lifting.

[anonymous]

Got one a few months ago, first time ever. I had done deadlifts and rows and went to do some barbell curls to finish of my arms. After the first set of curls was done a sharp headache hit me like a ton of bricks. I've never felt anything remotely this painful before. It took about 20 minutes before it all went away.

Never had one from anything else.

[kweidman594]

I know this thread is years old, but I wanted to see if anyone over the years has overcome their exertion headaches like OP did. I am struggling with this now, i've been out of the gym for almost 3 weeks now. I think it is associated with extreme tightness (maybe even a strain) in my traps. What is odd for me is, the headache only occurs on one side of my neck/head, further making me believe that this is musculoskeletal-related.

[OldFartTom]

One side of head could be muscular, but equally some times of headache especially migraine are often experienced on one side. So I don't think you can conclude anything just from that.

I'm not a migraine sufferer, but earlier this year I got one and I was really sick and in amazing pain for 3 days, yes 3 days!! (I totally sympathize with migraine sufferers after that). Not sure what triggered it but I suspect it was a preworkout drink as I'd just started using one as an experiment, never used before. I'm not prepared to test my theory by taking it again, it was that bad.

Do you use preworkout drinks of any kind, maybe try swapping for plain water and seeing if that makes any difference for you.

[grubman]

I know this thread is years old, but I wanted to see if anyone over the years has overcome their exertion headaches like OP did. I am struggling with this now, i've been out of the gym for almost 3 weeks now. I think it is associated with extreme tightness (maybe even a strain) in my traps. What is odd for me is, the headache only occurs on one side of my neck/head, further making me believe that this is musculoskeletal-related.

For what it’s worth, I never had another one...but my symptoms aren’t the same as yours. It didn’t have anything to do with muscles, and everything to do with breathing and pushing too hard.

[gipper53]

Someone else will have to answer that, as I never heard it before. I know I was holding my breath a little too long on the bottom during the initial push up, and that is what caused my brain to pop. Now I breath in on the way down and exhale as soon as I start up, and have been having no problems.

Years ago (like 10+) I was getting bad headaches while lifting. Seemed to happen like you describe, while pushing heavy lifts to max effort. I was 20 something and disregarded it. Quit working out and never thought anything of it.

About 3 weeks ago I got another one of those headaches on heavy squats; didn't finish the workout. I didn't take a week off as I just recently came off a deload week. But since I've been paying a lot of attention to my breathing and it seems to help. Inhale going down, start the exhale right before I exert up and keep exhaling through the rep. I can feel the headache wanting to kick in but the breathing keeps it at bay. I know if I hold my breath like I was it will get ugly. I'm hoping it will keep subsiding if I concentrate on the breathing. It's slowly getting better.