Debilitating Migraine
Whats up Eroids,Its your boy Win with a question for my fellow swole necks. Lately, I have been going really heavy on my workouts. You ask "yea,why is that a problem?", well lately I have been getting serious Migraine headaches while lifting. Its been serious to the point that, I just need to close my eyes and rest between sets!
Example, today i started with the incline(dumbbell) bench and my first set was 100's. I rep them out with ease but, by rep 9 my head starts pounding. Being the beast (I think I am), I push through but by rep 11 I put the weight down. I do three more sets 110,120 and 125, by now i'm like wth. Let me explain this headache, it starts behind my eyes and radiates to my temple and slightly down behind my ear. This pain is only on the right side of my head for the most part, but its enough to make you stop in your tracks.
Now I wouldn't consider myself a puss I usually can take pain, hence the 15 hrs of ink on my back, but this is no ordinary headache. It has been happening the last two days while in the gym and today I decided to leave the gym early, just for that reason. I came home and checked my Bp and it was 130/80 and my hr was 80, which is fairly good. I took two anti-inflammatory pills and relaxed. This problem only happens while pushing heavy weight and I tend to push it to the max.
A little about my supplement rotation I take a multi,fish oil,a probiotic and just added Liv 52. My diet hasn't changed it consist of high protein and low carb. I had a couple ideas of what this Migraine might be coming from and all I could come up with was........
Improper breathing
Weights are too heavy
Teeth grinding
Straining
Blood vessel problem ( hopefully not)
Something to do with nerves
Stats:
5,5 height
182 weight
32 Age
It wouldn't hurt to take a day off and go to the doc for this problem, but it will hurt if I died. (lol). I'm hoping this isn't anything serious( i doubt it). I decided take a couple days off from the gym and when I get back, take it a little lighter. I'm in the medical field so tomorrow, I'll get it checked out but.......
Any suggestions on what this might be? Has anyone experienced this kind of thing?
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Just reading your post again. What are your symptoms when the headache starts, and when it is in full effect? Yours almost sound more like a cluster headache.
Honestly i think its a combo of lack of h20, holding my breath and straining. Symptoms were a severe headache behind my eye balls, that radiated from my (right) eye to the back on my head. Maybe i strained my neck muscles arching on bench or something. When i was getting these headaches i was going really heavy and pushing it to the max. It hurt the more and more with each rep and by the time i was at rep 8, i would feel like someone had a vice grip on the right side of my head. I would drop the weight and close my eyes and try to not pass out from being dizzy. I would lay back on the bench and put my hands over my eyes and try to re focus and push through. I would change the weight and lift light and still would have pain. So i would just leave and take a couple days off. When i would come back i would take baby asprin and eventually it subsided. Thank God!
Have you worked on getting enough water in and breathing properly during the day and while you lift?
Consider yourself lucky, as bad as your headaches are they do not sound like migraines. I think you are on the right path to avoiding them. Listen to your body..
I have suffered from migraines since I was like 13. I used to always blame on it whatever I had ate before it would hit, back then it always went from messed up vision, to near blindness to puking, I had no idea they were migraines until I was in my mid 20's lol. There was a period from about 19-26 or so where I didn't have any. When we started the process of building our house they returned with a vengeance. That was when I finally figured out what they were.
I am fortunate mine are the type that only normally last 4-6 hours but I know people that get them for weeks, I don't know if I could survive that TBH. Anyway, come to find out chocolate combined with stress was my #1 trigger and I limit caffeine to one cup of coffee in the morning. One thing I did find tho was if I slammed a red bull or energy drink at the first sign one was coming it would really knock down the severity of the headache. But you must get that caffeine in you fast, beyond the first half hour you might as well forget it.
What is weird tho is since starting AAS I have only had one and that was off cycle. I think some of that may be the overall sense of well being we get, I don't know. To this day I still cannot eat bagels..
Another person who knows what I go through. I guess i can be thankful that I didn't start getting them till I was 17, but it's been a rough 8 years to say the least. Do you take any type of preventive medicine for them? Before I got on mine I got atleast one a day, sometimes 3. There shorter tho, 2-3 hours usually but god damn are they horrible. The only way to describe them is torture.
Like I said, stress and I mean extreme stress is almost a guaranteed trigger for me. I have learned to not let myself go over the cliff, but you have to figure out what your triggers are and avoid them. There is no cure only prevention. The first sign of one coming you have to try the slamming a red bull or a cup of coffee, even excedrin migraine has caffeine in it. A couple of my signs for instance would be my fingers (usually one hand would go numb and tingly, or more common I will catch a flash of light out of the corner of my eye leading to the aura/blindness.
I've been trying for the last year to indenify triggers. Basically all I knkw is sometimes strong scents will set them off, drinking alcohol 9/10 times will give me a migraine within an hour of drinking I only 1 drink, I ised to smoke weed up up until about 2 years ago and the last year I smoked weed was a trigger. To nucj sleep, to little sleep. That's basically all I got so far. And your totally right caffeine really does help a lot. But I'm all about preventing them, mine will go away when I get one, but still it's 2-3 hours of suffering so I wanna avoid then at all costs. I've heard about people getting them for days on end but I almost can't believe it's possible to have the kinda intensity and pain my produce for that long. I would be going to the hospital I think after 4 hours. That's all I coould take it's that bad, no we're taking a week straight. Can they sleep? Cause I sure as hell can't fall asleep when I have one. If they really do get them as painful as me and for that long man hats off to them. That's literally torture.
Everyone here has some awesome tips and this is an important topic to me since I deal with this occasionally. My culprits are lack of caffeine thru-out the day, didn't get enough sleep, and most of all diet when I am low on my carbs. I can tell you some good news, if your like me it usually lingers for a day to 3 days and then I am back to normal so hopefully this will pass.
Diet has a huge effect on migraines so does hormones. I take topamax daily and sumatriptan for flair ups. I think if you can function while it is happening it is probably not a migraine. As for what it might be, I have no clue.
Topmax didkt work for me. I tried it way back when I first started getting them when I was 17 and it didn't work so I just thought I was one of the untreatable ones, so I didn't go back to the doctor for 4 more years and suffered daily migraines that entire time. Finally went back and he put me on this stuff. Called verapamil and it changed my life since then. After I took the first dose I didn't get one for months. It's a blood pressure med, bit or doensnt work very good for that according to my doc but they found out it works good for migraines. Been on it 3 years now and I'm so greatful to have found somethin.
It's good you found something. The topamax works for me most of the time, I still get one about every 2 months. They always lead to crying, shaking, puking, and crawling into be for a day. I always think, "this is the one that's going to kill me." I hate them. I hate the topamax too because it causes hyperthermia, so if I do cardio I look like I'm dying.
Are there any odd sides from what you are on? I think I'll ask my doctor about it. I've been on topamax for almost 10 years lol
Lol I feel the same exact way, this ones gonna kill me. I've suffered many many Injurys, broken bones all that crap throughout my life but nothin compares to a migraine. I still get some uncomfortable almost migraines but I hardly ever get full blown ones anymore(knock on wood). But I go through the same shit, sweating then freezing, puking shaking, can't say I cry but my eyes start watering uncontrollably.
And I really haven't noticed any sides, and I'm on double the FDA recomended dose. I started at 240mgs that worked for a year then had to go to 360mgs that worked for a year then became less effective went up to 480 it didn't help so I went back to see him and he added topamax thinking it might help in conjunction with my verapamil. Well I looked up the sides and saw a lot of people lose hair on it so I called him and told him I was having side effects from it so he just upped the verapamil to 720mgs ed and I've be on this dose for almost a year, I pray to god the same pattern doesn't occur and it loses it's effectiveness at the one year mark cause we can't go any higher now. The higher doses they recommend and studied it's long term safety is either 360-480mgs ed. So I'm way past that but I don't care I'd rather die after living a few years with no migraines then have to live my life literally suffering everyday. But my doc claims it's safe so I kinda trust him. Btw it's a calcium channel blocker.
Yeah my Doctors had me on all kinds of before finding what works. And the topamax is not cutting it, I've had 2 killer migraines in the last 4 months. That's 2 too many. People who have never had one could never understand the pain.
lol In the last 4 months I've probably had 50. Thats right 50. Maybe more. For some reason, and idk why i went through a period where id either have one when i woke up or within an hour of waking up. It finally stopped about a month ago. idk why, nothing changed in my daily life. i kinda think i had a bad batch of my medicine or something. I was thinking the dose wasn't working anymore but like i said a month ago it stopped an thank god it did. Fuck migraines. It really screws up my eating especially when bulking. Id wake up at 10 and get a migraine and not eat breakfast till 2 or 3 once it passed. Now try fitting in 5000 cals between 3pm and 11pm. Not possible for me. But your right, people have no fucking clue. My roomate tried to call me to cover for him at work one day when i was getting them every singe morning. calls me at 1am and tells me if i do it i have to be up at 430 to get there for 6. So you want me to get 3.5 hours of sleep which is def gonna get give me a migraine since I'm already getting them with normal sleep and thats a huge trigger for me. He's like just tough it out your gonna make 200 bucks. In his mind i was just being lazy and theres noway a "headache" is that bad. God I wish he would get just one migraine so he knows. He would never say another fucking word. Why did this happen to us? I envy people with normal heads i really do.
Fuck that! 50 and I would jump off a cliff. I always feel like people think I am over reacting, it ruins the day for me. If I get one, I'm done my only choice is to go to bed. What I really find funny are my friends who post about how they are, "having a horrible migraine" on FB. lol
lol right, there's noway they're actually having a migraine. The last thing I think about is to post it on Facebook. I can't really thing about anything other then it passing. People have no idea how horrible these things are. Have you thought about Botox? I heard it works pretty good. And it's a way to get the insurance to cover a cosmetic procedure cause were technically not using it to get rid of rinkles.
Yea, I cannot even see straight to read or type on a computer/phone when I have a migraine.
I have read about botox for migraine treatment but I have never tried to get it done. I might, it would be better than taking pills all the time.
It would be great if i didnt have to take pills every single day. Or even if it just got me to the point were between my pills and the botox i got no migraines.
I forget the name of the drug they gave me about ten years ago, you would put it under your tongue as soon as the symptoms started. Problem for me was the (what I call) "migraine hangover" was way worse if I took the pill. After a bad one I usually feel out of sorts for a day or two regardless but with the migraine drug it was really unsettling. Now in the event I do get one I just take whatever I have on hand and go bury my head until it passes. Isn't it a great feeling when you know it is over with? lol
It was probably Maxalt
When it's over it's the best feeling ever. I seriously think I'm dieing every time, how can something hurt that bad and not kill you lol
The sutriptamine is supposed to be swallowed but I chew it up out of desperation. Just thinking about it makes me nervous. I sometimes get a signal it's about to happen, my vision gets all swirly. But other times it just comes out of no where.
I'm put out for about a day. 1-3 hours of horrible pain, then I sleep it off. Oh how I hate them.
Omg the feeling when it finally lets up. It really is great. But I usually pass out at the point cause I'm so exhausted from the migraine. Your right tho, how can pain this not kill us. I seriously worry in having a stoke or brain annurism.
LOL, I think we have all wondered that. My thought was that I had a brain tumor, but that is how I ended up getting them diagnosed for what they were.
I thought the same thing. But way back when they first started and I went to the doc the first thing they did was a car scan to rule that out. I guess I just got dealt a shitty hand . Oh well it could be worse......right? Maybe not lol
CAT scan for me too,lol. They have no problem billing you for one.
AnonGlad to see you're doing better with this!
I would say (in addition to the baby aspirin regimen) to be very methodical with your breathing. When we get to the end of these sets where we're really pushing weight there can be a tendency to "lock up" our breathing while we strain. That's no bueno. The shortage of air while straining can certainly cause the headaches as your brain is being deprived of oxygen right when you're asking your body to stretch it's capacity for work. Have to get enough oxygen. Just a thought. I woulda never even noticed I did this without those headaches and a good lifting partner
YES, i do this too. I strain and "lock up on heavy weight", it makes the migraines unbearable. Thanks for your advice!
I was hospitalized multiple times in college with migraines. The culprit - caffeine. I kid u not.
That's so weird, caffeine usually helps migraines cause it's a vasodilator, it's even in a lot of OTC migraine formulas. Drinking some coffee when I get one usually helps. You musta been drinking a shit load of coffee.
3 pots /day.
Damn bro, and I feel guiltily when I have 3 cups a day lol. That will probably do it to ya.
So, I am sympathetic to the nightmare of it. The only thing in roid land that occasionally will almost mimic a migraine is a drol headache.
Wholy shit, your living up to your avitar
damn you must have been on some good colombian bean shit!
lack of water while on steroids will do this too.
I just recently increase this too! These head aches used to make me wanna " cry myself to sleep" Get it? that was an inside joke, that only you and Nitti would catch.
Lol if only it was possivble to fall asleep with one of them. That would be great. When I used to get them really bad before I started my medicine a few years ago I would pass out when it finally let up. They really are that debilitating and exhausting. I don't think mine are ever going away it's been 7 years now. I just went through a 2-3 month period where I wild get one every morning within an hour of waking up. Thank god it passed but they will be back soon enough.
7 years, something isnt right and hopefully you can get yours cleared up too.
It's fucking miserable, but I had a cat scan way back when they first started to make sure there wasn't something serious going on and everything looked good. There doesn't have to be a cause for it, some people just get them, I've given up hope of them ever going away.
Has this cleared up yet? I've been suffering chronic migraines for about 7 years now. Before I got on my medication 3 years ago I would get them multiple times a day. To the point where they would put me on my ass have me throwing up. Couldn't do anything but lay in the dark. I'm no puss either when it comes to pain but the only way to describe these is torture and suffering. I would rather have someone break one of my fingers every single week then get 3 migraines a day everyday. Lifting doesn't usually trigger them but heavy bouts of intense Cardio like when I used to play rugby would set then off bad. I hope yours have passd, cause this is no way to live.
Yea, i added a aspirin regime to my supplementation for a while and eventually the headaches subsided and then i stopped the aspirin. Im so glad they stopped because i would quit workouts, because they were so serious. It hurt so bad i wouldnt open my eyes. Thanks for your concern brother, im gtg.
As a daily supplement you might want to add aspirin for a while.
It'll help thin the blood and get that BP down. 130/80 is on the higher end of normal. Is that a one time reading or an average?
No usually it's 120's/ 70 ' s if not lower. I know 135 as a systolic is concidered Pre-hypertension. Roger that on the asprin, thank you, I will add it starting tomorrow.
You are off cycle right now?
Yes
It's very possible that you burst a small blood vessel in your head. It's not overly serious, but it causes pain with excursion. It can happen with sex as well. If this is the case, some anti inflammatories and try not to push so hard for a week or two. It will start to go away.
^^^^---Is what I was thinking as well, I was thinking about just taking a week off? I love the gym though...Thanks for your gr8 advice!
You can still lift and do cardio, but just don't strain hard. As soon as you start to feel pain, just ease up. It usually takes a week or two and you'll be back.