exertional headache

[stealthcow]

hey

have any of you guys ever had this occur? Last thursday i was doing circuit training and when doing chin-ups halfway through started to feel the onset of a headache at the back of my head. I stopped for about 30 seconds and the pain went away, i continued my workout and was otherwise fine. (I had to do chinups again but didn't feel any pain)

today i went to the gym, stretched and decided i'd start with a set of chinups. At about 5 i got a strong sharp pain at the back of my head started to the point i had to stop. It really hurt at first and has lasted for 30 minutes. The pain peaked right when i had to quit my set.

Has anyone else had experience with these pains? Do you have any recommendations on how to deal/ prevent them? Should i be seeing a doctor?

thanks

[x2ski]

i get them too and they suck. if i try to "work through it" it gets worse and sometimes lasts for weeks.

from the research i've done, it seems that they go away as your health improves, but that hasn't been the case for me.

[Parallax]

How is your breathing during exercises? Holding your breath during the concentric phase of the lift (the actual lifting part) can spike your blood pressure really high...it's known as the Valsalva maneuver and is useful in some instances, but is potentially dangerous. Just guessing, but it's possible you burst a blood vessel causing the headache. If it keeps bothering you, I would definitely see a doc. GL.

[stealthcow]

thanks for the responses.

I called my parents after it had been 4-6 hrs and doing a bit more research online. they recommended going to the ER, which for me is literally 200 yrds away so i obliged. After talking with doctors they told me that it can be a very serious condition if you've never had headaches before and then get a very strong one doing physical exercise.

If you don't see a doctor and you popped a vessel, not having it looked at can be fatal. ( i came back negative) I think i'll go swimming today and see if that helps at all, but in the meantime this sucks

[x2ski]

[ QUOTE ]
How is your breathing during exercises? Holding your breath during the concentric phase of the lift (the actual lifting part) can spike your blood pressure really high...it's known as the Valsalva maneuver and is useful in some instances, but is potentially dangerous. Just guessing, but it's possible you burst a blood vessel causing the headache. If it keeps bothering you, I would definitely see a doc. GL.

[/ QUOTE ]

oh yeah, i forgot to mention that... if i practically hyper-ventilate while doing strenuous exercises, i tend to not get them, but i have to breathe in and out VERY hard.

[stealthcow]

[ QUOTE ]
i get them too and they suck. if i try to "work through it" it gets worse and sometimes lasts for weeks.

from the research i've done, it seems that they go away as your health improves, but that hasn't been the case for me.

[/ QUOTE ]

do you get them from some exercises in particular or any that you exert yourself hard on? What do you do for the headaches? when you say "last for weeks" do they come and go or is it a semi constant headache that doesn't go away? Do you take any medication when you get them?

After how much pain i was in yesterday i realy want to avoid ever having these again in the future. As for today they've tampered down and now i'll go through periods without feeling it, and then later feeling the headache again.

I still want to work out regularly. Do you have any other advice?

Thanks

Ian

[x2ski]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
i get them too and they suck. if i try to "work through it" it gets worse and sometimes lasts for weeks.

from the research i've done, it seems that they go away as your health improves, but that hasn't been the case for me.

[/ QUOTE ]

do you get them from some exercises in particular or any that you exert yourself hard on? What do you do for the headaches? when you say "last for weeks" do they come and go or is it a semi constant headache that doesn't go away? Do you take any medication when you get them?

After how much pain i was in yesterday i realy want to avoid ever having these again in the future. As for today they've tampered down and now i'll go through periods without feeling it, and then later feeling the headache again.

I still want to work out regularly. Do you have any other advice?

Thanks

Ian

[/ QUOTE ]

jumping rope kills me, bench press kills me, squats kill me. the only thing that doesn't seem to cause any problems are calf raises, so i do those constantly lol.

if i "work my way through it", it gets to the point that even engaging in enthusiastic conversation will cause them, for weeks, until i've stopped working out for a while. this is what makes it so hard for me to stick to a work out plan.

yes, the pain is very bad, but i find that regular headache medicine does nothing for these bastards.