Sudden, intense headache from heavy lifting

[blackdogdeek]

If your doctor wants you to get an MRI, get it...sometimes Arnold is wrong.

A couple years ago I was struggling with working out due to headaches and nausea whenever I lifted heavy. Turns out I had a tumor partially blocking the fourth ventricle, preventing CSF from draining properly into the spine and raising the intracranial pressure.

Not to scare you or anything, but it's always better to follow your doctor's advice.

I had the MRI last Thursday but haven't heard from the doctor yet. I called his office again today and he's supposed to call me back at some point.

 

[OlafSicky]

I haven't read the thread but it must have been a stroke. We had a guy die of one at the gym when he was doing squats.

 

[xian37]

Your doctor is likely going to diagnose it as exercise-induced headaches. However, a lot of these are misdiagnosed. I've seen a ton of people diagnosed with this who have actually had cervicogenic headaches. These are headaches caused by poor head positioning, tight musculature, range of motion limitations, etc. There are a lot of lifting positions that put the neck in a bad spot if you're not really careful about it. For example, think of the back squat. A lot of the time, people crane their neck upward or let the bar crush their upper thoracic spine, thus causing poor mechanics at the cervical spine. I'd say do some light workouts, but be very aware of your neck position - don't let your head fall forward. Refer to the picture below and don't let your neck do any of these:

If you look at the forward head position, that's where a lot of people go with back squat, let alone 50 reps of back squat. Definitely pursue the doctor thing and ask if he/she thinks it could be cervicogenic. If so, you could ask for a prescription to physical therapy for postural reeducation, some stretching, coordination/stretching exercises, and more. These can be really bothersome and eventually start to effect your daily life if you're not careful about it. It's definitely something to discuss with your physician.

Thanks for this
maybe wrong body position can cause pain while in workout

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Thanks for this
maybe wrong body position can cause pain while in workout

No problem. It's not a maybe though. If you work out with poor posture, you will get pain or an injury sooner or later, especially if you're working with weights.

 

[blackdogdeek]

Doc said the MRI looked normal. He thinks it's exertional and is exacerbated by elevated blood pressure. He wrote me a prescription that I'm only supposed to fill if I continue to get the headaches after cutting down my sodium intake.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

I haven't read the thread but it must have been a stroke. We had a guy die of one at the gym when he was doing squats.

This is absolutely ridiculous. You don't just get a headache from a stroke - you get slurred speech, facial asymmetry, upper extremity or lower extremity weakness in one side, delayed cognition, etc. Granted, they do happen, but just because someone has a headache doesn't mean they're having an ischemic or hemorrhagic event.

 

[blackdogdeek]

I forgot to mention that the Doc also wondered if my sodium intake was especially high because it was a little elevated today as well as last week. I remembered that I hadn't done anything different with my diet at the time except make some cabbage soup from scratch. Then I remembered that I added a packet of Lipton Onion Soup Mix and two chicken boullion cubes so he asked me to check out the sodium content on them when I got home.

It turns out 1 packet of soup mix has 2440mg of sodium and 1 boullion cube has 1200mg of sodium (remember I used two cubes). Also, the can of tomatoes I used probably had about 2500mg of sodium at least according to some of the others I've found online.

Diluted with 12 cups of water and assuming a 2 cup serving size that comes out to roughly 1200mg of sodium per bowl of soup. I think I know why my blood pressure was elevated. And I'm starting to think this had a lot to do with the headache.

 

[xian37]

you must eat more before go to the gym

the food that you eat is the one you will burn.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

I forgot to mention that the Doc also wondered if my sodium intake was especially high because it was a little elevated today as well as last week. I remembered that I hadn't done anything different with my diet at the time except make some cabbage soup from scratch. Then I remembered that I added a packet of Lipton Onion Soup Mix and two chicken boullion cubes so he asked me to check out the sodium content on them when I got home.

It turns out 1 packet of soup mix has 2440mg of sodium and 1 boullion cube has 1200mg of sodium (remember I used two cubes). Also, the can of tomatoes I used probably had about 2500mg of sodium at least according to some of the others I've found online.

Diluted with 12 cups of water and assuming a 2 cup serving size that comes out to roughly 1200mg of sodium per bowl of soup. I think I know why my blood pressure was elevated. And I'm starting to think this had a lot to do with the headache.

Eh, to be perfectly honest, research is showing more and more that sodium intake doesn't really affect blood pressure that much. Doctors work on the basis of physiology, but it doesn't really work out the way they think it should. Increased sodium intake is not really a cause of headaches unless you're hypernatremic (you said you were slightly elevated). I'm just not sure that explains it.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

When I get sinus headaches (as opposed to the migraines I usually get) stuff like bending over and/or lifting things becomes very painful.

 

[blackdogdeek]

No headache during today's workout, thankfully. Unfortunately, I don't know how much of a test this was since there were no sets of 50 of any exercise. Hopefully, this trend will continue.

Thanks for your input, everyone!

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

I usually get this when I am out out of shape and decide to lift.