Recent headaches from hard running (5K)

[PAJT]

I get severe headaches in the hours after completing a hard morning (5K) run. I've always maintained decent fitness & I'm well hydrated. Can anyone shed any light on this?

[Gambit62]

Could be lots of causes - one possibility would be blood-sugar levels - do you replace the calories after the run? Not eating regularly can cause headaches. One theory around migraine triggers is that some may actually be indicative cravings rather than pure triggers - eg wanting something sweet because blood sugar is getting low but by the time you have had it its too late and body is into migraine mode.

If you are eating properly then I'd suggest or if you try having some food afterwards and that doesn't help - then I'd suggest going to see your GP

[Emma1024]

I suffer from chronic migraine and headaches and they get worse after excercise. The only way I've been able to avoid a migraine after going to the gym is to eat loads of carbohydrates afterwards. You might say this negates the whole point, but I don't think that's quite right. Going to the gym will have positive longer-term benefits (metabolism, muscle mass) even if I don't "save" any calories. Yesterday, I had -- in addition to a lunch of vegetables and salmon -- some pitta bread, hummous, chocolate, hot chocolate, sweets, biscuits and of course loads of water. Say what you will about the health benefits, but it actually worked -- and for me, avoiding a migraine is almost always worth it.

[Fran_in_California in reply to Emma1024]

I'm so glad Gambit weighed in on this! I was wondering after reading PAJT's post, if low electrolytes are a contributing factor. I recently started healthy weight-loss by reducing carbs but, I think I've been missing nutrients; got leg-cramps and migraines got worse. My GP doesn't like my BP or my blood-sugar, so I must do carbs in moderation and I need to avoid sugar altogether (I read somewhere that a little chocolate - at least 86% cocoa - is good for you :). Do check out Gambit's other posts about B-vitamins, etc.