Hello everyone! I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced a migraine headache after a tough work out? I've noticed the last two weeks have been tough on me. It started after I began taking harder classes like Boot camp, Body pump and Step. I've made sure I had enough Protein before the gym and I do well with my Water but I can always up the amount. Other than that I'm not sure what else I can do other than dropping the amount of classes I take a week but I really don't want to do that.

I've always been prone to migraines but this is just getting ridiculous!! Any suggestions? Any advise would help. Thanks

Have you had your potassium checked lately? Just a thought

Does Exercise Trigger Your Migraines?.

By Jeanie Lerche Davis

WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Jacqueline Brooks, MBBCH, MRCPsych

July 2, 2001 -- If

exercise sets off your migraine headaches, here's a tip. Warm up -- go for a leisurely walk -- for 10 minutes before starting any strenuous exercise. According to a new study, it might just prevent those horrendous, delayed-reaction headaches from ever occurring.

"We speculate that if one warms up slowly before engaging in intense exercise, it will prevent the headaches -- much better than taking drugs," says study author João Araújo e Sá, MD, MSc, neurologist at the Centro Hospitalar de Coimbra and researcher at the Institute of Biomedical Research of Light and Image in Coimbra, Portugal.

His study shows that women prone to

migraines already have high levels of a chemical called nitric oxide in their bodies. And sudden bursts of exercise -- even for as little as 30 seconds -- seem to release even more nitric oxide into the migraine sufferer's bloodstream.

The study compared 21 women prone to migraines and 12 women who don't get the headaches by having them perform intense bicycling for 30 seconds. The findings: 11 of the migraineurs (52%) got headaches between four and five hours after the exercise, while none of the other women did.

Nitric oxide levels were measured both before and after exercise. Even before exercising, women in the

migraine group had nitric oxide levels that were higher than the other women. Those levels increased by an average of 20% after intense exercise, while the nonmigraine group had only a 14% increase in nitric oxide.

"Nitric oxide may be an important triggering mechanism in migraine," Sá tells WebMD. "It is not the only mechanism, but perhaps it starts here." This information could lead to new drugs that prevent

nitric oxide release, he says.

Nitric oxide is a chemical that the body produces naturally for a number of functions -- to protect the heart, stimulate the brain, and kill bacteria. But overproduction of nitric oxide has been linked with onset of

Alzheimer's disease and with migraines. Nitric oxide causes blood vessels to dilate -- and blood vessel inflammation has long been associated with migraines.

Sá advises women "to perform a nice warm-up before exercising. We ask them to gradually increase heart rate for about 10 minutes -- to take a slow walk. This seems to prevent the sudden burst of nitric oxide and onset of migraines."

He is currently conducting further studies of this theory.

"We've known that nitric oxide was involved in migraines, but little has been known about why it is released or the role it plays in migraine -- whether it simply dilates the blood vessels or whether it also affects nerve cells that

cause pain," says Alan Rapoport, MD, director and founder of The New England Center for Headache in Stamford, Conn.

"They've found a mechanism that may be contributing to headaches," he tells WebMD. "I don't think it shows us that only nitric oxide causes these headaches, but it may be one of the contributing factors. I'd like to see more studies of this."

© 2001 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved.

I don't have any advice for you, but yes, this is a common migraine trigger.

The warmup is very important. The other thing you might want to consider is increasing your carbs before your workout. My trainer told me when I started to experience headaches that not only will lack of carbs before a workout cause you to tire in the middle of your workout, it can also cause headaches. I took his advise and have not experienced it once since. My headaches were just regular, in the temple area, they were not migranes but it is something easy you can try.

Good luck.

Thanks everyone for the great advise! Specially for the article BenisaMartim! I'm going to make sure I warm up for at least 10 min before a hard work out and if that's not enough I will increase my carbs. Hope it works!

I never got that but I know for a fact that many people get it from dehydration and as you know sleevers or bypasses we have to keep hydrated