Major headache after pull ups?

[NamelessMC]

Tuesday I started my routine like normal. I did my bench presses, I did my squats and I went over to the pull up bar to do some pulls. I did 12 in a row, was really going for broke but I released really fast and as soon as I came down I had a MAJOR headache, like pounding pulsing. I had to kneel down for about 30 seconds before I could get up. They took me to the nurse, gave me some migraine medicine, doctor didn't seem to know shit.

I figured I released too fast and the nerves sent back to my brain any blood that was in my shoulders/upper back rapidly and it overworked the vessels in my brain and that's what caused the pulsing. Anyway, yesterday went by and I felt like my head still hurt a bit but not anywhere near as bad as when it just happened.

So today I am fully recovered and I go to the gym and try to work out. This time I start with pull ups, but I take my time, do them slower, on my 6th pull up I can already feel the pain going to my head. I come down and again, it's pulsing. It's not as bad as Tuesday. It still hurts but nowhere near as bad.

This time I talked to a different nurse, she said for me to see a doctor asap, but it's going to take a few days. I have no insurance, I have to sign up for county and I know they're gonna give me a bullshit diagnosis for my first meeting and it's going to cost me $25.

I'm just worried because this hasn't happened before and I work out every week. Last semester pull ups were in my routine every week and I never experienced this. The nurse was very concerned when I told her this was a first time thing. She told me one of her old patients worked out a lot and he experienced a similar problem doing squats and it ended up being a bad blood vessel in his skull that needed immediate surgery. I've searched Google and lots of people have had this happen to them. I haven't seen one thread that related to a blood vessel but I've seen it mentioned.

What do you guys think? Before you say the obvious, I know I need to see a doctor, but these things don't happen right away. I can't just kick their fucking door in and say "Fix me". I don't have insurance. I don't even have Medical. I'm applying but it takes 15-45 days.

 

[Fedorable]

are you wearing a belt while doing the pull-ups?

 

[NamelessMC]

No, and I wasn't breathing properly too. I was doing them really fast.

Anyway, this guy experienced the exact same thing as me and it's almost the exact same circumstance.

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/19284085-post18.html

I had the exact same thing happen to me about 2 months ago except it was while i was bench pressing. The back of my head felt like it was going to explode the worst headache I ever had in my life.

I went to the dr and had an mri done. Everything was fine, was a pull muscle or tendon in my head. Dr said if it was a blood vessel I would have become ill and had been vomiting.

A couple days isnt enough, it will reaggrivate it. Here's what you do to overcome this.. Atleast it worked for me..

Take 1 complete week off all lifting.
The following week only do bodyweight lifts to ease your body back into it.
Then the next week go back to heavy lifting.

Also, this was most likely caused by poor breathing technique... almost 100% sure you held your breath to force a rep up and caused too much pressure in your head.

Good luck. Be smart.

I felt the pain shoot from my upper back to my head, pulsing followed. The next day it felt bad but not as bad. I didn't feel sick, I just felt like I had a train wreck headache.

I'm still going to see the doctor, but I'm going to see if I can find one that isn't a fucking idiot first.

Doctors nowadays are just as bad as dentists. They do a half ass job so you have to come back so they can milk your insurance more. Even if it's medical they want what they can get.

 

[MMAFan232]

You probably held your breath.

 

[NamelessMC]

You probably held your breath.

Yeah... I was kipping them. I know I was breathing but I held my breath for at least 7 reps.

Today I breathed probably but like the quote above said, I probably aggravated it.

Sounds like I need to take a week off and slow myself back in.

Fucking shit. You go 7 months of S&C training without injury, build a natural "I'm invincible" mentality and then do one of the most basic mistakes to hurt yourself- Not breathing properly.

I fucked up. If it were a bad blood vessel, would I really be able to notice it? Like vomiting and being sick as fuck? All I feel is the headache pain.

 

[CroSpartacus]

This happened to me before. The pain is not like a normal headache, rather I felt a big throbbing pain in the back of my head. It felt like my brain was beating and it happened whenever I began lifting for a few intense reps.

I never went to a doctor, but my only guess is that it was lack of sleep and lack of proper nutrition. The pain went away after about a week.

 

[BlueRajah]

never had pain but I do get light headed when I hang with a close grip. I think its because my shoulders are pressing against my carotid.

 

[SmashiusClay]

make sure that the bar comes down in front of your face rather than hitting the top of your head. Should sort that out.

Seriously, be careful with that shit, make sure you're not holidng your breath and causing your blood pressure to spike through the roof with the effort, golden rule - if it hurts, stop it.

 

[BreezerD**]

I think that if you hold your breath for 7 reps and don't get a headache, you are doing something wrong.

 

[hunto]

Exertion Migraine.

Log In Problems
The Different Types Of Migraine Headache
Migraine News Network | RainGem |: How to Prevent Exercise-Induced and Exertion Migraine Headaches
Arch Neurol -- File Not Found

From archneur: "Mehrdad Razavi, MD; Behzad Razavi, MD; Deema Fattal, MD; Adel Afifi, MD; Harold P. Adams, Jr, MD

Arch Neurol. 2000;57:1363-1365.

Background It is known that exertion can aggravate migraine headache. However, the relationship between exertion and migraine aura is unknown.

Objective To study the relationship between exertion and migraine aura.

Design Case report.

Setting Tertiary care hospital.

Patient A 67-year-old man presented with recurrent attacks of exertion-induced hemiplegic migraine. Since the hemiparetic attacks were exertion induced, they were initially ascribed to recurrent transient ischemic attacks. However, the clinical picture, normal findings on cerebral angiography and neuroimaging (during the period of hemiparesis), lack of response to treatment with antiplatelets and anticoagulants, and successful treatment with verapamil suggested that the hemiparesis was not due to ischemia, but was indeed a migraine aura. We suggest that exertion induced the aura of hemiparesis by lowering the threshold for the development of cortical spreading depression. Even though our patient had no family history of hemiplegic migraine, a mutation in an ion channel gene (eg, the CACNA1A gene on chromosome 19) might account for his episodic attacks.

Conclusion Migraine aura should be included in the differential diagnosis of exertion-induced focal neurologic deficit."

 

[Cracker Odawg]

Sounds like a exercise induced headache to me. Make sure you breathe freely during the entire set. Don't ever hold your breath.

For the next couple of workouts you are going to have to take it a little easier in the gym. Don't go to failure on any exercise that you do because you are susceptible to getting these headaches again.

I've seen first hand what these headaches can do to people, and they aren't something to take lightly.

Keep working out, just be careful and don't go balls to the wall for the next couple of workouts.

 

[oxcart]

My story is the same as Gary Peters; got it checked out and it was a muscle in my neck. Be very careful with your breathing; don't fuck around and cut corners trying to go fast or whatever.

 

[ChachiKiller]

What was your sleep like for the previous few nights?

 

[papertigers]

Did the TS ever get this resolved?

I'm going through the exact same thing.

It happened about 9 days ago and the headache is still here.

 

[milano]

Did the TS ever get this resolved?

I'm going through the exact same thing.

It happened about 9 days ago and the headache is still here.

Happened to me before for about 3 weeks. the massive increase in blood pressure is never a good thing so make sure you warm up enough and breath properly.

 

[ssdd]

I used to feel like that when going for max pushup attempts when I was out of shape. When I got in shape it went away.

 

[scoopj]

Did the TS ever get this resolved?

I'm going through the exact same thing.

It happened about 9 days ago and the headache is still here.

He died 10 days after making this thread. Thanks for reopening an old wound partner.

 

[rckvl]

The valsalva maneuver is perfectly safe, so long as you don't have a pre-existing condition.

 

[NamelessMC]

I took a break. After a couple weeks, I worked out and at 45% or so, it was okay but I would feel a small soreness.

I took it easy and after about 3 weeks, I was able to work out at 100% again.

After that, I took my time doing my pull ups and I fixed my form to put less stress on my neck. The issue is stress on your neck. I noticed that my previous pull ups, I would tense my neck and upper back right below my neck and I wouldn't take my time through the repetition.

I think what happens is, there's a lot of blood pressure in the muscles on top of your back, and the nerves are so close to your brain that if you come down too fast, there's a lot of blood pressure rushing into your brain and it can cause problems.

If you take it slow, breathe properly, then you won't go through it. And also, try to be less stressful on your neck.

I noticed if I go too hard or too fast or if I don't breathe properly, they can come back. Otherwise, I was fine after taking a couple weeks off, followed by a couple weeks of taking it easy.

 

[Morganation]

Something for me to watch out for.I dont want that shit happening to me.