Hyponatremia?

---

______________________________________
I know I'm promiscuous, but in a classy way

To my knowledge I have never had a migrane, but the post workout/race headaches I used to get were some of the worst headaches I'd ever had. I would get horrendous headaches after every bike ride over 30 minutes and every race my first year in tri's (I would have to go to bed to get rid of them - pain relievers did not work alone). I started taking salt tablets during my rides and races, and they quit coming on post workout. I never felt bad during the workout, but within 15-30 minutes post, I was in bed, advil and nap later I was ok. Salt post workout and race did nothing to make them go away, only if I got the salt during the workout or race. Even if I had Gatorade during the workout I would still get them. I take Thermotabs (mostly just plain old salt). Don't know if that would help or not...

---

**********************
Harry: "I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this."
Loyd: "I was thinking the same thing. That John Denver's full of shit, man."

I would agree that it could be related to fluid/nutrition intake. Migraines are different from other headaches, in that they are vascular in nature. The pain you feel is the abnormal vasocontriction/vasodilation of the arteries in your head. The don't know the true cause of migraine headaches, only that they can be triggered by a number of things: seasonality, stress, hormones, allergies, etc... so for you, it may be that 'physically demanding endurance event'. Unless you get them at other times? Or is it truly only after a race? If it is post-race only, then I would go back to the fluid/nutrition issue as a possible trigger. I also used to get headaches after long rides too (45+ miles)- although an aura was not a prelude for me, so they certainly were not classic migraines- but I finally realized it was because I wasn't drinking enough and I was losing too much sodium via sweat on those warmer days. You can try ice as a treatment if the usual 'cures' aren't working for you! Hope you can get to the bottom of it.

Oy, I feel your pain, but not like that! I find the few times I've gotten them after exercise it's been an electrolyte / heat / effort thing. It happens when it's really hot, I push too hard and I didn't take in anything but water. Now I know better.

I keep a steady supply of Relpax but now am on a prophylactic, Topamax, but am just underway, so am hoping it helps reduce /eliminate their frequency.

Good luck! They're really awful. All I know is I've been told once I hit menopause, they should go away. Now I just gotta hang on for 10 years :)

I used to get the same - I take a baby aspirin a day and that's warded them off very well. I would agree with the others that it's likely nutritional. I used to not be able to have any caffeine without it spurring one, and chocolate did it too.

I also carry Imitrex with me at all times. At the first inkling of the aura, pop it and close your eyes for 20 min and the headache never comes. It's a lifesaver, I no longer live my life in fear of that moment when you realize your vision is going..

I hope you can find a solution, they are truly horrid.

Rachel

Yep, have gotten the full blown miserable migraines post hard workouts or races. Figured out that it was an electrolyte thing. Now that I have my nutrition in check, I haven't had any problems. I am a heavy sweater (lovely, I know) and I was taking in mainly water, so my electrolytes/salt were getting depleted. Good luck, migraines suck!

How are you liking the Topamax? I wanted to try it but my sister, the neurology resident, has warned against it. She said the other neurologists refer to it as "Stupamax" because of the mental "dullness" that is one of the known side effects. Have you noticed anything like that?

Stupamax, LOL. No, not at all. It's funny I'm in this whole English history kick -- not to digress -- and I recently started watching the Showtime series the Tudors. Well, at lunch I was railing at some of the historical inaccuracies, "well, so-and-so died in 1536" blah blah blah. And my 51 y/o co worker (we always joke about menopause, peri meno, etc.) says "omg, that's amazing a woman of your age can remember all that." hee hee hee.

Howver, I am on only 50 mg. 25 didn't help as much but so far so good. Actually I'm enjoying the other hidden side effect: WEIGHT LOSS! Apparently the FDA won't approve for that effect but avg weight loss is 5-7 lbs per year. I've lost about 5 since February, which is when I started. I know my increased activity has a bit to do with it, but honestly, I have to say Topamax has given a little help.

So FWIW, I haven't noticed any mental dullness.

That's great to hear! The weight-loss side effect alone sounds pretty enticing. =) I hope it works well for you, and it's nice to know that I can keep that one in my potential arsenal.

txvet, I meant to add the 5 lb loss was without trying. I mean it sounds like a piddly amount to some, but heck, at this age, I'll take what I can get!!!! Anyone reading this under 40, yes, we really mean it, it really does get harder in your 40s to keep the lbs in check :)

My 15 year old is the triathlete with the migraines. It never occured in her first season of racing (at 13) as she was just sort of sashaying through her races and winning her age group since she was usually the only one in the age group! The headaches showed up in her second season of racing when her skills had dramatically improved and she began racing to finish with a strong overall placement -- in other words, she was putting out a lot more effort! The typical pattern was that they would begin on the car trip home, so maybe 3-4 hours after the race was over. They would last several hours and end when she finally threw up. She had some similar problems this past fall when she began running high school cross country. We discovered, after a trip to the ER where the attending pediatrician was a marathon runner, that the problem seemed to be related to dehydration and decreased blood volume. Because she also has some gut issues, she has a hard time taking in fluids during a race without a lot of "gastric distress." This season we have tried to deal with the problem by doing a lot of pre-race hydrating. For the 2 days before a race she drinks water and sports drink almost continuously. She also tries to eat saltier foods. This worked beautifully for her first 2 races which were sprint distance. She did her first Olympic distance race as her third race. She did end up with a headache but it was much milder and lasted for only an hour or so -- it bears mention that it was in the mid 90's during the race and all the racers seemed to be feeling pretty lousy afterwards! I know this is a long post but I hope Katie's experiences will help you some!

I had a lot of migraines at that age. mine are not food related, but stress related. specifically I can guarantee that after any major stressful event I would get a migraine. Finals in college were almost always followed by a migraine. big stressful day at work - migraine. after a big high pressure horse show - migraine. I also notice that mine are hormone related. when I was on the pill I could also guarantee a migraine on the day I started taking the light peach colored pill. it's the reason i got off of them. perhaps dehydration is the real culprit and I wasn't drinking enough during those situations,etc. stress releases some of the same chemicals hard physical effort does - it could all be the same thing at the root. the good news is that mine got much less frequent as I got older. Age does have SOME benefit.

Definitely try the salt tabs. I always got migraines post long runs as well and the salt tabs solved the problem. When you get dehydrated or deplete your electrolytes your blood pressue drops which I think is the actual headache trigger