Extremely painful headaches when lifting weights.

I have been lifting weights for about 2 years and never had any problems when working out until recently. I finished a set on the hack squat with not really heavy weight and when I finished the set my head felt like it was gonna explode and I could feel my pulse in several areas(one paticularly very painful in the middle right side of my head) I had to stop my workout early and go home and lay down. I concerned now because the pains in my head did not go away after a week, which made me decide to stop all training in hope of it going away, but it didn't. I went to the gym yesterday and the same thing happened again. I talked to a personal trainer and he said it could be something called an exertion headache. The last thing I want to happen is to collapse dead in the gym because of a brain hemmorage caused by an aneurysm.

I'm wondering if anybody has had this happen to them before and if they have what advice do you have on it.

by the way i made a doctor appointment tomorrow 8/18/04 but I was just hoping to get some feedback before then.

Wow...that's awful. Doctors appointment is a good idea, your head isn't something to mess with. I've never had it happen to me before (prolly don't lift heavy enough) or heard of anyone having that problem, although I do get severe migraines so I feel for ya.

Outside of the gym, are you under any stress or going through anything different than "normal"? Taking anything that may increase your blood pressure (caffiene, ephedra, etc)?

Got2GetRipped said:

I finished a set on the hack squat with not really heavy weight and when I finished the set my head felt like it was gonna explode and I could feel my pulse in several areas(one paticularly very painful in the middle right side of my head) I had to stop my workout early and go home and lay down. I concerned now because the pains in my head did not go away after a week, which made me decide to stop all training in hope of it going away, but it didn't. I went to the gym yesterday and the same thing happened again. I talked to a personal trainer and he said it could be something called an exertion headache. The last thing I want to happen is to collapse dead in the gym because of a brain hemmorage caused by an aneurysm.

I'm wondering if anybody has had this happen to them before and if they have what advice do you have on it.

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I had the same thing happen to me in the past, multiple times. Mine happened just at the base of my skull on the back right side of my head. Just like you said, I could feel my pulse in my head, and with every beat if felt like a combination of a sledgehammer blow and a knife in the skull. Absolutely a horrible feeling. And the headache/pulsating wouldn't go away completely by resting, although it was less severe. I went to the doc and had am MRA done on my head to rule out aneurysm. Docs came to the conclusion that it was due to tensing up too much and not exhaling, which was likely causing muscles to clamp down on a vessel, which was why I could feel the pulse. Some other guys on here have mentioned similar experiences, and talked about the tensing and holding your breath causing extremely rapid spikes in BP which account for the pressure on a vessel in the head and the pain.

Either way, you should definitely see the doc and rule out anything serious. On the bright side, like my uncle (ER doc) said to me, if it was an aneurysm you'd probably already be dead. But a good idea to check just to be safe.

One thing to take home from this is to make sure you never hold your breath when lifting heavy. Even if it wasn't anything serious this time, the possibility of a hemorrhage probably grows by leaps and bounds when you're holding your breath while exerting yourself on something as intense as heavy squats. Also, may want to be careful of what stims/vasoconstrictors you are taking before lifting heavy if this becomes a recurrent problem. Other than that, trying to keep from tensing up alot through your neck may help, but that's damn near some yoga shit and is easier said that done.

Hope everything turns out ok. Good luck.

Thanks for some insight. To tell ya the truth I feel a bit better (MENTALLY) after reading your posts. I'm not taking any stimulants besides a diet soda here and there but not usually anytime near when I work out.
It's wierd though because last time I made sure to breath, actually maybe to fast when I was doing my set and it still happened. I'm hopeing it's just muscles clamping down a vessel. Thanks for the info I'm glad to hear from people that have experienced something and went through it too explain to us that are just going through it, and give us peace of mind.

had the same thing happen to me years ago, anything that got my pulse up I felt in my head ( even sex, which totally sucked) give it time it will subside

Well I today was the scariest day of my life I went and saw the Dr. and he reccommended that I get an MRI because of the possibility of an Anyeurism.I kinda freaked out because he said well if it is and you don't have an MRI that you could drop dead whenever it goes and that if I get any bad headaches to go to the ER. So I went and got the MRI and sweated bullets until I got the results. It was a total relief to find out that I'm fine, but now I'm screwed royally because it costed 1,700.00$ and I have no insurance. But as they would say in the Mastercard commercials -Peace of mind from finding out your not gonna die from an anyeurism PRICELESS!-

100% same here bro! i did the same thing as young guns and everything (MRA) checked out fine! but you need to run down and pick up ZMA. magnesium has been linked to migrains!! lifting hard core depletes your body of it, so you need to take it to replenish you bodys suppy.i think it helps i take 450mg before bed time and breath durring sets and try not to strain everything and i have not had headaches!(except leg day squating over 400)

Man, how did you get an MRI done with no insurance????? usually, they want at least half up front!!!

badboymedic said:

Man, how did you get an MRI done with no insurance????? usually, they want at least half up front!!!

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Because my dr. and a specialist said it could be an emergency and I have monthly payments on it now till hell freezes over.

hey bro. i used to get the same head aches. mine was a real intense between my temples. do you (unintentionally) hold your breath while performing a lift? that is what my problem was. once i started breathing right while lifting, the head aches went away. also, are you drinking enough water? dehydration can cause pretty bad head aches. maybe this can help you out...