Thyroid, Migraine and Exercise
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I am a chronic migraine sufferer, since I was 10 or 11. I have seen 4 neurologists, 2 in UK and 2 in US, they have been unable to find the cause. I hoped that the menapause would resolve the problem but not so far. I am now 53 and postmenapausal. When the migraine hits I can have it for 5 days. It may go with use of Naratriptan but is back when I wake up the next day. I was diagnosed with low thyroid 5 years ago and take 100mcg daily, I still have tiredness, hair loss, too much weight etc. Recently I have started exercising to help aid weight loss and found that a couple of hours later I get the throbbing headache and feel nauseous. This is after plenty of water and a light meal before and after working out. I don't know if this is due to the thyroid. Has anyone had the same problem?
0 likes, 19 replies
lisahelen Cumbri
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Cumbri
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lisahelen Cumbri
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do you get any other medical symptoms other than the migraines and have your thyroid meds been checked/readjusted?
you could look on the b12 org web site to see if there is anything that strikes home for you.
Cumbri
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LAHs Cumbri
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shellyC19 Cumbri
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My name is Shelly and I am a nurse in the USA. I have Hashimoto's thyroid disease since 1987.
I have a few thoughts:
1) have blood glucose levels checked when you get a migraine. Many people spike in blood sugar and if you can you can buy a meter or ask your GP for one.
2) Get a BP (blood pressure machine) check your pressure and heart rate when you have a migraine.
3) Avoid caffeine - it can worsen migraines.
4) Anerysum check Up. My cousin went to bed with a migraine and died in his sleep - have a CAT scan to see or MRI to look for bulging vessels in the brain. Fixable if caught early.
5) Cortisol blood test and 24 hour urine for cortisol.
6) TSH level T4 and T3 levels, sodium, poatssium, calcium, and cholesterol, ferritin levels.
7) No Alcohol it causes dilated blood vessels and liver problems.
8) Allergies to foods - they can cause nasty headaches.
9) Kidney problems.
So look into these things above, any questions just ask.
Shelly
LAHs shellyC19
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shellyC19 LAHs
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No problem, I will always help where I can.
XO, Shelly
barbara98940 LAHs
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shellyC19 barbara98940
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You both are extremely helpful and very knowledgeable! I always appreciate your knowledge and value your experiences as we travel the road of thyroid disease.
XO, Shelly
Cumbri shellyC19
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thanks so much for the advice.
barbara98940 shellyC19
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XO
barbara98940 Cumbri
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shellyC19 Cumbri
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When you eat food it can take up to 1 and 1/2 hours to complete digestion. During this time blood sugar can "SPIKE" or levels can rise. If you drink a protein or diet shake or some sports drinks while exercising it can also cause the blood sugar to rise.
You would want to exercise 2 hours after eating, to avoid any high spikes. Drink only water at the Gym.
BP changes: When you exercise (any kind of exercise) it tends to raise the Blood Pressure and the heart rate goes up and you burn calories. After exercise the heart rate should come down to 60 to 89 pulse rate. Some people do not come down and could stay at a higher rate, maybe the heart is over-stressed or some other medical condition could happen that would prevent it from coming back to normal. Wear a FIT BIT or take your heart rate (count the pulse for 30 seconds and times it by 2). You can also buy a pulse oximeter in stores and it will alos show Oxygen content in your blood called an O2 Saturation. This number should be over 95% and up to 100%. If it falls below 95% it could be Asthma or some kind of heart disease.
Migranines can come from a myriad of things, such as HIGH Cortisol levels, High BP, Low Oxygenation, Other medications you may take, food additives like gluten or starch, an undiagnosed anerysum, family history of migraines, high blood sugar levels even temporay ones, minerals in the body that are too low or too high, anemina or low in iron.
They have meds available to stop migraines. Some can make you sleepy but they do work and most people get used to them. The blood pressure can chnage all aday long, stress can make it go up, bad news or overly tired can make it rise, even poor sleep or snoring can make it rise. It should be under 140/89 and the bottom number is more important than the top. They called that number Diastolic and it is your heart at rest. If it spikes over 89 then you could be getting headaches from that alone!
Weight can also cause our BP to rise. More weight means more ardiac volume for the heart. Also high sodium levels and ready made foods are fullof it. Sodium will cause the BP to rise big time! Look at labels on foods and see how much sodium is in it, you will see it is more than anyone needs!
Do your own cooking, watch sodium, and carbs, do exercise but not extreme. Keep a log on when the migraines occur, example would be exercsing and you had a Headache, then maybe your cortisol went up or your BP went to high and it triggered it. Log it down and let's see if a pattern shows.
Some simple blood work can be done by a GP and we could see how you are doing. So get all the blood work I said before and keep an idea of when these headaches occur. Be a bit of a detective and then you can inform your GP so much better.
Any questions or if I missed something just ask,
Shelly
shellyC19 Cumbri
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Shelly
barbara98940 shellyC19
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shellyC19 barbara98940
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shellyC19
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Brand name: Imitrex (sumatriptan- generic name), is a medication to stop migraines. My brother -in-law takes it as he suffers with migraines and he says it works well.
You may want to see if you can take it.
XO, Shelly