Treefox

So for a while now, I've been getting really nasty headaches maybe an hour or two after getting back from really hard rides.

I've been good about drinking on rides, I eat right after getting back - but if I've really gone all-out on a ride, or been racing, I tend to get these headaches a while after I return that last for a several hours (got back at like noon today and now, at ten, it's pretty much all worn off).

Any ideas? It seems like it'd be a nutrition thing - like not enough sugar or something, but I had a banana and orange juice after getting back.

It kinda ruins the rest of my day.

K&K_Dad

try more fluids...

uke

I'll be that guy...

consider seeing a doctor, especially if you've got decent healthcare coverage. Headaches can portend nasty things, especially long ones. Then again, it might just be a nutritional issue, which a visit might also help tease out.

That, or ride less until you figure out what's causing it.

Rosso Corsa

yep, very likely inadequate water/electrolytes

Bill L

+1

gregf83 

Have you checked your weight before and after riding? Checked your blood pressure?

Machka 

Lately I've had a really bad headache the morning after my long rides.

Dehydration is probably part of it, but I also suspect my partially dislocated shoulder has something to do with it.

Have you crashed recently?

mccook

I agree with the water thing. If it's at the back of your head and neck it's probably due to not breathing properly.

DieselDan

See a sports medicine doctor that knows something about cycling. Many docs around here would just tell you to take up golf except for one.

Grasschopper

+1 in fact look at a potassium supplement.

flyguy676

+1

try adding an electrolyte solution to ur water.

rollin

These work for me:



Easy to carry to add later in a ride.

Do you hydrate before and after a ride? Makes a big difference for me.

If it isn't hydration then it could be fit. Is your neck / shoulder area sore after a ride?

Good luck fixing it, I suffered and I know how much it sucks. Electrolytes cured it for me.

NuBiker

Wow, everybody's a MD now????
What if he has a partially blocked cerebral artery????

celerystalksme

htfu

ilmooz

That sounds serious. I'd rather go with dehydration. I got a second opinion from WebMD which confirms my findings. All is well.

patentcad

Go directly to a neurologist and get a CT Scan.

I get headaches after reading BF, but that's to be expected.

Hope you're OK. But seriously, do not F around with those symptoms, not at all. What you don't know can kill you. Quite literally.

HAMMER MAN

check for possible high blood pressure

Treefox

Had bottles of Gatorade and High5 4:1 on the ride - topped up both with plain water part way though. Finished off both bottles at the end of the ride.

Had bananas before and after.

Treefox

And I'm feeling like I'm hungover this morning.

SPlKE 

Unexplained headaches are right up there with unexplained chest pains.

I doubt that a doctor would tell you to maybe try drinking more water.

GPB

Yep...common for me when i push myself. I agree hydration/electolytes is probably most of it. Recently i've tried drinking a 32oz bottle of G2 gatorade afterward and that seems to help whereas water alone didn't (this is not scientific at all). Extra Strength Excedrin also works (usually one does it). My headaches are definitely muscle tension related...from holding my head up for two hours at a time...massaging my neck aggressively helps (or could this be a symptom of hydration issues...not sure). If nothing else it...sleeping "fixes" it...usually waking up in a profuse sweat. I've had some minor ones to some nasty migraine types...and those suck. Good luck.

K&K_Dad

he's not really describing s/s of stroke. If he was saying, I have the worst headache in my life, for no reason, blurry vision, ataxic gait, slurred speech, unequal motor ability I would say, maybe it's a partially blocked cerebral artery and you're dying.

Most likely it's dehydration.

uke

Plenty of other things in the brain can go wrong besides strokes. Many of them start with headache symptoms.

Ah well. I made my "see a doctor" rec already. Not my brain on the line.

Treefox

Oh, and my arm fell off too... Is that bad?


Maybe an additional comment for the record, which I was just thinking about on my way to work - on Saturday I went for a similarly taxing ride, but slurped down a gel during the ride(really sugary-tasting Power Gel) and then didn't have nearly so rough a time afterwards - didn't drink as much I don't think. I have wondered whether I'm a bit hypoglycemic sometimes, as I'll get headachy and grouchy if I've not been eating enough - but an apple or Nutrigrain bar or whatever will perk me right back up.

(some of that gel got on my hand and then my shifter and glued my glove to the rubber and bar tape, actually pulling bits of my bar tape off when I moved my hand and making pealing my skin away rather painful.)

Hickeydog

that's what his artery is doing.


Actually, I have no idea. But go see a sports doc.