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Martial Arts/Grappling and Migraines
CangoFett
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I posted this on another forum, crossposting here for hopefully more advice.
First:
If you have no idea the difference between a Migraine and a Headache, get out of my thread.
Now.
Ill wait...
Okay. So, I started training BJJ 2 years ago, and then had a hiatus. Before my Hiatus, I was training with a wrestler at the open mat. Before I knew good ukemi. So after 2 hours of being thrown like a ragdoll in 100 degree weather in a building with no A/C or Fan on crappy wal-mart puzzlemats, I went home.
I took a shower, got out, and noticed I couldnt see out of part of my eye. It was weird. Then a headache came. Super super bad. Worse than anything in my life. And it only got worse. Between that and my vision loss, my parents took me to urgent care to get checked out. They sent me to the hospital for a CT scan.
Well, as the headache started to subside, the nausea and vomitting ensued. Then the headache came back. I spent most of the evening in the hospital getting pumped full of anti nausea meds and pain killers. The doc said probably a concussion/migraine from head injury. I didnt remember getting hit on the head, but if I was hit on the head what good is my word, right? I learned good Ukemi at our next class
A few months later I was rolling with a spazzy noob during class. He was in my guard, slammed me hard, head first, onto the mat. I repaid the favor with a nasty triangle sweep to mounted triangle. Then more migraines that night. And another doctor visit.
He said its migraines, take it easy, dont get hit on the head, I should be fine.
A few months later I was sparring, a guy throws me, I get some perfect ukemi up in there. My head never even touched the -OH LOOK MORE MIGRAINES
Though that one may have been due to dehydration/heat exhaustion. The doc sent me in for an MRI after that. It came out clean. Though I havent been to class for a long time til this month
Well, I learned my my lesson. Hydrate before class, take a break if I have too, watch my head. Ive done all of these. I drink 2-3 bottles of water before class, and 1 or 2 during class. My ukemi is amazing.
I started class back up about 2 weeks ago. Last night was a pretty easy class, lots of drills. Didnt get that tired, didnt really get all that out of breath. Was plenty hydrated, we did no throws or anything.
I get home, take a shower, and my good friend periphrial blindness is there.
I take 2 excederin, lay down in a pitch black room, and sleep for close to 12 hours. Woke up a few times feeling nauseaus, and killer head pain, but no vomiting. Got up this morning, and still a ton of head pressure.
I guess what im looking for is what the heck is causing this? If anyone else here has had similar problems. If theres some crazy wing chun solution to fix migraines. Because I love my school, and love training. I do not love migraines.
I didnt really get winded at all last night. In fact, the class was abnormally light. Im gonna try to find a free clinic/doctor thing to go to, and talk about what could be causing this. The only thing I can think of that happened last night was I was put into a super type head scissors that had me smothering on the dudes thighs, and a super type half guard guillotine.
Excedrin+sleeping seemed to ward off the worst of the migraine pretty well, and the auras are pretty obvious that the migraine is coming, so thats a bonus. not sure if im gonna skip class tonight or what.
First:
If you have no idea the difference between a Migraine and a Headache, get out of my thread.
Now.
Ill wait...
Okay. So, I started training BJJ 2 years ago, and then had a hiatus. Before my Hiatus, I was training with a wrestler at the open mat. Before I knew good ukemi. So after 2 hours of being thrown like a ragdoll in 100 degree weather in a building with no A/C or Fan on crappy wal-mart puzzlemats, I went home.
I took a shower, got out, and noticed I couldnt see out of part of my eye. It was weird. Then a headache came. Super super bad. Worse than anything in my life. And it only got worse. Between that and my vision loss, my parents took me to urgent care to get checked out. They sent me to the hospital for a CT scan.
Well, as the headache started to subside, the nausea and vomitting ensued. Then the headache came back. I spent most of the evening in the hospital getting pumped full of anti nausea meds and pain killers. The doc said probably a concussion/migraine from head injury. I didnt remember getting hit on the head, but if I was hit on the head what good is my word, right? I learned good Ukemi at our next class
A few months later I was rolling with a spazzy noob during class. He was in my guard, slammed me hard, head first, onto the mat. I repaid the favor with a nasty triangle sweep to mounted triangle. Then more migraines that night. And another doctor visit.
He said its migraines, take it easy, dont get hit on the head, I should be fine.
A few months later I was sparring, a guy throws me, I get some perfect ukemi up in there. My head never even touched the -OH LOOK MORE MIGRAINES
Though that one may have been due to dehydration/heat exhaustion. The doc sent me in for an MRI after that. It came out clean. Though I havent been to class for a long time til this month
Well, I learned my my lesson. Hydrate before class, take a break if I have too, watch my head. Ive done all of these. I drink 2-3 bottles of water before class, and 1 or 2 during class. My ukemi is amazing.
I started class back up about 2 weeks ago. Last night was a pretty easy class, lots of drills. Didnt get that tired, didnt really get all that out of breath. Was plenty hydrated, we did no throws or anything.
I get home, take a shower, and my good friend periphrial blindness is there.
I take 2 excederin, lay down in a pitch black room, and sleep for close to 12 hours. Woke up a few times feeling nauseaus, and killer head pain, but no vomiting. Got up this morning, and still a ton of head pressure.
I guess what im looking for is what the heck is causing this? If anyone else here has had similar problems. If theres some crazy wing chun solution to fix migraines. Because I love my school, and love training. I do not love migraines.
I didnt really get winded at all last night. In fact, the class was abnormally light. Im gonna try to find a free clinic/doctor thing to go to, and talk about what could be causing this. The only thing I can think of that happened last night was I was put into a super type head scissors that had me smothering on the dudes thighs, and a super type half guard guillotine.
Excedrin+sleeping seemed to ward off the worst of the migraine pretty well, and the auras are pretty obvious that the migraine is coming, so thats a bonus. not sure if im gonna skip class tonight or what.
CangoFett on
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Posts
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG).
I remember once my mother in law made this awesome dip with cream cheese and chipped beef. I asked her what was in it she said "cream cheese, chipped beef, and a teaspoon of accent." I had no idea what the hell accent was so I looked at and read the ingredients (or should I say the ingredient) on the back "Ingredients: Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)." About 10 minutes later light started bending and I had to sit in the dark for hours. Not fun. So watch your intake of MSG as it is in a lot of junk food.
The good news is - yes, you can avoid them. All you need to do is determine your trigger.
The bad news is - your trigger appears to be serious physical exertion.
Have you ever experienced a migraine from a non-BJJ situation? A hard run, furious workout, etc? If so, you might just have poor blood vessel structure in your head - there's nothing really for that.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
MSG is a trigger for many people. Also common is sodium nitrite, commonly found in processed meats.
Also trippy migraine effects would be awesome if not for the pain that goes with them.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
Only ever from BJJ, the 2nd toughest thing ive done in my life. The first was a firefighters exam. If it is physical exertion it seems incosistent. There are teams I go balls out hardcore, and im fine. Last night I barely broke a sweat, and got migrain'd
Other possibilties
Dehydration- This is what I though for a while, but again, last night I was well hydrated. 2 bottles of water before class during the day, 2 during/after class. So I dont think thats it.
Head Trauma- The first time, I thought this was it, being tossed around by a wrestler. Since then my ukemi and breakfalls are awesome. The most Ive gotten was a slap on the head. I get worse from my wife. (zing) So, it shouldnt be that either
Neck bending?- Neck cranks are common, had a few last night. Can that stuff cause migraines? What about having a marine squeeze your head between his thighs?
Someone mentioned hypoglycemia on another forum, but I doubt thats it. Ive had blood sugar problems before, but only after being active all day and not really eating at all. I always make sure to eat well before class.
The list of things that trigger migraines is probably significantly longer than the list of things that don't trigger migraines. Caffeine can both trigger and help with migraines, for instance. What do you usually do before class?
IANADoctor but my suggestion would be to take a break from it tonight.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
Got home, felt fine.
Hopped in the shower, got out, and noticed my aura. Now that I think about it, every time Ive gotten an aura, I've noticed it after Ive gotten out of the shower. Like, got out, looked in the mirror, cant see my left eye when looking at my right.
Sounds like the same kind of thing - your workout was light, but you got your neck squeezed, temporaily restricting flow while increasing pressure. Heavy workouts and head taps - all these things seem to point in that direction.
For me, I just self-tested; squeezed off my jugulars for a bit until I felt the pressure, and I could make an attack happen. I isolated those particular sensations, became aware of what part of certain activities would cause them, and then stopped that part. All in all good trigger management, and after a few months of being very careful the overall feeling of 'danger' went away.
From what I hear though, that may not always be possible; some people are always susceptable to their particular triggers. If you're healing from an injury though, you might just need to wait it out. I hope.
Fatigue and exertion can, in addition to triggering migraines, exacerbate PCS and extend your healing period. I think you might need to make an appointment with a dedicated sports-injury physician. Concussion recovery is still a poorly-understood area of medicine, and non-specialists often overlook or misdiagnose symptoms.
I don't mean to be a scare-monger, but... well, it's your brain. It's kind of important.
Whenever I got out of the shower after gym in school I'd get the typical aura - stuff got bright, strange lines all over the place, anything bright stayed in my field of vision like I was staring into lightbulbs, making it hard for me to see properly. It could last for several hours.
I could have the same things happen from a bath that was too hot, so increased blood flow sounds like a likely trigger in my case.
I agree with this.
Migraine sufferers try to figure out what causes their migraines and cut out that part of their life with a knife, because fuck migraines nothing is worth it.
For some people triggers can range from stress to barometric pressure to hormones to foods.....some things being easy to isolate and avoid, others not so much. I know people who would kill to be in your position, all you have to do is stop doing one activity and the migraines go away (assuming that still works for you).
Dman, its one part of the activity thats causing it. So if I can rule that part out, i'd be quite happy, as grappling is something I love, and want to be able to do for a living one day. A great man once said, "Grass grows, birds fly, sun shines, and brotha, I choke people"
Don't screw around with it, keep your journal, review it weekly and get a good doc. You should also listen to GrimmyTOA and get evaluated by a competent sports-medicine expert.
Also, PM is there if you have more questions about migraines and grappling.
I don't know much about migraines, but I do know that people are notoriously bad at spotting what causes something else, so a proper diary will really help.
I had a flatmate once who had terrible migraines. They were definitely brought on by stress though.
Remember, a migraine is not a headache, it is a neurological condition similar to a stroke, do not screw around.