I used to get these every now and again, but it has been several years since I had one. I was deadlifting yesterday - second time in about 6 months- and I got this intense pain at the base of my skull. It made me nausiated and I swear weak and shakey. I also seem teary. I quit my workout halfway into it I was feeling so bad. I had a dull ache this morning. After church, I went to go do my chest exercise. Boom, same thing. I quit after one exercise. What is it, what do I do about it, and how do I keep from having it again?
I'm going to go lie down for a while now. If I never return, rest assure it was an aneurysm and I would have answered my own question.
Pain at the base of the skull
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Scott Ismari
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- Location: Illinois
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I'm still alive. I also posted on goheavy.com. Scott, as usual, you seem to be right on the money. I work with an old competitive power lifter and I told him my symptoms and he said he used to get them, too. He then said how he used to get them and he described it exactly as I had done. He thinks it is a muscle strain at the base of the skull caused by a combination of arching the neck and blood pressure when lifting heavy. He said to concentrate on breathing and lay off heavy weight for a while. I'm interested to see what the responses are from goheavy.
hoosegow, how's it going for you now?
I'm a real newb to strength training at 39 years old. I've lost 51 pounds in 7 months and now I'm 167 pounds at 5'6". For the 1st 6 months, I just used dumbells at home.
About 3 weeks ago I got a similar issue as yours. It happened on the 2nd day of going to the gym, rather than working out at home. By searching the internet, I self-diagnosed it as a "benign exertional headache". I got it the first time after doing shoulder presses on the machine. I think I pushed my head back into the pads, causing the initial strain.
It was very frightening. I'm just grateful it happened after I lost my weight because a scare and pain like that would have been enough for me to just chuck the whole idea, but now I'm determined to recover and continue.
After that, I would get an intense headache no matter what type of lifting I did, from simple curls to pull ups. I could prevent it by taking 600mg of ibuprofen about an hour before my workout.
I went to see my doctor and he advised me to take 2 weeks off from any weightlifting, which I have done. (well, mostly. I did do some lifting with only 1/4 of my normal weights just because I'm hooked. I had no problem with extremely light weight)
Tomorrow will be the end of my 2 week hiatus. I'm very nervous and concerned that it will happen again and then I'll be looking at MRI's and a longer hiatus. I'm just curious if the rest did the trick for you.
Are you back in business?
I'm a real newb to strength training at 39 years old. I've lost 51 pounds in 7 months and now I'm 167 pounds at 5'6". For the 1st 6 months, I just used dumbells at home.
About 3 weeks ago I got a similar issue as yours. It happened on the 2nd day of going to the gym, rather than working out at home. By searching the internet, I self-diagnosed it as a "benign exertional headache". I got it the first time after doing shoulder presses on the machine. I think I pushed my head back into the pads, causing the initial strain.
It was very frightening. I'm just grateful it happened after I lost my weight because a scare and pain like that would have been enough for me to just chuck the whole idea, but now I'm determined to recover and continue.
After that, I would get an intense headache no matter what type of lifting I did, from simple curls to pull ups. I could prevent it by taking 600mg of ibuprofen about an hour before my workout.
I went to see my doctor and he advised me to take 2 weeks off from any weightlifting, which I have done. (well, mostly. I did do some lifting with only 1/4 of my normal weights just because I'm hooked. I had no problem with extremely light weight)
Tomorrow will be the end of my 2 week hiatus. I'm very nervous and concerned that it will happen again and then I'll be looking at MRI's and a longer hiatus. I'm just curious if the rest did the trick for you.
Are you back in business?
Like I said, it isn't the first time I have had that happen, just the first time in a long time and for it lasting as long as it did. I'm fine. Doc says it probably was just a muscle spasm and to take it easy for a little while. I didn't lift for a week. I am pretty proud of myself for not getting too much pent up anger and agression. I only pulled one person out of the car, ripped their arm off and beat them senseless with it. It was a bloody mess, but the investigating officer, a fellow brother of iron, understood and let me off with a warning. I walked away still holding the arm. I think my labrador was chewing on it last night. I digress.
My powerlifting friend told me to really concentrate on my breathing when lifting heavy. So I have. I found that I had gotten lazy with my breathing form and have gone back to the basics. The overall re-concentration on my form seems to have helped as well.
On a side note, the guy whose arm I ripped off sent me a letter of apology for cutting me off in traffic. It was a little hard for me to read since it was written with his right hand (he was left handed). I am back lifting with no restrictions 5 days a week and my general hatred for mankind has subsided.
My powerlifting friend told me to really concentrate on my breathing when lifting heavy. So I have. I found that I had gotten lazy with my breathing form and have gone back to the basics. The overall re-concentration on my form seems to have helped as well.
On a side note, the guy whose arm I ripped off sent me a letter of apology for cutting me off in traffic. It was a little hard for me to read since it was written with his right hand (he was left handed). I am back lifting with no restrictions 5 days a week and my general hatred for mankind has subsided.
