Looking for other "athletes" to support each other

Migraines make keeping in shape ever so difficult.

I am very determined to not let my migraines win. I have been training for a half marathon in July. My migraines don't like running much, but I find if I run early in the day on my good days that I can mostly keep up my training.

Support groups for runners never address those dealing with migraines (Perhaps because there are not too many of us???).

I'd love to know if there are others out ther trying to desperately hold on to their athlete status despite their heads.

It is soooooooo hard and I know I could use some support, and would love to be able to support others.

Anyone?????

I don't know if I concider myself an athlete by any means but I did sign up for a gym membership last year in hopes that I would improve my heart health and work on cardio. Unfortunately, within a few months of doing that I started REALLY suffering from severe migraines and was put on a lot of medication that makes it hard for me to drive especially at night which is the only time I have available to go.

I am starting to feel slightly better and have my migraines more under control with medication and I am now feeling less drowsy from these meds. I also have to get in better shape for a rediculous reason but it gives me a good reason to go so I am determined.

If this is the support you are looking for, I'm in!

That's twice we've crossed paths today Milo. Its funny I just got back from a run. I was just saying to my husband I was feeling OK today so he said get your shoes on. Its like that - I just have to go when I feel good, some weeks/months it is a small window.

That's a great idea to see if we could figure out some way to help out each other with exercise and training. You're right it is just that much harder to stay on track. I have given up being part of a larger training group or class I just can't count on being there. I would love to help out and be a part of some kind of support system.

Jo

I had been walking with the dogs for 30-45 minutes a day and had to stop. My heart rate was so high to begin with that any increase was torture. I'm now off the culprit medication and am able to walk with my dogs (we move like we're going somewhere...dogs are usually at a jog). But for me it's getting back in the habit. I've been on hiatus for 2 months now and it's hard to get back in the saddle.

I would also like to start doing circuits or perhaps weight training - I just need to tone what I have (I don't want to lose any more). This is an area I need to figure out...I think I have something I can modify. I'm willing to be a motivator or accountability partner to someone (given the day - some days just ain't gonna happen regardless of the will).

Milo I am definately no athlete but love bush walking. I was hoping to do the full Overland Track in Tasmania this month but no, feeling really @#$@ at the moment and daren't go. It is a six day walk, for me probably seven or eight. I find it very upsetting that even up unitl three or four years ago I had enough core strength to give anything a go but that is slipping fast. Do battle on to keep in some sort of shape, so that when you really want to do something you have at least a chance of fitting it in between bad bouts.

Milo,
count me in.
I'm mad about running, can't live without it.
I don't do races, they are stressful for me. I consider running as my freedom hobby and the idea of having scheduled races and competition is not what I need.
I used to run 3 times a week, now only 2 due to family and job issues.
I will NEVER give up running, it's too important for my health.

Migraine and running are not always compatible. I don't give up btw. I always feel disappointed and angry when I schedule a run and then I get a migraine, but I don't give up. The next day will be better and I do ANYTHING to reserve one hour for my run.

Do you run on a treadmill or outdoor? I absolutely cannot run on treadmills. It triggers me migraines.
I love to run in the woods or in the country, far from roads and pollution. I'm lucky enough because I live on a hill so I have plenty of wonderful paths where there are only trees, pure air, small lakes and other runners

Last run was yesterday afternoon. I ran 7 miles despite the high humidity and the thin rain.

Bye

I wish, but with the Fibro as well, no chance. I manage the odd 10minutes on the Wii, but then takes 3 days to get over it....
Good luck to you all though....
Sun's out here...

Sports with migraines can be possible. I know many days it is impossible, so doing team sports has dwindled for me, like most of us. It's just too hard for a team to rely on a migraine athlete.

I have slowly let my body win over the past six years, mainly due to migraines.

After my last major exacerbation, I was determined to either die quickly, or get healthy. I'm here, so you can guess which one I chose.

It is so very, very hard, but also very possible.

As those of you who have already posted know, it's all about grabbing the chance on the good days.

I get really bad migraines, and they can last for weeks to months. When they are really bad, I have to settle for fitness that does not change my heartrate.

I found that building my fitness level up slowly, to avoid major spikes in my heart rate, has helped a lot.

I was on the couch doing nothing about three months ago. I'm now running five to ten kilometers, five to seven days a week. I chose running because I could do it in many different places, with different people or by myself and could add races to gain momentum.

I have plans to do a half marathon in July, but secretly am very scared things will go bad before then. How do I stay positive??????

Milo - take everything one day at a time. I applaud you for wanting to do a half marathon...I couldn't. Every day that we wake up can be a challenge and if you look at it long term - it can be scary. What my question is to you - what's the goal? Is it to run in a half marathon race or to run the distance? If it's to run with others in a race, plan to do a couple with the intent to finish one of them (contingent upon the head). If it's just to prove that you can do it, you could run your own half marathon where you maybe include a couple of other runners and have a start finish line (an unofficial half marathon).

My immediate goal is to get a walk in with the dogs every day. Not sure how I'm going to do it but I'm going to have to try something and see what works. One day at a time.

My goal is simply to finish....but to finish with a bunch of other people who know what I just went through...lol.

I may modify it to the 10K if I have to, but my ultimate goal is to be able to say I ran a half-marathon. After I reach that goal I hope to be able to travel to other half marathons.

I found that I need an actual goal in order to maintain the motivation. It's so hard with these stupid migraines. I think mostly, I want to know in my heart that I am doing all I can to fight these migraine monsters.

I also recently read about a new member who is athletic like I was when I was younger, who is feeling very discouraged. I hope as a group we can let new members know that IT IS POSSIBLE...even tough it's really tough.

Waiting for the migraines to go away forever is wasting good time. Start now...and do what you can on your good days. Adjust your goals to make them attainable. Let's do this together!

Also no athlete here but try to stay in shape, I'm certain staying fit helps cope with pain and stress better. My Doc always tells me to exercise 30 mins a day, which I try to do along with some weight lifting..but when I have a migraine everything goes on hold. I try to start up the exercise as soon as I feel I'm over the worse of it but have learned never to push it too soon. I have noticed if I push the weights too much it sometimes seem to be one of the triggers for a migraine the next day.

For anyone interested, I started out with a program called "Couch to 5K" by coolrunnings. You can download the podcasts free onto your phone and follow the program easily that way.

I allowed myself to slow the progress down whenever I needed to...and was running 5K easily after the nine weeks.

It is made for the "couch potato" wanting to start running...and goes slow to prevent injury. This also ensured my heartrate was not spiking too far up.

Thanks for the tips on running Milo.

Has anyone run into a program that tones? I used to do circuits but had to stop - if I got down to do floor exercises, I wasn't going to get back up (head not cooperating) and had skipped the cardio portion. I am at a good weight but have a few flabby areas I'd like to tighten. Not worried about legs and tush - walking in my town...lots of hills and that takes care of itself. Just core and upper body that needs work. But also don't want to incite an M....

Anyone know of anything?

Heelerlady,
I began to run 10 years ago.
In the beginning it was hard and I wanted to give up after 10 minutes. I spent the first months trying to overcome the 15 minutes.
I then understood what was wrong. I ran too fast for my athletic level.

I bought a cardiofrequency device; you can find quite cheap basic models now.
Thanks to the cardio, I could reset my speed/rythm and in one month I went from 15 to 40 minutes of run.
Then, I increased both the speed and the tempo.
If you exercise within your limits, you improve day by day without fatigue.
You you try to run 1 hour all above you aerobic limits, you'll fail.
Don't trust your "sensations" in the beginning. All beginners tend to run faster than they should, it's normal.

Another good way to improve running is to follow schedules that you can find in most running sites.
The very basic schedule may begin with 5' running + 5' walking + 5' running again. If a body has not exercised for years the approach to aerobic movement must be very mild and gradual otherwise you can get only problems and - aboveall - you'll be very tempted to give up right away.

Sport, in particular for non athlets, must be a funny and pleasant thing that makes you feel better and not a sacrifice.

Bye

Ivy,

I may look into one of the devices. I'm not a runner and never will be - I absolutely hate it. From early childhood on, I detest it and the mile they made us run during gym class was pure torture. The only times I have run, if I'm being chased, have to chase down one of the dogs or am being paid (I actually had a job that I involved a lot of running). I played softball in high school - not a lot of running involved and that much was fun. I enjoy walking - my dogs don't allow it to be a slow one so the heart rate goes up and stays up. I have found that if I don't enjoy doing something, I won't do it. It becomes a chore and is not worth doing.

But good tips for others who may be interested in starting up.

lol...I never did like running too much myself......but now I run and feel so different because of it. It makes me feel better, more alert and decreases my appetite.

It has also helped me move into a healthy eating plan. I had to quit eating crap due to my migraines and allergies....and I find running really helps me stay on track.

I've also been told I need to learn to relax or meditate...which is sooooooo not me....so I run or swim instead.

It helps that I work with a bunch of runners...and I see what it does for them....so it keeps me going on the really hard days.

I would actually be just a swimmer, but my sched does not make daily swimming possible....but I can sneak in daily runs cus it's much more easy to do without a lot of prep work.

I've tried running off and on over the years but still would rather do something else. I think it's due to all the foot and leg issues I have...I was born with a bone in my feet that was laid backward and as a result I didn't walk properly until I was 3. This has messed somewhat with my knees and then it's all the self-inflicted injuries. Just due to my own klutziness I have 2 joints in my legs that are uninjured (a hip and an ankle - both on the same leg sadly). I just can't take the high impact pounding on my joints. Probably why I prefer walking - I can get at least 2 miles in thirty minutes done (have to stop for sniff and potty breaks). Also walking two 40+ lb dogs is always a challenge...squirrels, other dogs, birds and the random person. The first 3 they'd like to chase and the last one they want to go meet.

HeelerLady,
fast walking is great for the health. 30 minutes with two big dogs is a good exercise!
Good for you!

I love to run but it triggers my migraines like crazy lately. Even walking fast triggers them as of late. I've picked up yoga which at least keeps me fit and doesn't seem to be too bad as far as the migraines go. Sometimes they are bad but if I time it right, I am usually ok. My Dr. has recommended I do yoga and swimming.

Yeah, I'll have to switch to swimming if the running triggers too much. So far I've been lucky...maybe the supplements I'm on.

It is so frustrating trying to maintain an active life and manage headaches. Yoga has been the one form of exercise that I've been able to do consistently. It's focus on controlled breathing and gentle strength training have been very beneficial. Aside from that I try to get out on the bicycle as much as possible - it's another activity that I can control (slow down and coast if my heart's beating too fast).

What about just plain working out? Does anyone get migraines just from working out? I find I get really bad headaches, and they usually turn into migraines. Today i tried taking advil before I went to the gym, and it helped a little - the headache stayed a headache and not a migraine per se, but it was still a very painful headache. I think it's from the blood going to my head. You know how the blood will pound in your head with physical exertion? That's what gives me headaches/migraines.
Any ideas on how to combat that? I don't want to forgo exercising, but I can't handle getting migraines every time I do.

Yeah I had to give it up too. I think it depends on your goal as to what you do. I do know that if you keep it low enough intensity, things don't seem to escalate. What I mean is don't allow your heart-rate to get high. There seems to be a threshold (for me anyway) that if I go over it, M guaranteed. If I don't, often I will feel some better afterward. Me, I'm not trying to lose weight but still be able to maintain a level of exercise (I want to walk with my dogs every day). I'd like to do a work-out but right now it's not worth it....

That is correct....you need to start very, very slowly to keep your heart rate down. As you train, your body will adapt and you will be able to do more while keeping your heartrate low.

A marathoner that I call upon for support with my marathon training suffers badly from migraines if her heartrate gets too high. She bought a heartrate monitoring watch and maintained her heartrate within the non-headache range and was able to continue her running carreer...though she warns that it is very, very slow going to start out.

This works for any type of activity that increases your heartrate...not just running.

Milo, that's a good idea. I'll look into getting a heartrate monitor. I hope they aren't too expensive. I looked into a Bodybug, which monitors heartrate, calories and a bunch of stuff, but it was really expensive. I'm on a super tight budget.

Last week I walked a vigorous fast walk, 2 1/2 miles, and came home with a raging migraine. I didn't exercise good judgement, though, and went in the middle of the day, with the sun out. Not the best time to go. I felt overheated, and the blood was definitely pounding in my temples. I abstained from exercise for a whole week after that, I was terrified of triggering a bad migraine, plus I was suffering from a bad episode that lasted 4 days, Sunday through Wednesday of this week.

Yesterday, first migraine free day this week, I went to the gym and walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes, moderate pace. I got a good workout, but not an excessive one. I took 2 advil first, and my head was still hurting kind of bad about halfway through the half hour, and until I got home. It didn't get worse than a headache though.
This morning I went in and did 40 minutes on the treadmill, 20 minutes on the exercise bike, and felt ok. I did a less intense pace on the treadmill today than yesterday, and a mild pace on the bike. I liked the bike, I burned less calories, so of course my heart rate didn't get up as high, but I felt like my head was alot better. It feels ok now, I have a mild headache, but I usually have a mild headache every day. It feels like a migraine is nagging at the back of my mind though, so I'll probably take some tramadol to see if I can knock that back.

Its frustrating because I want to work harder, and I feel like I can't. My regimen goal is for weight loss, I want to lose a good 20 pounds to feel healthier. I've switched up my eating habits already, and I'm trying to develop good fitness habits, and it sucks that my head won't get on board But I guess I have to learn to work within the limitations I've always dealt with with this darn disease, just in a new respect. It's better than not being able to exercise at all.

If anyone has any advice, I'd gladly take it. The heart rate monitor is a great idea, Milo, I think I'm going to check on Ebay and see if i can get a used one for cheaper than a new one Thanks!