[Closed] Post-ride headache

Yup, dehydration gives a big big headache. Apparently.

OK - I'll have to look at making up a home brew isotonic drink then...

I get the same. I always drink electrolyte stuff (SIS) though, and was actually thinking it was because of that e.g. maybe mixing it too strong?

So maybe I'm not mixing it strong enough?!

Maybe not strong enough? Guess it depends if you're a bigger guy, or just sweat more than average when on the bike. Both of those apply to me, I overheat quickly.
Think I'll go back to my old orange juice, water, salt mixes...

I mixed mine weaker than normal today to see what happened and I've got a headache again. Will do it extra strong on my next ride and see if that helps.

Sitting here now with the exact same problem. I normally get these headaches after rides of 2+ hrs at a quick-ish pace.

I don't think it is dehydration causing mine as I am drinking plenty during and after my rides and I get the same headaches whether I use ready made drinks e.g Lucozade Sport or made up from powder e.g SIS.

I sometimes wonder if it is just the result of my brain getting rattled around in my skull! Thinking about it I never get the same headaches from road riding for similar duration/intensity.

this is weird !!! i was about to post the same subject!!!

i always get this problem too, i have several helmets and neither seems
to cure it so it can't be them, i do wear a bandana under my helmet could it be this??? it's always rolled into a sort of sweatband tho'

i drink high5 carb iso mix with electrolytes so it can't be dehydration, umless i too am making it to weak ? 1.5 scoops per 750ml, usually carry around 3 litres and 'do' the lot ?

i have a slight headache now behind the eyes, always feels to me like trying to negotiate all those trees,roots and drops rattles them around and my brain ends up hurting !!!

I get big headaches due to tensed shoulders & neck.

It's harder to make sure you drink regularly off road than on. I get headaches sometimes too, dehydration thing for me I think. Not just drinking enough, but replacing salts also.

Simple cure that works for me is to remember to eat salty foods on the ride, or just have a bag of crisps post-ride, often works for me. Nice bonus is some salty crisps will make you want to drink, so makes you want to rehydrate.

Also for some folk - do you normally drink tea/coffee? Maybe when you're riding, you are out in the morning/few hours so skip your regular caffeine fix, thus a headache. Try a cup of tea/coffee.

I don't leave the house until at least one cup of tea has gone down!
I'm going to try extra-salty drink mixes from now on, see how I get on.
I wish I knew the answer. My last really big ride (8 hrs) was marked by a really painful headache for the last couple of hours. It actually got so painful that I was squinting, and every little bump in the trail aggravated it.
I had got to the point when I was carrying packs of Ibuprofen so I could drop a couple when it happened...

tensed neck and shoulder muscles perhaps?

Agree with skilboy, it feels like my brain is being rattled painfully around my head!

Could be, psychle, could be - but if it is, it's subconcious, so I'm not sure how to stop it...

I find that the back restraint of most new helmets sit right on the nerves on the back of my head which can be quite uncomfortable. I tend to ride with a lighter road one as the rear restraint is more flexible. Alternatively a beanie underneath helps a bit.

I get sore behind the ears from my helmet (sometimes), it's really weird and annoying 🙁

Another 'vote' for neck/shoulder involvement.
Keep elbows bent and loose and every now and then do a 'funky chicken' move to relax the shoulders, try and avoid the 'death grip' on the bars too.
Check your backpack - wearing a pack tends to make you more hunched and the position of the straps may be adding to shoulder/neck tension.

Try the lemon SIS with extra salts and minerals in. Sounds like De-Hydration to me. This worked for me, also reduced the chance of cramp in the old calf's after a long ride.

I find the nuun tablets work a treat. I put one in a half pint glass of cold water at the end of a ride and the headache goes away instantly.

Dehydration as said above although in the past I have had a dodgy fitting helmet which has caused issues and also in cod weather the cold air venting through the helmet has caused headaches but that's towards the end of a ride that it will start

Nuun-works for me.

+1 for Nuun tablets. i have suffered for years with this, someone recommended these to me and so far it has cured the problem by at least 90%. there have been a few occasions since but i think that has been down to me not taking enough in.

Could still be dehydration if you don't drink enough - rule of thumb is 1ltr fluids per hour

Dehydration and salt loss are two differnet problems. Salt loss has very similar symptoms to dehydration. I used to get headaches after bigger rides even though i drank enough water. Started using home made energy drink and no more headaches.

In a 1 litre bottle put…
-26g (2 dessert spoons) of Maltodextrin (a rapidly absorbed glucose polymer that doesn’t taste sweet) – £0.08
-13g (A dessert spoon) of glucose powder (dextrose) - £0.04
-Two 50mg caffeine tabs (£1.99 for 30 tabs from Superdrug), crushed
(or 100mg caffeine powder (0.1g)) - £0.03
-200ml of fruit juice of any kind (or cordial) - £0.12
-An electrolyte plus tablet (skip this if you are going to eat food regularly during the ride) - £0.04
-Fill to the top with water
27p/litre!

All the bits can be bought from my protein.

+1 for tensed muscles. Used to get a sore head when out running cos I had my neck & shoulders tensed up, sometimes find on longer rides it still happens. Just need to stop & stretch it out at times.

Again, mebbe muscles at the back of the neck? - is the pain kinda over the top of the head from otwards the back.

First time it happened badly with me I had it for about a month - physio helped a little, muscles had gone into spasm. Can't ride a road bike now - too low - mtb's just about ok unless it's playing up (hence I now ride a recumbent on the road).

I normally only get it for a day or so, but it played up last summer whilst on holiday - dunno what set it off again, felt like a dull hangover for a month. I managed to work out what section of my neck to manipulate to relieve it, tho' it's been doing it on an off again since then 🙁

My two pence.
Make sure you're peeing clear when you leave on your ride and when you stop the ride. That's a pretty good indicator of hydration.
And steal a mate's helmet and see if the pain goes away with a different lid.

+1 for PapaWheelie, you can drink all you like on your ride, but if you're dehydrated before you start you will always be behind.

Post ride, my little mantra, "You cant have a beer until you pee clear"

That saves me from headaches the next day!

I got headaches all the time up until I stopped using all the singing and dancing lets go drinks, I started using Robinsons diluting juice and I have never had a headache again, my mate was suffering the same and he also tried Robinsons and his headaches stopped. 8)

dehydration quite likely.

Could also be lower blood sugar levels - does it happen whilst riding or afterwards? Could be once you stop, your body starts the recovery and releases more energy to up the sugar level - this can cause headaches (I can't remember why though) - but diabetics suffer them if they don't fix a hypo quickly enough...they are seriously sore and can take a few hours to subside.

I'm not suggesting you may be diabetic but a hypoglaecemic state might be happening and you aren't aware - are you eating as you ride? Keeping your energy levels up?

I'm still thinking dehydration is the primary though...

I get headaches a couple of hours after finishing long rides
I've started taking 2 paracetamol & 2 ibuprofen as soon as I finish a big ride now
No idea what it is but I don't believe it's de-hydration as I drink plenty & regularly stop for a pee & it's all nice & clear etc.

i get them too.

I don't believe its down to dehydration either. Tried drinking various amounts until i was stopping too often to pee, also tried that energy powder stuff and it didn't make much difference.

I'm a 16.5 stone heffa .. used to suffer from this all the time .. also if just a hard (lots of lifting, carrying) day at work. Got to the point where I thought I may be suffering from Diabetes or something .. but no.

Dehydration is the answer. But don't just drink well while riding, If you're down on fluids before you leave, you're going to stay down on fluids and get worse.

Change your life habits, and drink more (water) period. Now I always always always start my day with a cup of half juice/half water and a cup of coffee, then another water in an hour. I try to remember to have a glass of water before bed also .. remember that's 6-10 hours of no fluid intake.

Numerous online sources will tell you your body can only really absorb 500 - 750ml water an hour, so that's about 2 large mugs .. no point drinking more.
And apparantly if you drink too much .. it can make it worse as the load of water starts to dilute your blood and thin out the electrolytes even more .. or something .. but not so sure about this bit.

My miracle cure for catching up on post ride headache was tea with a teaspoon of honey every 45mins - hour. (or SIS Go ELECTRO if you're rich)

And as people have already said .. If you're used to having a certain amount of caffeine in the morning .. if you don't want the headaches, then make sure you still get that too.

Make sure you eat to.

All the talk of dehydration/hypoglycaemia makes me wonder how 'back in the day' you could do an alldayer with just a couple of bottles of finest tap water, packet of jelly babies and a lunchtime stop for a pork pie/tin of coke 😉

As for the 'energy drinks' - I certainly wouldn't want to be taking caffeine for a normal ride, late on in an endurance event mebbe but it's more likely to cause a headache than stop one.....

...if you suspect dehydration/hypoglycaemia try some 'non-cycling' exercise of about the same duration/intensity and see if you get the same effect (perhaps a long walk interspersed with jogging/running)

I sometimes get a similar problem after an evening ride, but I get the headache the next day. Its feels just like a hangover.

I didn't think it was dehydration because my pee was clear. So I figured that it might be a blood sugar problem so I drink full sugar coke and eat a banana 30 mins before the ride and this seems to help a great deal. I also avoid alcohol afterwards (takes a lot of will power)

Cheers

Matt

Dehydration could well be the cause of these headaches, the coverings of your brain are very sensitive to changes in blood pressure hence why you get a headache when you get dehydrated. If you are peeing clear when you finish the ride though, its probably unlikely that you have been too dehydrated during the ride, as already has been said.

The other option is that they could be exertional headaches, again due to changes in your blood pressure. They are reasonably common, people sometimes get them after sex! They are meant to respond well to indomethacin which is an antinflammatory drug, which can be taken before the excersise. They are most common with things like running and burst type sports like weight lifting, but I guess there is no reason why mountain bikes couldnt cause them. They are usually nothing to worry about, although not very pleasant.

Things to watch with headaches are for a sudden onset, worse than any previous headache, if you have neck stiffness, if you get it in the morning, and if it is there all the time and if you have any other neurological symptoms. If you haven't got any of these features its more than likely nothing to worry about.

Thanks for all the posts guys. I think it might be dehyrdation rather than tension or helmet pressure - I don't tend to get this problem on gentler rides, even if over longer distances or times. High exertion rides, with lots of steep ups or downs, or big epics seem to set it off. I drink loads all the time, and vary what I eat when out between nuts, jelly sweets and other bits and bobs. And it happens during rides, developing after a little while and then worsening until I take some pills.
I'm going to experiment with a home-brew electrolyte replacement drink. If blood pressure changes during exercise can set off problems, I might try an anti-inflammatory like Ibuprofen before particularly high-intensity rides.
Mind you, when I think about it, I do get shoulder tension. Being tall (6'4") I find that even on a 21" bike I'm leaning forward on the bars more than smaller people on smaller bikes, who always seem to have a much more sit-up-and-beg posture. Thus I'm bending my neck upwards more than smaller folk to look ahead...
Hmm.

BTW - I've seen a lot of home-made sports drink recipes, but nobody mentions whether you need to boil the mix to dissolve the salt and sugar, or just shake to mix?

One of our riders reports this a migraine. It once struck during a ride and he had to wait for the visual disturbance to go as he could not see well enough to avoid hazards. He swears by Solpadiene as a painkiller.

How about just making sure you're well fed and hydrated before and during the ride? Sounds crazy, it might just work.

I used to ride with someone who would get this regularly. I seem to remember the post ride recovery drinks helped.

Why not make an appointment with your GP.

I'm not convinced that it is dehydration/food etc. [for me anyway]

I don't suffer with it after long runs just on the bike, if anything - I take less water when running

stuartanicholson thanks for the shout about [url= http://www.myprotein.co.uk/ ]My protein[/url] thats saved me buying about 3 tubs of crap of CRC to make up my own drink. 🙂

Yep no problem. You can also use a protein/maltodextrin/l glutamine mix as a recovery drink too...its well cheap!

pain in the arse is,nt it. i get them even when well hydrated.
i put mine down stress when riding like mean it and masive concentration.
3 anadin exra after usualy does the trick 😉