Sunday, July 5, 2009

One common migraine trigger: low blood sugar

So yeah...let me explain some more about my big mistake at the Peachtree. See, low blood sugar can cause migraines. Exercise lowers your blood sugar. When you're hypoglycemic, you have a problem keeping your sugars high enough to begin with. Starting a 10k with a growling tummy equals disaster. I didn't have too many issues, except the inability to keep running at a decent pace, until the race had finished. I started developing a headache at the finish line, and I figured it was just some tension in my shoulders.

Unfortunately I misdiagnosed my own headache. It grew worse until I was nodding off on the drive home. Migraines make me want to crawl into a hole and sleep for days until the pain goes away. I got home, cleaned up, took three Advil, and took a nap. When I awoke, the migraine was worse. I finally took some prescription strength migraine medicine and began feeling better after I had eaten my second meal post-race. It took two full meals, including one peach milkshake from Chick-fil-A, to get my sugars back to the right levels.

I keep making stupid mistakes, so hopefully you can all learn from them. I'm not making them on purpose....I promise!! Make sure you're eating properly before the race to avoid what I went through.

No comments: