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| Hello, I am new to this board. I just visited a headache specialist yesterday due to daily chronic headaches. She mentioned bikram yoga as a possible way to relieve these headaches. Has anyone had this experience or ever heard of this. I think I am going to try my first class tomorrow night, even though I'm a little nervous! |
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| Welcome to the forums Dana! Most people have just the opposite reaction to Bikram--it causes an onset of headaches. It's quite an intense experience and if you don't know what to expect, it's pretty extreme for a welcome-to-the-world-of-yoga initiation. However, if your doctor advised it (I assume it was a doctor), he/she should be well acquainted with your health and physical situation, possibly familiar with Bikram Yoga, so if I were in your shoes, I'd give it a shot. I did Bikram for 18 months--enjoyed it but often GOT a headache right after the practice the first few months as I was tired and dehydrated. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| If heat and/or heavy exercise make your headaches worse, it will not go well with Bikram. For myself, it would send me to migraine he!!  But if those conditions don't make your headaches worse, you might as well give it a try. Good luck and tell us what happens! |
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| Yeah I definitely don't want to cause myself more headaches than I already have but I will give it a shot. I'll let you guys know how it went. Thanks for the replies! |
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| Birkam practice relieves stress and helps me get rid of stress induced headaches. I work hunched over my laptop everyday and bikram does wonders for the stress that settles into my shoulders. I usually suffer more from tight shoulders than headaches, but it has worked for those too. I call it my bikram cure.
Edited by Geo Girl 2005-01-20 10:56 PM
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| Hello all,
Well I gotta step in and disagree.
These 'Bikram caused' headaches sound like simple electrolyte depletion.
Have smart water or e'merg-en'c vitamin C mix during class. This is a common hot yoga problem with an easy fix. I am surprised to hear your teachers have not recommended this solution. Hypotremia (water intoxication) is a very serious condition that can lead to death. You must keep the minerals in balance- super-hydration along with all the sweating without replacing electrolytes is dangerous. A headache is the first sign you need to balance things out. Have a quick shot of emer'gen'c- it's like a miracle. (When practicing I always have 2-3 packets on my mat and a small Styrofoam cup to mix it in- I also have boxes of this in the hot room a cups for students who get in trouble during class). If I feel weak or weird...if at all it's usually at the break before the seperate leg series. I'll do a shot of Ener'gen'c and Viola! I am happily putting my forehead to the floor.
NOW- about bikram yoga helping headaches. The answer is YES Bikram yoga can help migraines. (And listen up folks I am NOT a brainwashed bikram teacher who believes bikram yoga cures everything, I DON'T!) But I have had many, many students tell me they have had the intensity and frequency of their migraines lessen significantly with a gradual build up to 3-5 classes of Bikram Yoga a week. For example, Week 1- 1 class, week 2- 2 classes, week 3- 3 classes...hold at 3 a week and work up to more if schedule allows)
Ladanatron, I suggest you try it. If it doesn't seem to help or it makes things worse, stop going.
If you can take the heat and the 'vibe' in most bikram studios it will help you immensely.
For tomorrow-Take water with you- another frozen bottle is also a good idea, dress in cooling clothes, (shorts & tank top) sit down when you need to, break when you need to and be prepared to sweat.
Good luck.
Dee
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| When one has a headache, one must try to find the cause or source of that headache. Any other thing can only give relief from headache, but not solve the problem.
Neel Kulkarni
www.authenticyoga.org |
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| miss dee - 2005-01-20 11:34 PM
Hypotremia (water intoxication) is a very serious condition that can lead to death. You must keep the minerals in balance- super-hydration along with all the sweating without replacing electrolytes is dangerous.
First of all the condition is called "HYPONATREMIA!" Not "Hypotremia"
Second, a headache can be a sign of mineral depletion due to excessive water intake OR it can be a sign of dehydration which is a million times more common than Hyponatremia (an extremely rare disorder that shows up mostly in endurance athletes--triathalon, marathon, etc.--and drunk kids trying to sober up by drinking gallons of water).
Chances are that you are not walking around getting headaches all the time because you are drinking too much water, but just the opposite you are not drinking enough. Going to a Bikram can exacerbate your dehydration and worsen your headaches.
Consider working your way up to drinking a gallon of water a day and see if that helps.
That being said, I would try everything until you find what works.
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| Gotta back Dee up on using emergncy packets. It sounds like you are definetley getting dehydrated. Lots of water will help, before during and after class. You may be getting Heat stroke which is very common in the Bikram practice. If you continue, practice with care drink lots of water, eat well and go to the coolest part of the room. These headaches could be dangerous. Do they happen only after practicing Bikram yoga?
Brian |
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| Good posts, to add to what has been said.Toxic buildup can also cause headaches. Doing Bikram can cause headaches just from the toxins released into the bloodstream. Also alot of calcium can be released into the bloodstream from yoga which can cause headaches. People that get headaches that originate from shoulders and neck will get relief from Bikram's. People who have headaches originating from within the brain can get much worse from doing Bikrams. Gentle yoga would be better for headaches originating from within the brain. Headaches that come from within the brain still has alot of mystery to it. Nutrition can have a big effect. Our bodies can be possesed by many different entities and energies. Think this sounds far out. Read what Dr. John C Lilly has written about his cronic debilitating head aches and what he did to relieve it. It delt with foreign entities that tried to take over spaces in his brain which caused the bloodvessles to dilate. Both physical and metaphysical symptoms. I recommend cranial-sacral theraphy or orthobionomy for bad headaches. |
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| Dana--did you get enough advice? Good grief we're a know it all crew n'cest pas? From totally wacked out to common sense--hope you survive us. Now if I were you, I'd think, my doc advized such & such and a bunch of virtual people said such & such--I'm going with the doc! |
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| Hi Guys,
Keith: of course people probably aren't getting headaches from walking around drinking too much water...
My advice is about Bikram yoga and headaches. If you read the post the distinction between Bikram caused headaches and migraines and Bikram yoga is made. I would not even venture a guess as to why she is having headaches in the first place. His medical advisor prescribed Bikram yoga. That's what I am addressing.
Thanks for the help in spelling "HYPONATREMIA". The beginning stages are more common that you think- runners who do Bikram yoga on the same day and over hydrate and sweat are at great risk. Too are those NEWBIES to Bikram yoga who mistakenly fast before class and drink too much water because they are told come with an empty belly and hydrate before class. I wouldn't call it a disorder; I’d call it a condition. One that is easily avoided with awareness.
Balance...it's all about balance.
I still stand by my experience that bikram yoga has help and does help some people with headaches. Absolutely!
Peace!
Miss Dee.
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| I have done the Hot Yoga classes that are similar to Bikram, but the room is not as hot and It has helped me some. I suffer from tension headaches-migraines and take prophylactic meds to help prevent the onset of them. When I go into the svasanas is when my head starts pounding. I opened a pack of emer-gen-c and drank it and it did help with the headache. I did take a Zomig after class, but I felt great! I try and hydrate hours before class...that is the hard part for me. I am dehydrated due to the meds and I try not to gulp the H2O during class. Question...how do you not feel like a whale when practicing bow and locus after sipping water? Drives me crazy! Any tips would help!
Thanks Namaste2  |
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bikram for headaches
