Posted 11/24/2014 4:50 AM (GMT 0)
Hi all. I want to post something which may help others.
For years (I'm 36 and I recall this even when I was in my early teens), I would get headaches that I knew were related to bowel movements. I was NOT constipated, I eat a healthy diet and lead an active life. I would often have 3-4 bowel movements a day, but would very commonly get headaches on days where I was less active (which was basically every weekday when I'm at work).
Sometimes, I would get a slight headache, then about an hour later, I'd have an urge to have a BM, then after I have it the headache was gone within 5-10 minutes. Other times (less commonly), I would have a slight headache, then after having a BM my headache would be much worse. And to address the common question that doctor's ask, no I was not straining.
I saw doctors, neurologists, had CT scans and MRIs. Doctors did not find anything related to headache. They had no clue what I was talking about when I described the connection between my headaches and BM.
about a month ago, I returned to work after 3 weeks of being off. During my time off I was very active, no headaches. When I returned to work, I got headaches which again (I believe) were connected to my BMs. Still not constipated and not straining.
I was googling a few weeks ago about how to improve movement of waste in the intestine, since I believed that perhaps I was having "transit" issues there, despite having what seemed like a normal amount of BMs and no other symptoms or problems. I landed on a page describing a device that allowed one to SQUAT over a toilet, rather than sit on a toilet as we commonly sit on a chair.
So I went to my garage and got some old paint cans, which I put next to my toilet. I was then able to squat over the toilet, which puts the body in a position (apparently) that allows for freer movement of "stuff" compared to normal sitting toilet posture. The paint cans being awkward, I found a product called squatty potty which is a plastic thing that goes in front of the toilet which you stand on, then squat down. Since I've been using the squatting method for BMs, having not changed my diet nor my activity level at work, I haven't had a single headache at work or anywhere else. And when I'm having a BM, I seem to get the sensation that things are coming out more smoothly and that my BM is more "complete". (Though prior to using the squatting technique, I also had the feeling like each BM was complete, but I'm thinking maybe it wasn't).
That's it. I can't explain it, but I think it has to do with things running smoothly down there. My headaches were never terrible, however they were very frequent and very nagging and would easily ruin an evening. I hope that this post may help someone who may arrive here through a google search of headaches related to bowel movement. All I got when I googled that, over the many years, was a few people described it, but no people had any idea what to do. And often the topic went to constipation or straining, neither of which applied to me.
I hope this may help someone who may have noticed a connection but not found any relief. This is worth a try, even if you use blocks to stand up on so you can squat.
As I write this, I'm a little concerned that people might not take this seriously. This is neither a joke nor me trying to sell anything. I really am a believer now that being in a squatting posture as opposed to sitting, can really help movement of material and apparently at least for me, I believe it has ridded me of my almost lifelong headaches.
I would love to hear any input on this, as I mentioned before, there does not seem to be much of any information on headache and BM that does not involve discussion of constipation or straining. Though perhaps the constipation thing may be tied in, in that it involves improper movement of material. As I said, I was not constipated by any definition (normally I'd have at least 2 BMs a day) and this squatting posture seems to have made a difference for me.
Good luck to all.