Protein + BCAA causing headache?

[Chelby]

Has anyone else experienced HA, particularly at the back of the head from excessive protein or BCAA supplements?

I had 2 protein shakes today, plus 2 BCAA supplements, and my headache has gotten a lot worse. I think there may be a connection here..

 

[Oberon]

I would recommend cutting out one or the other and seeing what happens.

It's possible something in the Whey is aggravating you completely aside from the extra protein. A lot of people are sensitive to Whey in general. For example, I've tested it four times now and every time I take whey protein I break out in acne within 1 day. This is with high quality new zealand whey isolate with no artificial sweeteners.

I would try taking only BCAA's and seeing if you have the same reaction.

 

[Chelby]

I would recommend cutting out one or the other and seeing what happens.

It's possible something in the Whey is aggravating you completely aside from the extra protein. A lot of people are sensitive to Whey in general. For example, I've tested it four times now and every time I take whey protein I break out in acne within 1 day. This is with high quality new zealand whey isolate with no artificial sweeteners.

I would try taking only BCAA's and seeing if you have the same reaction.

The protein was vegan so it didn't have any whey. It could be the stevia though... I could experiment with a large dose of stevia, a large dose of another protein w/o any stevia and a large dose of BCAA's. My derm says he recommends every acne pt. to go dairy free because it is so strongly associated with acne. I think it is because whey raises mTOR.

Unfortunately I have headaches all the time, so I prob won't figure it out by cutting it out.

 

[Tunguska]

Too much protein compared to carbs can mimic/exacerbate hypoglycemia and cause headaches that way.

BCAAs can affect the levels of other animos in the brain, but I don't know how that translates.

If your other protein sources are high in arginine and low in lysine that can cause headaches (the dairy is high in lysine). Mine respond to lysine.

 

[Chelby]

Too much protein compared to carbs can mimic/exacerbate hypoglycemia and cause headaches that way.

BCAAs can affect the levels of other animos in the brain, but I don't know how that translates.

If your other protein sources are high in arginine and low in lysine that can cause headaches (the dairy is high in lysine). Mine respond to lysine.

Thanks for the helpful info. Looked hypo headache descriptions, and usually their described as ' a dull, throbbing feeling in the temples.' So that may not be it.

The protein powder did have arginine and I also supplemented with extra arginine. That could be it! I've only been able to take 1/6th of the recommended dose because the arginine made me have fainting spells .

 

[Gondwanaland]

Has anyone else experienced HA, particularly at the back of the head from excessive protein or BCAA supplements?

I had 2 protein shakes today, plus 2 BCAA supplements, and my headache has gotten a lot worse. I think there may be a connection here..

They increase the need for vits B2 & B6 for digestion. Whenever I get a headache, vit B2 depletion is involved.

 

[Gondwanaland]

I also recently learned that biotin is needed for leucine metabolism, and also Biotin helps with ammonia.