I have a big problem here I was hoping some of you may be familiar with.

I am getting major headaches during squats, always about halfway thru my last set. I am able to finish the set thru a haze of intense pain, ramping up in intensity with each rep.

Once I put down the barbell the pain brings me to my knees and is accompanied by nausea and sometimes blurry vision.

Did some research and found out these fit the profile of exertional headaches, me being on of the people where the headache is of migraine quality. Still hurts for days afterwards, too.

Went my PCP, who was way concerned, had heard of benign exertional headaches, exertional headaches, etc. but thought they were usually minor headaches brought on by things like coughing.

Next to a neurologist. Neurological exam normal. Blood pressure normal. Head CT normal. He said the headaches may resolve on their on, but I should give up squats.

On further research, have seen numerous theories and opinions, the most prevalent having to do with the very rapid increase in blood pressure that can happen on heavy squats.

I have heard you should drink some plain dextrose water before your workout. No affect on the headaches, but made me sluggish as hell (knew I couldn't handle plain dextrose that way).

Go lighter. Going a little lighter had no affect. Going a lot lighter seems a waste of time. IMO, may as well give up squats for all the good that's gonna do.

Pay attention to your breathing. That's an obvious one. My breathing seems fine to me, and I certainly avoid straining. Incidentally, the first time I had a headache like this was during the bench press, where I suddenly found myself holding my breath and straining. The headache was bad, but it wasn't as bad as the ones I get on squats. I dismissed that first one, since I thought the cause was obvious, but the squat headaches seem to be unrelated to my breathing.

I cannot bring myself to give up squats. I think they are paramount for me. I'm going to experiment a little and see if I can isolate a specific factor that I could change. I might increase my rest periods between sets a little, see if I can give my body a chance to compensate. But I don't know.

If anyone has had any experience with this or has any useful info, I would appreciate it. I still feel an ache from my last squat routine.