What causes a headache after orgasm?

She experiences headache right after orgasm

Case #: 45129

Concern：

What causes a headache with orgasm? What solution would help?

Discussion：

That's a very good question. Headaches after orgasm are actually quite common. Headaches result from a responsive disorder of the central and/or peripheral vestibular system, which includes the vestibular nerve, brainstem, cerebellum, and ear structure. A shortage of the enzymes L-glutamic acid decarboxylase and pyridoxal phosphate prevents the body from efficiently converting glutamate into GABA during sex, leading to excessive accumulation of the stressors norepinephrine/epinephrine and glutamate. This results in excitotoxicity and an abnormal release of the inflammatory hormone cortisol, which drops abruptly during sex and orgasm and rises precipitously hours later. Excessive prolactin then combines with cortisol to lock up the pituitary-adrenal and testicular function, leading to a deficiency of androgen hormones and a delay in recovery as well as inflammation and constriction of nerves and tissue, including all blood vessels, particularly the carotid arteries to the brain -- all of which leads to headaches.

In addition, there are many factors that can induce cerebrospinal hormonal imbalances, which can cause headaches. Cerebrospinal fluid, produced by the choroid plexus formed by specialized ependymal cells, circulates inside and around the vestibular system, the brain and spinal cord. Its functions are to deliver nutrients to the structures of the vestibular and nervous system, to remove waste from the brain and spinal cord in detoxifying the environment of the vestibular and nervous system, to act as a shock absorber of the brain and spinal cord in avoiding trauma resulted from impacts, falls, blows, etc., to support the transduction of the central nervous system, affecting memory, focus, concentration, vision, hearing, nervous reaction speed, mood, speech, control, blood pressure, breathing, seminal production, erection, orgasm, and so on.

Many factors can induce excessive stress hormones that pollute cerebrospinal fluid and prevent the production mechanism of the choroid plexus from working properly, including excessive sex or over-ejaculation, medications (antidepressants, blood pressure drugs, and cholesterol drugs), alcohol, smoking, street drugs, blood sugar deficiency, water intoxication, an extreme high-protein diet, and natural ageing.

Over-ejaculation, in particular, induces excessive dopamine/norepinephrine-epinephrine conversion in your hypothalamus and adrenal medulla and excessive prolactin release from your pituitary. Generally, excessive epinephrine boosts production of the inflammatory hormone prostaglandin E-2, leading to nerve inflammation. Also, excessive epinephrine and prolactin in the bloodstream block release of the anti-inflammatory hormone prostaglandin E-1, causing inelasticity and inflexibility of nerves and tissues, inducing blood-vessel contrition for poor blood circulation, and contracting the local tissues against the inflammatory nerves. This tissue constriction and contraction can cause orgasm headaches and will continuously last until both the epinephrine and prolactin levels drop and the nitric oxide and oxytocin levels increase.