Why does even 5 minutes of sun cause headache - and 10 mins cause nausea?

I take a couple of naprosyn before going out in the hot sun, and it helps quite a bit.

I am looking for a solution too as I have very severe headaches, well they could be migraines cos they last for hours. All I gotta do, is to spend a few hours in the sun. I have grown up in a very hot country in the Middle East and still stay here - 50 Degrees Celsius with 80% humidity!! All I do is try to increase my water intake as much as possible.

Hi, I also have sun headache/nausea problems, and have been trying to root out all of the possible causes. Though my case is slightly different from most of the posters here, in that my headache doesn't begin until hours after exposure. Also, it's not a migrane, more of a sinus/forehead area non-throbbing headache. So far my theory is that it's caused by eye sensitivity, and sometimes made worse by physical exertion/heat/dehydration/allergies. It happens to me at all times of the year, but it can be worse when I have allergies, or if it's above 95 degrees out. I think heat is less of a factor for me than with other people - I don't get hot very easily, and tend to get cold if it's below 80. Even when I get the headaches, I don't feel hot or sweaty unless I also got a sunburn that day.

I have light blue eyes, and my eye doctor also says I have very large pupils (which conceivably means that they let in more light than they should). My eyes have always been sensitive to the sun and any other bright light, but I didn't run into the problem of headaches until I moved to Texas (from Michigan, where the sun is much less intense). If it's sunny out in the middle of the day, I never go outside without sunglasses, the glare is so bad. I'm not even sure if I would get a headache at that point, because I can't keep my eyes open long enough to find out.

I first discovered the headache problem playing outdoor sports here in Texas. For early morning games when the sun is still low, I didn't have a huge problem, but sometimes got mild headaches. Between 11am and 2pm, I would be fine through the game and then get a bad headache around 4-5pm which would last the rest of that day (and be gone in the morning). A couple of times I did a few hours of yard work after a game, and ended up vomiting the rest of the night. Initially, I thought this was just heat exhaustion or dehydration, but after some experimentation, I determined that the only common factor to my headache episodes was the sunlight itself, and the length of time I was exposed was directly related to the intensity. I can play games at night when it's 100 degrees and be fine, but play in the middle of the day when it's 60 degrees and get the headaches. Also, I have the problem even if I'm not physically exerting myself. I started wearing sport-rated wrap around sunglasses while playing (and a hat, if the sport allowed), and that cut down on the severity of my headaches about in half. So at this point my headaches are still annoying, but not debilitating, and it's been a while since I've had nausea to go along with it.

A lot of people mentioned that they would try the Vitamin D - has anyone found that to help? Another theory I had at one point was that squinting (due to the bright light) was causing muscle fatigue/pain, but I don't know if that's actually medically viable.

I'm so glad to see I'm not the only one who suffers from these horrible heachaches due to the sun. I live in Mesa, Arizona...and have been here my whole life. I'm 42 and have grown up with the blistering summers that we're famous for. I've always been an outdoors person and have always loved the hot summers. If it's not atleast 80 degrees outside, I'm cold!! I LOVE the SUN! I started getting these headaches when I hit 36 and it's seems they get worse every year. I can't be out in the direct sunlight for more than 5 minutes with it hitting the top of my head or I start to become nautious and my head starts to pound. I've tried everything from putting an ice pack on my head to banging my head against the wall. I'm not joking. The only thing I can do now is just wait...til I fall asleep and usually I'd wake up the next morning finie. But lately, they haven't been going away. I've been waking up with the headaches. I read somewhere in these posting someone mentions a vitamin D deficiancy. Well...there's something I haven't tried. I'll post again after a couple weeks and let you all know if it helped.

~Sunny Headaches in Arizona

i also have the problem of headache when exposed to sunlight. and, i live in india where it is very sunny and hot. anyways, i tried one thing it improved my condition.
iif i have a sun induced headche, i take a towel , soak it in normal to clod water , rinse it a little bit then , wrap it around my neck, forehead, side of my face near the ears , over the eyes and take the cool feeling. i think it cools the dilated blood vesselsin the head and eases the pain almost instantly.

I WAS ALSO HAVING SIMILAR PROBLEM FOR MANY YEARS. SEVERE HEADACHE AFTER PLAYING FOR 2-3 HOURS IN LATE MORNING SESSION.(9 TO 11). NOT ONLY ME , BUT MANY OF MY FRIENDS HAD SIMILAR TENDENCY. LATER I TRIED ' JAL NETI" A GREAT INDIAN THERAPY TO TREAT ENT PROBLEMS INCLUDING SINUSITIES AND OTHER PROBLEMS.
FOR ME , IT TURNED OUT AS A MIRACLE THERAPY.FOR MANY YRS I TOOK PAIN KILLERS AND OTHER MEDICINES BUT NOTHING IMPROVED.
I THINK , MANY OF US FACES THIS KIND OF HEADACHE DUE TO 'KAFA DOSHA'. TRY IT

I have the same problem in the sun with overheating and severe migraines but I also have it if I am inside when it is really hot and no air conditioning. I need a spray bottle if I go to a amusement park which I use almost continually on my face to cool me off. I drink lots of water and I take migraine medicine preventativly. Sometimes this works.I usually have to avoid walks, bike rides or any activity outdoors in the summer if it is really warm and sunny. It also happens if I exercise too hard. Anything that makes me sweat at all. I think something is probably wrong with our body's natural cooling off system(hypothalamus)

I am from Mumbai, India and even I suffer from the same problem, I wear sunglasses whenever I go out to attend my classes, I used to suffer from this problem during my teenage years but it subsided later only to start again from the past 2 weeks or so, as I need to study each and everyday this headache has become nothing but a barrier towards my studies. Contemplating going to the doctor now, when I was in my teens had gone to the doctor who ended up giving me spectacles which wasn't of any use.

I am thinking of first starting with the Vitamin D capsules for some time and if the headache vanishes I'll let you all know.

PS: I being from a hotter part of the world have to bear it all year, hope we find the cure soon (: