I had a medical episode last weekend that freaked me out a bit, and really through my wife for a loop.
Here's the scenario:
I ran last Sunday morning. It was my last and longest run before a HIM next weekend. Ran two hours, felt ok afterwards. Cleaned up, had a small snack, probably didn't go through a very rigourous recovery protocol, etc.
Took the family out to the Renaissance Faire. While standing outside I started to feel a bit light headed. The last thing I remember was thinking, "whoa, I haven't fely like this since I had what was presumed to be a seizure twelve years ago when I was out of shape and 50 pounds heavier". the next thing I remember I was being loaded into an ambulance after being out for more than ten minutes.
The ER doctor ran an EEG, blood test, etc. He did not think it was a seizure, but diagnosed it as "convulsive syncope". My brother in law is also an ER doc, and agreed with the diagnosis.
The problem is I'm not buying into the rationale. I'm being told that because I do this crazy aerobic endurance stuff, my blood pressure and heart rate are so low that there's very little margin for error (lying in the hospital bed after the event my heart rate was in the low 40s). They basically just said that everyone's heart rate fluctuates, and since mine is so low I'm at risk of it fluctuating down and not pumping enough oxygenated blood while at rest. I was given no follow-up actions, other than told "when you feel that coming on, get on the ground fast".
Any thoughts?
This is the exact reason,
This is the exact reason, I'm super sensitive to recovery properly. I woke up one time in the bath tub, with my running stuff on, with a sore head and a huge bruise on my side. Blood volume, blood volume, blood volume. What are you doing to keep your blood volume up?
4Ls of water a day, this doesn't include workout hydration
Get your electrolytes
Keep caffeine and alcohol at moderation (vasodilators/vasoconstrictors)
Get your protein and fat for the day (stuff disolved in blood, will help to keep volume up).
Imagine a garden hose, and water is coming out full blast, now cut the water output in half (turning the water down), what do you need to do in order to get that volume back to what it was? You can either turn the water back up (HeartBeat goes up), or you could decrease the opening the water is going out of (put your thumb on the end, vasoconstriction). This is what your body needs to do, in order to regulate the pressure going down, because of a lack of blood volume. So the in between time, which should be quick, but sometimes isn't, will be you dropping. So make the decision for your body, keep volume up, all the time.
This is the exact reason,
This is the exact reason, I'm super sensitive to recovery properly. I woke up one time in the bath tub, with my running stuff on, with a sore head and a huge bruise on my side. Blood volume, blood volume, blood volume. What are you doing to keep your blood volume up?
4Ls of water a day, this doesn't include workout hydration
Get your electrolytes
Keep caffeine and alcohol at moderation (vasodilators/vasoconstrictors)
Get your protein and fat for the day (stuff disolved in blood, will help to keep volume up).
Imagine a garden hose, and water is coming out full blast, now cut the water output in half (turning the water down), what do you need to do in order to get that volume back to what it was? You can either turn the water back up (HeartBeat goes up), or you could decrease the opening the water is going out of (put your thumb on the end, vasoconstriction). This is what your body needs to do, in order to regulate the pressure going down, because of a lack of blood volume. So the in between time, which should be quick, but sometimes isn't, will be you dropping. So make the decision for your body, keep volume up, all the time.
sounds scary, glad it wasn't
sounds scary, glad it wasn't worse!
hmmm... I've had the same
hmmm... I've had the same thing happen to me, without the passing out. Feel like I am and can barely walk straight and see black spots but I'm able to make it to a chair in time to relax and recover. Happens occasionally hours after a long intense workout. Very scary stuff. I didn't know what to make of it, but now I do.
thx for sharing. Hope you rock Oil Man!
I also had a similar thing
I also had a similar thing happen to me without the passing out. It was a 14 mile run and then took my son to a car show. I could barely stand up straight at the show I was so light headed. Only happened that one time and never found out what it was. I hope all is well and I would assume it is a one time thing where a couple of different factors combined to cause what happened. If the doctors check you out and gave you the ok, I would not worry about it that much, your wife I am sure is doing that enough for the both of you.
Happens to me regularly when
Happens to me regularly when getting up after sitting down...the lightheaded part, anyway. For me it means I need to eat something. Perhaps your nutrition was off that day? Also had it happen after an Olympic last year....I was very close to passing out that day and had to sit down. Felt fine a bit later. More likely it is an issue with your BP as too low a BP does cause fainting. The low BP is from the fitness level and its always lower after a workout. Mine can go 85/45 sometimes after an effort.
The same thing happened to
The same thing happened to me once, but there was a leggy Russian blond and a bottle of some East European Vodka involved.
I went out once in a book store. In a crouching position for a bit looking at a book...stood up and WHAM! Woke up with my head in science fiction and my feet in reference.
Totally agree with everyone above...blood volume and proper recovery are a must! VJ is too right on the protein/ fat business. I use to limit that sort of thing then after a trip to the ER, followed the doc's orders of more protein and fat and it really helped.
Anton wrote:The same thing
[quote=Anton]The same thing happened to me once, but there was a leggy Russian blond and a bottle of some East European Vodka involved.
[/quote]
Oh man, if that's what I get when I pass out I'm all in!
Seriously, did they run an EEG and no EKG? The EKG sounds like a seriously useful diagnostic test to help rule in/out cardiac abnormalities. That with an ehcocardiogram can tell you all sorts of things about your heart like if it is depolarizing properly, what the rhythm is, what the wall thickness of the chambers are and how it all fits together. If it wasn't a seizure thing I would look hard at a cardiac thing. If symptoms are more frequent or you can find a way to reproduce them you can wear a halter monitor to track what your heart is doing when you have an episode. However, it could be as simple as hypotension (low BP) which can be caused by things as simple as dehydration and a sudden position change or locking your knees! Good luck figuring it out. If they really didn't rule out the heart I might ask some questions about getting that done. Just because you are strong as an ox doesn't mean your heart has been able to keep up with you or that you don't have an underlying issue (just to play the devils advocate).
Jnrice's devils advocate
Jnrice's devils advocate comment prompted me to think about the unfortunate deaths we sometimes read about: "he was super healthy; but something happened with his heart during the swim"
(sorry for the downer, but I don't like hearing that story and I sure don't want to hear it about any one of you)
Further discussion with a doc and careful surveillance on what might be prompting the condition seems to be warranted.
They did run the heart tests
They did run the heart tests as you would imagine and ruled that out.
I'm somewhat encouraged that I'm not a completely isolated incident. I've got an appointment with a trusted doc tomorrow and will let you know what I hear.
I'm hoping it's an issue of hydration, electrolytes, and recovery as opposed to protiens and fats. I've cut back (not eliminated, but cut way back) on animal based proteins over the past couple months. I've generally been feeling much better, and sure hope that this isn't one of the possible causes.
More to follow when I hear from the doc.
Thank you all.
Ok, just wanted to make sure
Ok, just wanted to make sure we ruled out cardio. Keep us posted, if you don't mind.
tri-ac wrote: "he was super
[quote=tri-ac] "he was super healthy; but something happened with his heart during the swim"
[/quote]
Athletic heart syndrome. Yes, scary. It's when your heart muscle gets hypertrophied faster than the blood supply can keep up so when you do a maximal effort portions of the heart become O2 starved, causing an arrhythmia. Rare, but happens.
Last update: My sports
Last update:
My sports medicine doc sent me to a cardiologist for the whole ultrasound and stress test workup.
Nothing abnormal on the tests. 36 resting heart rate, max HR hit 178 on the stress test, and it got back to 90 bpm in two minutes. His guess is consistent with the other docs; combine low blood pressure and low heart rate with poor recovery including probably dehydfration and hypoglycemia, and bad things can happen.
Caution: Looking back on that run workout, it was nothing special in terms of going a lot longer, and I didn't restrict water and fuel more than any other run. But that day, the body said "enough".
It is good to have peace of
It is good to have peace of mind concerning the heart. Glad it was nothing serious.
A 36 RHR is sick.
Knowledge is a good thing.
Knowledge is a good thing. And Garren, I didn't mean to share the low RHR to brag, just to let folks know that even if you think you're really fit, failing to pay attention to recovery can take you down.
dkhartung wrote:Knowledge is
[quote=dkhartung]Knowledge is a good thing. And Garren, I didn't mean to share the low RHR to brag, just to let folks know that even if you think you're really fit, failing to pay attention to recovery can take you down.[/quote]
I didn't take it that way at all. I just think it is cool.