I passed out

[Rooster1]

Yesterday I was at the gym and doing my regular routine of 30 minutes cardio and about 15 minutes of weights. I was almost done with only my last set of ten curls to do and I felt light headed and decided not to do them. Upon walking into the dressing room I felt even more light headed and I remember falling against the wall and then I remember my face hitting the deck (ouch). A few seconds later I come to and see people helping me asking me if I am O.K? Other then the right side of my face looking like I just lost a round with Mike Tyson I am over all o.k. Rug burn above the eye and side of my face burns but 10 minutes later I regain full consciousness. I am able to make it home eat dinner and then decide to go to the clinic. The doc at the clinic says that my blood pressure is very low (100 over 60). I tell her all I ate that day was a piece of toast with marmalade at 6:00 am. She says I should eat before I work out, at least a power bar or something. This is the first time this has ever happened to me while working out. I have tried to do some research and the only possible answer that I found was that maybe I was dehydrated. Any input would be appreciated.

 

[trymixdiver]

I am no Doctor but

yes i think you needed to eat and you were most likely dehydrated as well. I know i get dehydrated just after doing a few miles on the treadmill and i always eat ( hence the running ).

I get dizzy after i get off the treadmill from what i suspect is dehydration. I eat too much so i know its not from lack of food.

You need to be more careful. I hope your eating and drinking lots of water before your dives. Dont predispose yourself if you can avoid it.

Andy

 

[ElectricZombie]

You should be eating a LOT more during the day...

You can't expect your body to do anything, certainly not workout, if you have only had a piece of toast. That is literally starving yourself. Eating before and after working out is a good idea. Hydration is important too.

 

[dsgobie]

Do you remember if your eye balls were hurting anytime during your workout? That is usually a good sign it's time to cool it and drink some water.....

*edit* Like the onset of a headache.

 

[Rooster1]

dsgobie once bubbled...
Do you remember if your eye balls were hurting anytime during your workout? That is usually a good sign it's time to cool it and drink some water.....

*edit* Like the onset of a headache.

No nothing like that. In fact I felt like I had lots of energy and I was really putting in a heavy workout. I was pumping higher then normal weight and I was feeling good until I was near the end of the work out and had to stop because of the feeling of light headedness and then it just progressed worse on the walk to the dressing room. I didn't make it to the bench to sit down. I remember waking up next to it with a headache though from my face breaking my fall. hehehe

 

[dsgobie]

$hit I donno man. Doc should have something more to add.

 

[Arnaud]

6 meal a day
Proper balance of good carbs, good protein and good fat
Plenty of water

Working out without a sensitive regimen is a plain bad idea.

 

[bwerb]

I was working out at home and part of my workout consisted of doing pull-ups to failure and repeating. On my last set, I was really straining to finish "just one more". I cranked out the last rep and dropped to the ground...BAM! I felt what literally felt like an explosion in my head. Whoa...I don't feel so good.

So...being a "guy" (read lacking completely in common sense) I waited two minutes until my next round of exercises. Dips I believe. One set of 12 dips, now I really don't feel so good. I turn to my wife (a neurological nurse) tell her what just happened during the pullups...I get "the look" (ie. what kind of an idiot are you, why didn't you stop)...I tell her that "I'm not feeling good", lie down on the floor and the world starts going really dark and blurry around the edges, my hearing becomes really muffled, my tongue starts "buzzing" and a hint of nausea starts. I vaguely see Theresa standing over me about 100 feet away at the end of a tunnel asking if she should call an ambulance as I have no color and my eyes are not focussing. I nod assent and a few minutes later some nice guys from the fire department show up with o2.

A couple minutes later the Ambulance shows up. By this time I have turned a really nice shade of grey but the world has returned to normal for me. They ask if I want to go to the hospital, I say no but as I understand it since I couldn't walk in a straight line they took me anyhow. I laugh at it now but when they were taking my vital signs, I understand that they showed-up as "normal" and Theresa is telling them "NO, you don't understand...he's in great shape and those readings are off the chart for him...this in NOT normal." Gotta love those nurse advocates!

Long story short...several ct scans and and MRI, consult with a neurologist...nada. We have absolutely no idea what you did to yourself. There is no sign of stroke or bleeding or damage or any lasting sort.

Here was their best guess. You were holding your breath too much while doing pullups and you built up such a great deal of pressure in your head that when you dropped off at the end, it was like a "pipe bang" as the blood stalled and started again. This was the "bang" you felt. You then had a vasovagal response from the event and passed out from it.

So...I don't know if any of this sounds at all similar but I offer my own stupidity for the record. I would also recommend totally that hydration and eating are not to be avoided prior to working out. You could avoid eating if you are working out first thing in the morning on an empty stomach for fat burning but I would still hydrate. Going all day and working out seems to be counter to every study ever written on muscle building. You need the food to build the muscle. Otherwise, your body thinks it's starving and will flip into fat storage mode as soon as you have your next meal.

Good luck to ya!

Brian

 

[The Iceni]

Rooster1 once bubbled...
Yesterday I was at the gym and doing my regular routine of 30 minutes cardio and about 15 minutes of weights. . . . Upon walking into the dressing room I felt even more light headed and I remember falling against the wall and then I remember my face hitting the deck (ouch). . . I tell her all I ate that day was a piece of toast with marmalade at 6:00 am. She says I should eat before I work out, at least a power bar or something.

Hi Rooster,

I think your doctor was right. Such a high rate of work will use up all your body's rapid-access energy reserves (blood glucose and glycogen) leaving you with low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia) and you fainted as a consequence. As long as this is not a regular ocurranced I doubt you need worry. These events are relatively common, particularly at the start of any flu-like illness.

Prevention is better than any cure so do not fast before heavy exercise in future, and by this your doctor and I do not mean double portions of burgers and chips immediately before diving!

As for your little episode, bwerb,

. . . the world starts going really dark and blurry around the edges, my hearing becomes really muffled, my tongue starts "buzzing" and a hint of nausea starts. I vaguely see Theresa standing over me about 100 feet away at the end of a tunnel

apart from the sudden "bang" this could also simply be due to transient hypoglycaemia.

By the time you had both recovered, the energy-producing mechanisms of the body - those that convert your glycogen stores to glucose (glycolysis) - had returned your blood sugar to normal levels under the influence of epinephrine and glucagon.

Ask any insulin dependent diabetic to describe a hypo to you; dimming of, and tunnel vision are a common feature.

 

[Rooster1]

Thank you much DR Paul Thomas and the rest for your input.

I have done a couple of hard workouts in the last couple of days and no problem. I am eating a little before I work out and getting fluids. The positive is that my banged up face gets the hotties at gym looking. hehehehe