I have the same thing, and it seems to correlate positively with training volume. It is especially bad when I first stand up.

You're healthy. You blood pressure is low. Contract the muscles in you legs, and the blood will flow back to your head. This is what fighter pilots also do.

I get the same thing, and had it checked out by numerous Dr's. The answer is probably that is a trained athlete your HR is significantly lower than perceived normal. This means that when you go from seated/reclining it takes more beats to get the blood puming around the entire body, which means that it takes longer to do so. This is likely to be the reason for your symptoms. I find it worse if I have been sprawled out on the couch, I usually end up having to sit down again quickly or hold on to a wall. All good fun!!

---

"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS

I get this too, and have had it for some months now. I've only really started to find out the correlation - and it's definitely to do with fitness, as I am so much fitter now than with the time I am comparing it with. One thing I do find helps though is keeping my nutrition good - my glycogen levels constant. It gets worse if these are low.
My colleagues find it hilarious, as some times, if I suddenly jump up to do something (I do everything fast) I nearly take out the contents of my desk and hoof the printer!
Thanks for the post – although I was sure what it was, confirmation that something isn’t badly wrong is nice.

It is called orthostatic hypotension. Lower blood pressure, lower heart rate and increased vascularization in your legs due to endurance training can cause it. The effect seems to be worse when I am fatigued (lack of sleep or whatever) so there is probably an impact on the normal vasoconstriction response as well. It is pretty normal for endurance athletes.

Mike

Thanks Mike :)

Drinking enough water? Low blood volume.

Randall T has got it, I notice this lightheadedness when standing up particularly after training on hot days in which I did not completely replace my fluids.

I also seem to observe this more as I get older.

More confirmation...I occasionally get the same, usually when I have been sprawled on the couch or lying down, but occasionally when I have been sitting and am relaxing. Once on a late night trip to the crapper...dropped a big payload while half dozing...got up to head back for some more snooze and suddenly noticed the wall moving by sideways....thinking wazzup here??...came too looking at the carpet and wondering what sort of payload that was?!

Same as everyone else says, grab a wall, inspect your toes or clench everything below your belly button tight, or crawl back to bed...things improve quickly.

That must have been one heluva payload my friend. Maybe you shat a kidney or something??

Now you have to be careful with this,my dad had low blood pressurehe had a heart attack from standing to quickly,and was told to be careful going from laying to standing

I was up in tahoe and the morning after a long ride in the sun, I was a little dehyrated. I was hanging out on the coach with my 3-month old son. I stood up holding him and felt a little light headed. Didn't think too much from it. I made it 3 steps carrying him. Went down like a sack of potatos. Friends and wife were pretty freaked out and on the phone to 911 before I came to. Paramedic monitered my BP while I attempted to stand again and it dropped about 10 beats immediately coupled with tingling in extremities. The weird thing was that I've been way more dehyrated before...

ER diagnosis was altitude + dehyration.

Oh yeah, the kid is fine.

It could have been...but sadly I wasnt awake enough to notice what I had produced but awake enough to send it down the pipe to the sewage plant. I guess I will never know now :(.

That's really sad. To never know may scar you for life. Watch out for tell tail signs, depression, anxiety, fever, nails and hair loss. Be careful.

Thanks for getting this started. I too have experienced this phenomenon almost every time I stand up for the past several months (just did IMLP). I'll try contracting lower body muscles prior to standing when I don't want to feel this. Sometimes I like it and I'm sure others find it amusing-- "Here's this IM athlete who can't even stand up without stumbling."

---

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'

I am a Catholic, and if you have ever been to a Catholic mass, you know it is --sit, stand, kneel, stand, sit, stand, etc. I always make sure I am holding on to the pew in front of me when I stand up so I don't end up in the aisle (it has happened). Couple this with low blood sugar due to heavy workouts and fasting one hour before mass, and you have a recipe for disaster!

[reply]You're healthy. You blood pressure is low. Contract the muscles in you legs, and the blood will flow back to your head. This is what fighter pilots also do.[/reply]

Yeah, fighter pilots also have the luxury of flight suits that contract for them ;)

asked my doc about this- comes from low blood pressure.

Me: "Doc I feel dizzy when I stand up too fast, what should I do?"

Doc: "so stand up more slowly"

---

don't just do something..... sit there

Yeah, I was the lucky recipient of 8 stitches on my chin from passing out on a tile floor. It's worst when it's hot because your blood vessels are dialated also, so you have even lower blood pressure. You don't get them in the winter do you? (unless you live on the equator, then no comment ;-)

I just stand up, sit back down immediately and deal... or if I know it is going to happen I'll flail my legs and arms for a moment to kick up my blood pressure.



Daniel

---

The question of who is right and who is wrong has seemed to me always too small to be worth a moment's thought, while the question of what is right and what is wrong has seemed all-important.

-Albert J. Nock