Today I had the worst dizzy spells ever. After sitting down for about an hour at a time then getting up from a relatively low position (think very low chair) I was fine for 2-5 sec then got dizzy spells so bad i had to reach for something, lasted 10-15sec, longest ones ever!. I was in a fairly crowded room and when I came to enough to see straight, a fair amount of people were looking at me like I was crazy (or drunk). This has only happenned to me before when I’m training a lot, and today I had a hard ride in the morning but nothing out of the ordinary.
Does this happen to anyone else?
What causes it? I was thinking not eating enough but I definitely wasn’t calorie deficient? something to do with low blood pressure? I have a really low blood pressure, and my resting pulse rate is in the low-mid 30’s.
Matt,
I and many other endurance athletes suffer from what you experienced - some of us chronically. I think the most technical name I’ve heard is “Orthostatic Blood Pressure Variance”. I think the least technical name I’ve heard is “dry as a bone”. I"m 99% certain that you are dehydrated. Drink man, drink.
Ian
hmm, could have been it, the first thing I did afterward was go to the drinking fountain, must have been some dehydration going on.
do you know what dehydration has to do with it?
and “orthostatic blood pressure variance” umm, blood rushing to your head? any idea what it has to do specifically with endurance athletes?
I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV - wait…no that’s not true either.
This is all speculation and worse it’s in the most laymens terms possible (I just know one of the 565 doctors on ST will swoop in any sec) but the dizzyness you experience could be caused by blood rushing AWAY from your head. Deydration can me less blood volume and therefor when you get up the lack of blood volume challenges your body to keep it up stairs for good vision, coordination, memory, consciousness, etc.
It’s not gonna be fixed with a stop at the fountain. Get a big bottle of water and a big bottle of your favorite electroyte and sip on both for a couple of hours.
Ian
If it contiues after that I’d look deeper than a rube like me on ST
haha, with responses like that i’d hardly call you a rube! blood rushing away does make more sense but what do I know, my brain’s not working too well, all the blood has rushed out of my head. ouch, that’s bad humor.
yeah, the fountain thing was just to reference the fact that I must have been thirsty to actually make an effort to go out of my way to seek fluids.
thanks for the wisdom
here i come-doc swoopin’ in. it sounds like you were in a low position and got dizzy upon standing-correct? were you with your knees bent in a ball type position?
thank goodness for the doc!
yep, sitting pretty low, in a cushy type couch chair, knees bent, stood up quick, bam!
I’ve had it too. Low BP and resting HR. I actually passed out a couple of times. Went to the doc and ended up having numerous tests performed. After they determined that nothing was wrong with me I was told to just get up more slowly. That’s what I’ve done since then and I don’t get the dizzy spells any more.
I drink lots of fluids so that wasn’t a problem for me. At the time I passed out I had been dieting and my sodium intake was less than normal for me. So now I make sure to not limit my sodium.
Do any of you also experience dizziness coming out the water as you enter T1? Are the problems related and how do you all deal with it? It’s frustrating to see everyone rushing to his/her bike and yet I’ve to walk slowly to compose myself. I don’t think it’s dehydration in my case because I make sure I’m well hydrated several days before a race.
Duke
doc back in the heouse.
there are some people that have more trouble with changes in position. it is typically seen when a person has been lying or sitting(especially with knees bent) and stands up quickly. your body has to respond by increasing HR and increasing venous return(send the blood back from the legs to the heart). if one of these two phenonmenon occur less quickly and vigorously than they should you will feel lightheaded and may even pass out. that is from decreased blood flow to the brain. the body protects the brain by making you lie back down(pass out or sit). then, it has more time to equilibrate.
we call this orthostatic hypotension, or if you faint, neurocardiogenic syncope.
anyway, there are times when the body is trying to tell you something, like a heart problem(valve or hole in the heart) that has never presented itself. i usually listen to the person’s heart and think about an echocardiogram. if those are normal and the history is right you just have to be careful getting up. it is often worse during heavy training or dehyration but often happens anyway. my suggestion is get the ticker checked(ryan hall story) and then don’t worry about it if it checks out ok. most family docs can do this; a cardiologist certainly can. good luck with it.
I have low BP and also experience this when going from a squatted or lying down position to standing too quickly. At IMFL I fainted from it and cracked or broke a rib on the sink in the bathroom of our condo on Thursday. Luckily I was there to volunteer, not race. I woke up to go to the bathroom sometime in the night and it all went black on me. I woke up on the floor with a really sore side. While volunteering on Saturday, hauling the transition bags was pur he!!. It still hurts, a lot. Especially after swimming. I try to stand still for a minute before moving after I rise and usually I am fine.
The next time you feel one of these coming on after exercising hard, sitting down for a long time, and then quickly standing up, try clenching your thigh muscles tightly. I’ve found that this will “head the dizzy spell off at the pass” 
Try it. I believe pilots do a similar thing to counteract G-forces without a “G-suit”.
Ok, somtimes on my runs I will get a dizzy feeling that last only a few seconds. always goes away but it does make me nervous.
does this happen to anyone else?
well as much as the dizziness/faiting etc. sucks at least other people are enjoying the same pleasure!
yay, I’m normal… sort of.
so is the fact that we’re endurance athletes and typically have (way) lower blood pressures than the average guy/gal the main reason for all this?
oh, and in response to the other questions about dizziness during activity, sorry but i’ve never experienced it personally
All I know is don’t fight the dizziness. A couple of years ago, I was in Colorado, and woke up to pee. Next thing I knew I was feeling dizzy, but I wanted to pee. About 3 feet from the toilet, I fell…hard. Busted my knee open. Luckily I was in a dorm room and a coach was next door. He got me in his room, where I blacked out again(he said my eyes just rolled back in my head).
This was the worst I’ve experienced this, but even now(a small one) I grab onto something.
I’ve had dizzy spells most of my life. According to my doctor that’s due to low blood pressure and, as others have stated, the solution (no pun intended) is to stay well hydrated. I had a spell at the dentist once the they completely freaked out, I guess they were frightened I’d sue, they sat me back down and wouldn’t let me get up for about 10 minutes.
I also get dizzy sometimes in hard run workouts, usually when I’m a little out of shape and/or coming off an illness, I take it as a sign I’m pushing myself too hard.
I have been told that dizziness coming out of the water to T1 is caused by a similar issue. Basically all the blood is shunted towards your arms during swimming…and you suddenly go vertical and ask your legs to work hard. So the blood all rushes to your legs and you end up with not enough to feed yer head! The “solution” I’ve heard is to kick pretty substantially in the last 2-3 minutes of the swim and this will help equalize bloodflow. It’s worked for me!
The “solution” I’ve heard is to kick pretty substantially in the last 2-3 minutes of the swim and this will help equalize bloodflow. It’s worked for me!
Thanks. I’ll try it next time.
Duke
I have had them now and then, with a really bad episode towards the end of this season.
So yes, they coincide with hard training days and when being possibly dehydrated…from personal experience I think that sinus problems may also aggravate the situation.
I got the ECG done, but I honestly thought that it is pretty much worthless by itself.
I decided to wait for improvement before I would go the “out of pocket” route with a full cardiological assessment.
As my symptoms disappeared after cutting back on my training load and other stress factors, I kind of decided not to go that route.
Dizziness can very well point to problems that may or may not be detected on a regular ECG performed by a PCP or even cardiologist.
But it is good enough to calm your nerves.