Nausea and dizziness while exercising

[timmmers 0]

Today I had a symptom I have never had before, and though I am fine now and think I know what the problem was, I wanted to 1) share my story and 2) see if anyone else has had this and what they do to prevent it.

Today, after two weeks of not doing any exercise (due to final exams plus the Christmas frenzy), I decided I really needed to get back to the gym. When I got there, they had a "draw" that I entered and I ended up winning a free personal training session. I thought to myself "I'm here, my as well do it now" so instead of booking something for the future, I got my trainer right away. After a bit of a chat to determine what I wanted out of my exercise routine, the trainer got me doing walking lunges with weights, the 'mountain climber', and weighted squats. Though I had been doing, what I would consider to be, pretty good workouts previously, I got winded pretty quickly... and it felt great! If you would have asked me 4 months ago if I would ever enjoy going to the gym and having my ass kicked - I would have definitely said "no". But, it was great! After I finish the squats, we're walking to the tension lines to do some chest pulls and I started yawning... about 10 seconds later I feel really light headed. Another ten seconds and my vision starts to get all distorted, dark, and tunnelled. I feel nauseous, short of breath and start to panic. Next thing I know I'm on the floor and scared!

Luckily, my trainer knew exactly what to do. She runs to get me Gatorade plus a handful of trail mix. After sitting for a few minutes, drinking the caloric drinks (yeah, I know we're not supposed to, but I think this is one of those good exceptions), I feel alright. Decide that I've had enough, so I go home, eat a meal and feel 100% back to normal.

Now, looking back, I realized that I had eaten at 12pm as I was planning on going to the gym at 1, but didn't get there until 3. Plus, I hadn't had too much to eat as it was a bit dry (had chicken breast) and I felt that it was a bit difficult to get down, so didn't want to overdo it. Based on what my trainer had said and based on what I read online, I'm fairly confident that I just had a severe case of low blood sugar levels added to a jolt of physical exertion.

It was quite a bad experience, and I never want it to happen again. My trainer suggested that instead of drinking Water, I should drink either some sort of "sport beverage" (such as Gatorade) or at least a diluted version of a sports drink. However, I really do not want to be drinking "liquid calories". We're told (and my surgeon stressed it multiple times) that liquid calories are terrible - and that many people have failed on the band purely because they were drinking too many calories. I'm worried that 1) I will drink to many calories if I drink Gatorade and 2) that I will be "triggered" by these drinks and then start drinking them more and more often, even when not at the gym.

So, my question to all of you is: Have you experienced this before? and (if you have or even if you haven't) what do you do to prevent it? I found some suggestions online, one if which is to find some low-caloric Protein Bars, and eat half of one either right before working out (or half-way through the workout).

Otherwise, my WL journey has been so incredible! I have absolutely no regrets, and am just thrilled to be on this adventure. I see myself randomly in the mirror or in reflections when walking by stores, cars, etc. and think to myself "wow, you're starting to look good". That's something I never thought I would be able to say (*can you say "bad body image & low-self esteem"? haha). Thank you all for reading my ramblings.

Cheers :-D

[steelergirl 0]

Sounds frightening Timmmers! I have experienced the same thing. i tend to "overdo" things when I get into a good workout routine. The sports drinks...I stay away from. You actually only need the electrolytes that are in them, there are little packets of powder additives you can buy (like: Crystal light) that are like sports drinks. I think they are called G4 or something like that. They are low in calories and you add them right to your Water. I always try to eat a little something before a workout. Usually like a chunk of chicken breast or tuna salad that I made from home. Even a piece of fruit or something low sugar helps. I hope you can find those little tubes of powder pre-mix that you add to water. Good Luck!

[willowcat 93]

Eat a little something before or during exercise--a few nuts, a cheese stick, a sugar-free pudding, a banana--something with a low glycemic index that's easy to eat and doesn't leave you feeling weighted down. People with diabetes have to be careful when exercising because the exercise uses up glucose and they run the risk of having a low-blood-sugar episode. You don't take any medicine like metformin or actos do you? When I did, I would sometimes get shaky and sweaty after exercising from the low blood sugar--a candy bar always fixed it right away (yikes!).

[happy2lose 0]

timmmers,

I have not experienced what you described but I have experienced dehydration and blacking out. It is equally as frightening. Have you ever had your blood sugar checked? It sounds like you may have Hypoglycemia. It sounds like you are looking and feeling great. Funny thing for me is that I still feel very fat and when I look in the mirror I see a fat person. Everybody tells me how great I look and I sometimes wonder if these people are just saying this to keep me motivated. I really don't need people to do this because I am every bit as motivated as I was the day of surgery. I really just want honesty from people and when I can't see the change in myself, I can't help but wonder.

You are doing great! Keep up the good work!