Hypoglycemia or something worse?
The information / discussion in the Cycling Health Forum is not qualified medical advice. Please consult your doctor.
- vbplease
- Posts: 527
- Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:02 pm
- Location: Brisbane
Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby vbplease » Mon Aug 13, 2012 5:10 pm
I’ll be seeing a doctor about this soon, but thought I’d throw it out here in case anyone else experiences this or knows about it?
I’ve had a super-fast metabolism as long as I can remember, but in the past 12months since I’ve been exercising a lot more, it’s gone into overdrive. The first few attempts at a 80km+ ride gave me the symptoms of hypoglycaemia i.e. dizziness, feeling faint, tingling in the arms/legs and starting to hallucinate. Pretty scary at the time, but as soon as food goes in it’s all good.
Doing 100km+ rides on the weekends now and if I don't pack enough food, I'm in big trouble. For example, last ride I took 4 bananas, two trail bars, a protein bar, stopped for a spinach/feta pie & choclate milk.. as well as two water bottles of Endura.. I was ok.. just.
It’s starting to affect a normal working day whereby if I don’t eat by 10am (after a big breakfast) the symptoms come back – feeling faint etc. Could it be that my metabolism is just very high and I have to eat accordingly with complex carbs, low g.i. food? Just hoping it’s not something more serious like diabetes??
- gorilla monsoon
- Posts: 3553
- Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:45 am
- Location: Lake Macquarie
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby gorilla monsoon » Mon Aug 13, 2012 5:19 pm
Bloody good idea, I reckon. The sooner the better in fact.vbplease wrote:Hi,
I’ll be seeing a doctor about this soon
- sogood
- Posts: 17168
- Joined: Thu Aug 31, 2006 7:31 am
- Location: Sydney AU
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby sogood » Mon Aug 13, 2012 5:37 pm
Your description sounded just like you haven't ate enough and lacked endurance. In any case, it's normal for people needing to refuel on long rides. The quantity required depends on the individuals' preparation, body characteristics, intensity of activity, past eating habits amongst other factors.
There's no harm in getting it checked out by your family doctor, just in case you have some rare conditions that I am not even going to name for fear of generating more paranoia.
RK wrote:And that is Wikipedia - I can write my own definition.
- liamb
- Posts: 468
- Joined: Mon Sep 13, 2010 6:28 pm
- Location: Modbury SA
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby liamb » Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:03 pm
I would be consulting a GP for a referal to a specialist and ask for a referal to a specialist in food and your body re the issue with your metabolism. Never go to natropaths and such as they dont have the training and skills to treat you effectively, but they do take your money.
Bill
- wombatK
- Posts: 5612
- Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:08 pm
- Location: Yagoona, AU
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby wombatK » Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:32 pm
pretty simple novice errors.
Dizziness can occur because bloods not getting to your head real well, and that can
happen because dehydration (lack of sufficient water/electrolytes) will deplete your blood
volume and reduces circulation to your head.
Two bottles (assuming 750 ml) per 100 km ride (about 3 to 4 hours ?) reads as less than
enough. Depends a bit on the heat and sweating, but a good starting point is a bottle
per hour.
It's important to realise that your thirst is not a good guide to how much water you need
to take in. By the time you feel thirsty, you're already dehydrated. Take a small drink
every 20 minutes so that you don't ever feel thirsty.
Sports dietitians advice is also to take
in a small amount of (quality) nutrition along the way too. As with thirst, don't wait til
you feel hungry.
Cheers
Somebody has to do something, and it's just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us -Jerry Garcia
-
- Posts: 294
- Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:52 pm
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby Alistair » Tue Aug 14, 2012 10:16 am
It has gone away since I've been riding more, eating more at regular intervals, and put on some weight.
What kind of stuff do you eat day-to-day?
- twizzle
- Posts: 6402
- Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:45 am
- Location: Highlands of Wales.
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby twizzle » Tue Aug 14, 2012 12:52 pm
Sports and "insulin resistance" issues supposedly aren't uncommon either. All those sugar spikes from sports drinks and hi-carb foods.
...real cyclists don't have squeaky chains...
- vbplease
- Posts: 527
- Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:02 pm
- Location: Brisbane
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby vbplease » Tue Aug 14, 2012 2:09 pm
The Paleo diet looks interesting, although the fat component looks quite high? Training the body to burn fat instead of sugars might be worth considering for me. I'll try to start snacking on more avocado, nuts, salmon/tuna, olive oil.. and less chocolate!!
I have some high5 4:1 drink mix ordered as well.. hopefully this isn't based too much on simple sugars.
Alistair, I'm 180cm, 70kg.
-
- Posts: 294
- Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:52 pm
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby Alistair » Tue Aug 14, 2012 3:43 pm
I think it takes a while to get to know what your body needs to sustain regular exercise. If you are feeling like that, it is probably an indicator that you need to make some changes. I'm sure your doctor can make some suggestions or refer you to a dietitian.
-
- Posts: 242
- Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 8:15 pm
- Location: Inner West, Sydney
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby Reman » Tue Aug 14, 2012 4:12 pm
+1wombatK wrote:Dizziness can occur because bloods not getting to your head real well, and that can
happen because dehydration (lack of sufficient water/electrolytes) will deplete your blood
volume and reduces circulation to your head.
When you pass urine, is it pretty clear or yellow?
- twizzle
- Posts: 6402
- Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:45 am
- Location: Highlands of Wales.
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby twizzle » Tue Aug 14, 2012 7:05 pm
Mine is pink. What does that mean?Reman wrote:+1wombatK wrote:Dizziness can occur because bloods not getting to your head real well, and that can
happen because dehydration (lack of sufficient water/electrolytes) will deplete your blood
volume and reduces circulation to your head.
When you pass urine, is it pretty clear or yellow?
Sent from my phone thingy.
...real cyclists don't have squeaky chains...
- wombatK
- Posts: 5612
- Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:08 pm
- Location: Yagoona, AU
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby wombatK » Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:32 pm
Two possibilities I can think of...twizzle wrote: Mine is pink. What does that mean?
1) Blood in your urine - not a good thing to ignore. See a doctor ASAP. There are benign reasons for this,
but you need to eliminate the sinister ones.
2) You have a pink toilet bowl.
Cheers
Somebody has to do something, and it's just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us -Jerry Garcia
- twizzle
- Posts: 6402
- Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:45 am
- Location: Highlands of Wales.
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby twizzle » Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:59 pm
wombatK wrote:Two possibilities I can think of...twizzle wrote: Mine is pink. What does that mean?
1) Blood in your urine - not a good thing to ignore. See a doctor ASAP. There are benign reasons for this,
but you need to eliminate the sinister ones.
2) You have a pink toilet bowl.
Cheers
No prize. Keep guessing.
Sent from my iThingy...
...real cyclists don't have squeaky chains...
- wombatK
- Posts: 5612
- Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:08 pm
- Location: Yagoona, AU
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby wombatK » Tue Aug 14, 2012 10:22 pm
Somebody has to do something, and it's just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us -Jerry Garcia
- twizzle
- Posts: 6402
- Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:45 am
- Location: Highlands of Wales.
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby twizzle » Tue Aug 14, 2012 10:28 pm
Beetroot.wombatK wrote:3) Beetroot juice ?
And I can get a yellow/orange colour using berocca.
Sent from my iThingy...
...real cyclists don't have squeaky chains...
- Mulger bill
- Super Mod
- Posts: 29060
- Joined: Sun Sep 24, 2006 2:41 pm
- Location: Sunbury Vic
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby Mulger bill » Wed Aug 15, 2012 7:40 am
London Boy 29/12/2011
- twizzle
- Posts: 6402
- Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:45 am
- Location: Highlands of Wales.
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby twizzle » Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:07 am
Forgot about that one.Mulger bill wrote:Let's not go into the effects of eating asparagus
...real cyclists don't have squeaky chains...
- kb
- Posts: 2570
- Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 3:22 pm
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby kb » Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:31 am
That's a cool effect in toilets lit by black light...twizzle wrote:Beetroot.wombatK wrote:3) Beetroot juice ?
And I can get a yellow/orange colour using berocca.
- sogood
- Posts: 17168
- Joined: Thu Aug 31, 2006 7:31 am
- Location: Sydney AU
Re: Hypoglycemia or something worse?
Postby sogood » Wed Aug 15, 2012 1:51 pm
Or seeing pink. What were you on?wombatK wrote:Two possibilities I can think of...twizzle wrote: Mine is pink. What does that mean?
1) Blood in your urine - not a good thing to ignore. See a doctor ASAP. There are benign reasons for this,
but you need to eliminate the sinister ones.
2) You have a pink toilet bowl.
RK wrote:And that is Wikipedia - I can write my own definition.
- General Australian Cycling Topics
- Info / announcements
- Buying a bike / parts
- General Cycling Discussion
- The Bike Shed
- Cycling Health
- Cycling Safety and Advocacy
- Women's Cycling
- Bike & Gear Reviews
- Cycling Trade
- Stolen Bikes
- Bicycle FAQs
- The Market Place
- Member to Member Bike and Gear Sales
- Want to Buy, Group Buy, Swap
- My Bikes or Gear Elsewhere
- Serious Biking
- Audax / Randonneuring
- Retro biking
- Commuting
- MTB
- Recumbents
- Fixed Gear/ Single Speed
- Track
- Electric Bicycles
- Cyclocross and Gravel Grinding
- Dragsters / Lowriders / Cruisers
- Children's Bikes
- Cargo Bikes and Utility Cycling
- Road Racing
- Road Biking
- Training
- Time Trial
- Triathlon
- International and National Tours and Events
- Cycle Touring
- Touring Australia
- Touring Overseas
- Touring Bikes and Equipment
- Australia
- Western Australia
- New South Wales
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Victoria
- ACT
- Tasmania
- Northern Territory
- Country & Regional
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users
- All times are UTC+10:00
- Top
- Delete cookies
About the Australian Cycling Forums
The Australian Cycling Forums is a welcoming community where you can ask questions and talk about the type of bikes and cycling topics you like.
Bicycles Network Australia
Forum Information
Connect with BNA
This website uses affiliate links to retail platforms including ebay, amazon, proviz and ribble.