tigat

The day after posting "No good deed..." about getting right hooked in a bike lane by an SUV (lot's of great advice there btw, thanks), I returned from a 25 mile or so ride in the foothills, moderate climbing, decent pace, to the following sequence:

*felt fine on the bike, but immediately after dismounting, started to feel dizzy walking into the house

*rehydrated with electrolyte replacement drink and water and downed an energy bar (before the ride, 16 oz. of sports drink and 16 oz. water, about 3/4 liters more at mile 14 on the ride)

*dizzy quickly turned into faint, turned into nauseous, turned into two hours of vomiting

*by this point, I couldn't walk, couldn't hold my head up, and could hardly speak, and truly can't remember this level of non-specific pain since I was electrocuted 40 ears ago

*doc who lives next door, which one of my kids had fetched (wife was out of town), on his second visit changed his advice from you "you bonked, fool," to "what the hey?"

*oldest son drove me to ER, and wheeled me in in a chair, where I spent 2 more hours vomiting and getting worse, while they tested for the big things. Pretty much ruled out stroke, heart attack, brain tumor, or major concussion from the fall a day earlier

*yesterday morning in the hospital, the young internist assigned to me, who looked like his main form of exercise was reaching for seconds, summarily determined that I was a 58 year old weekend warrior who just overdid it on a ride, notwithstanding the fact that this was my 260th or so ride of what so far is a 7200 mile year. He cancelled all the further tests and turned me loose with the advice to drink more fluids and not push beyond my limits.

I am not looking for medical advice from the forum and plan to find an internist a bit more familiar with someone with an active lifestyle.

What I am wondering is if anyone in the community has had similar experiences. I have 40 years as an endurance athlete, many of those years competitively running and XC skiing. In the fours years that I've been riding, I've crossed the 50 mile mark on a ride at least 100 times and the century mark more than 20. I have bonked a number of times, and blown the hydration and nutrition parts on too many occasions to count, all with predictable consequences and cures.

This was different enough that I sought medical attention for a non injury/accident related occurrence for the first time in my adult life.

Thoughts?

Biker395 

Thoughts? That internist needs a slap upside the head. See another doc until you get it figured out. You're no neophyte weekend warrior, and dismissing you as such, while convenient for him/her, is not OK.

Be the squeaky wheel and get it figured out ASAP.

Mark Stone

↑↑↑ This ↑↑↑ And not only be the squeaky wheel, but the aggressive squeaky wheel. Do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of this.

chasm54

I can't give you any medical insights. Only time I've ever experienced prolonged vomiting was feom food poisoning, which doesn't help you much.

Obviously it's reassuring that the tests came back negative, but I too think the young physician is borderline negligent if he ignores your cycling history and suggests you've overdone it on a 25 mile ride. So yes, find another doctor.

Leebo

Ever had heatstroke? Seems like you had enough hydration. What were temps and humidity? 25 miles? Was that @ hammer pace or max HR? The nausea /vomiting is usually a sign.

az_cyclist

I cant improve on Biker395's advice. I have not experienced what you did. The closest was once when I pushed myself on a club ride on a hot day, and didnt refuel with a gel when I needed. I got light headed standing in the sunshine with the temp at 100. I recovered quickly thought, after a cold Coke and some enduralyte tabs. It sounds as if you have experienced that before.

10 Wheels

Thoughts?

Hmmm...ask your bike mechanic or another doctor.

Good luck.

DiabloScott

Never had any experience like that. I've had heat exhaustion and puked - not after I was already home though. The signs of heat stroke should be obvious to anyone with any health care experience... not even your newb doctor would've missed them so I don't think you had that.

Ruling out stroke and heart attack was probably the standard of care - along with a description of symptoms to come back for. Maybe you DID just overdo it.

OldTryGuy

While on a solo ride, best friend experienced heart anomaly. He stopped, relaxed, hydrated and ate something after calling his wife, also best friend and outstanding MD. In short order he felt fine, called his wife again and convinced her he was fine so he biked home. Once home he had same symptoms as OP except for vomiting.

Monitoring and much testing took place with no conclusive results to this date. **********??

Where's House and crew?

BTW, he was not pushing himself on the ride.

intransit1217

The only times I've been dizzy (which can lead to nausea) after a ride it's because I was on a pace ride or hammering and at the end just got off the bike without a cooldown ride. If that happens I quickly get on the bike and moving again, but I don't think that's you.

Yeah, I agree with the second opinioners.

Trakhak

Something that should receive more attention in the original post:

" . . . ruled out . . . major concussion from the fall a day earlier . . . "

"Ruled out" might mean, whether they admit it or not, "met our absolute minimal standards for immediately proceeding to looking elsewhere for clues."

The Occam's Razor test suggests that a visit to a neurologist is in order.

ASAP.

Jinkster

Was the "SPORT'S DRINK" you mentioned really an "energy drink"?...Because I'm a diabetic who relies on pills...no insulin...and there are some energy drinks out there that will knock 80-100 points off my blood sugar in an hour....add a good workout on top of that?...and this diabetic would be needing a chocolate bar or my sugar will crash too the basement and your symptoms sound exactly like the results of super low blood sugar...I know...it's happened to me many times and it sux when it happens.

I'm no doctor but I hope that helps cause that's my diagnosis..."low blood sugar"

Null66

ugh...

Felt like that (suddenly as well) after serious bonk on the head.

After crash, in what shape was your helmet?

tigat

My helmet is about a month old, and one of the first things I did after Friday's crash, and before I rode the 6 more miles to work, was to check it for scratches and dents and the like. As an aside, without this forum, I'd never have known to do that. Anyway, it is clean as a whistle, not a mark on it.


Been a long time since I was bonked on the head, but this did feel a bit like that.

tigat

This is the nutritional label on the drink, which has worked for me on the last 5 centurie (16 oz serving):

Amount Per Serving: Calories 80, Calories from Fat 0, Total Fat 0g (0% DV), Saturated Fat 0g (0% DV), Trans Fat 0g, Cholesterol 0mg (0% DV), Sodium 360mg (15% DV), Potassium 40mg (1% DV), Total Carbohydrate 21g (7% DV), Fiber 0g (0% DV), Sugars 20g, Protein 0g, Vitamin A (0% DV), Vitamin C (35% DV), Calcium (6% DV), Iron (0% DV), Magnesium (10% DV).

Blood sugars were fine when I arrived at the ER.

RideMyWheel

AGREED! If not a neurologist, any doctor who will take the possibility of concussion more seriously. You do not have to hit your head to get a concussion, sometimes a jolt to the entire body can cause one. Given your past history, something different is in play here, and the accident is the most obvious culprit.

The Detroit Tigers' usual catcher is Alex Avila. That poor guy's been hit in the head by so many foul-tipped pitches and follow-thru swings it's a wonder he can still speak. His symptoms don't always show up the day of the injury, sometimes it's the next day after a workout. Justin Morneau went through the same thing in 2010-11 when he played for the Twins.

Be well.

Null66

Rotational forces are particularly like to scramble the brain

bruce19

Again. What he said.

BobbyG

See a doctor; both concussion and heatstroke sound plausible. What about the altitude? Colorado Springs is 6500 feet (above sea level), and when I get active above 8500 feet, which many hiking paths in the foothills here can reach, I really notice it.

DeadGrandpa

Despite the fact that they won't let me be a doctor, or even pretend to be one, I have picked up a few bits of knowledge along the way. My Mom for years used to suffer migraine headaches with dizzyness and nausea, finally was diagnosed with having had a series of mini-strokes (TIA events). During her last couple years in assisted living and then a nursing home, she periodically lost her balance and fell, sometimes hitting her head, suffered extreme nausea, usually followed by some decline in mental ability (another TIA event) from which she would partially recover until the next episode. A CAT scan of your brain (or PET scan, or whatever they call it) may reveal some clotting if this is the case for you. Possibly related to your impact with the ground the previous day and simply stirred up by your ride and the change in blood pressure at the end when you returned home. Remember your helmet is more resilient and resistant to impact than your brain which will collide with the inside of your skull, regardless. Bruised brain is my diagnosis. If it were me, I would take one or two aspirin per day and rest a couple of days (five). Doctors will make you sick; hospitals will kill you. YMMV

jon c. 

Have to echo everyone else who says don't accept the first diagnosis. I've had pretty bad heatstroke, but it paled in comparison to what you experienced.

qcpmsame 

Another vote for what Vic (Biker395) said, find a physician that can find his butt with both hands, and not one that has no clue as to your problems. It sounds suspiciously like heat prostration from experience with other riders here in the deep southeast during our summers. My mother had had numerous TIA and none had the nausea aspect in them, but a doctor should address that, not me. Please keep us posted on this Bandit. Hope that things get better for you.

Bill

welshTerrier2

I'm not a doctor but, from what I've read, it's probably not a good idea to take aspirin if concussion or stroke is a possibility. While aspirin might help during a heart attack, it might do more harm than good if you have bleeding in your brain. Wait for a diagnosis before taking aspirin.

Read about head injuries and aspirin: Instructions for Head Injury - McKinley Health Center - University of Illinois

Read about strokes and aspirin: Aspirin and Heart Disease

Both of the articles above say not to take aspirin if concussion or stroke hasn't been ruled out.

Did you hit your head in your recent accident? If so, even if your helmet isn't dented, it still might need to be replaced.

Good luck with your recovery.

DeadGrandpa

I don't disagree with welshterrier2. Note that I said, "If it were me..." and good luck with your recovery, tigat.

Kai Winters

Won't listen to the porko internist but asks for our "thoughts"...hehehe...hehehe...hehehe
Take an aspirin, don't call me in the morning, I'll be riding...hehehe