El Fug

I'm prone to getting nauseous when I exert myself rigorously, particularly on challenging climbs. It's a terrible feeling and also pretty embarrassing when I'm on a group ride. It usually happens after I've exerted myself quite strenuously and I have to stop to get a quick recovery breath and allow the lactic acid in my legs to subside.

Well, I've discovered that if I do not stop, but instead I do a cool-down ride for a few minutes, then I can avoid the nausea altogether. The problem comes in when I'm attempting long climbs where I have no opportunity to do a cool-down ride for a few minutes.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? Any suggestions for avoiding the nausea on long climbs?

Machka 

Ginger tablet
Asthma inhaler
Ease back on the effort

Carbonfiberboy 

Anyone will feel nausea from too much, too high an anaerobic effort. There's a select "I barfed on the trainer" club. However on a long climb, you should never work that hard. You want a steady effort all the way up. That's easy to do if you have a heart rate monitor or power meter or just learn to gauge it by your breathing. Breathing is a very accurate gauge if you're not asthmatic. Hold it steady, never go over. Takes some experience to get that just right.

What many people run into on long climbs is what I call "sloshy stomach." Whatever they ate simply sits there and threatens them with the technicolor yawn. So think about that - what did you eat, if anything, and how much did you drink with it?

79pmooney

Another possibility - what you ate beforehand. I learned after puking in a race not to eat oranges. Clue - is there something you always eat before rides or leading in to big efforts? And yes, what is in your stomach at the bottom of the climb will still be there in exactly the same state of digestion at the top. You will be asking your body to "please disregard what is in my stomach. I've got more important work for your blood cells."

Ben

canklecat

That's not unusual and while embarrassing it's so common nobody should feel embarrassed. It's usually a sign you've pushed yourself beyond the limits of most athletes. Those limits vary, even with the same person. But it's a pretty good indicator of perseverance beyond the limits most folks are willing to endure.

Offhand I can think of several good boxers, football players and other professional athletes who've vomited during a competition. In particular I remember Drew Pearson, former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver, vomiting after a catch during a crucial end of season game. He trotted off field for a few minutes to recover, then rejoined the game.

Boxers and martial artists often vomit during competitions. Sometimes it occurs after hard body blows. Other times it occurs after swallowing blood from cuts inside the mouth or a bloody nose -- no human being can swallow more than a tablespoon or so of blood without vomiting. Other times it occurs from sheer effort and exhaustion, especially in hot weather or when the fighter is dehydrated from trying to make weight. Usually their corner or referee will stop the fight since It's almost impossible to recover in the mere 60 second break between rounds.

When I was in the military we had at least one platoon member stop due to nausea or vomiting during a run or long quick march. And it wasn't always the same guy. It can happen to almost anyone when they're under unusual stress.

If you can figure out what's causing your nausea you can probably minimize the problem during group rides. Try changing one thing at a time in your diet. For me, it's most dairy products -- I'm lactose intolerant and can only handle a relatively small amount of yogurt with an active culture.

My pre-workout meat, any time of day, is a bowl of oatmeal with a couple of tablespoons of yogurt and a sliced banana. It works so reliably for me I eat the same thing before any workout, regardless of the time of day. That way I don't need to worry about a sour stomach, nausea, vomiting or bonking from low blood sugar. And it's good for a few hours after consuming.

Friday night I finished a leisurely century ride -- 100 miles -- with a dinner break at 76 miles. I had a big meal of heavy German food and a couple of dark German beers. For the next 10 miles I felt like I might vomit, even though I wasn't nauseated. The road was rough, and the indigestion from the beer and food foaming in my stomach just felt like it would overflow. The sensation was peculiar and uncomfortable, but not all that bad. After 10-15 miles the sensation eased up and I finished the 100 miles. I just ate too much, and too much heavy food and carbonated drink. I'd have been better off eating just some carbs, no beer or carbonated beverages, and waiting until after the ride to eat a heavy meal and enjoy a couple of beers. The only thing I did differently was to ride about twice as far as usual, so it wasn't just the mileage or the meal, but the combination of the two. Lesson learned.

Another technique to try is interval training with bursts of maximum energy, away from anyone else. It's not unusual to feel nauseated or sick from maximum anaerobic effort. But you may become adjusted to it with practice, so that it doesn't affect you at less than maximum effort during group rides.

12strings

This last thing is probably the real solution...if you have to go to your physical limit just to keep up with others on a climb, you have 3 choices:

1. Train your anerobic systems that you can keep up without maxing yourself out.

2. Ease back a bit foe the whole climb, and hope they wait for you at the top.

3. Install a hidden motor...

wolfchild

I think it has something to do with what you eat/drink or how much you eat/drink before and during your rides.

mcours2006

Vomiting is often the result of pushing yourself beyond your aerobic limit. This has happened to a couple of guys with whom I used to train. They were relative beginners.

Ease back on the climb. Don't force yourself to keep up in the climb. Hopefully they'll wait for you at the top.

El Fug

Thank you for all of your responses and suggestions. Carbonfiberboy said "...if you're not asthmatic." Unfortunately I am asthmatic, though it's controlled. I hear what you guys are saying about not over-exerting myself, but on some climbs, the choice is either full exertion or stopping.

I should note that I'm a relative newbie on the bike, just started riding in May.

El Fug

Ginger tablet is an interesting idea. I'm not sure that I would be able to suck on something like that when I'm so winded, but I'll look into for sure. Thank you!

canklecat

If your asthma is related to allergies, you're probably suffering from swollen mucus membranes and swallowing mucus during hard exertions. Both can cause nausea.

The swollen mucus membranes affect our sense of balance. Even without a lot of mucus from post-nasal drip, etc., the swollen mucus membranes and effect on balance can make us dizzy and nauseated.

And if you use asthma meds they may have some side effects too. Some days I need to use ephedrine tablets and the side effects include increased blood pressure and heart rate, mild headache from exertion, etc. So I have to choose the least bad of a set of circumstances: breathing, or not breathing; breathing with weird side effects; not breathing and collapsing after climbs and sprints.

There's no consensus about whether swallowing non-infected mucus can cause nausea. It probably does for some folks who find the sensation unpleasant. If you're feeling more nauseated during hard group rides, and your solo rides have the same measurable effort, you may be consciously or unconsciously swallowing more mucus in group rides to avoid seeming unpleasant to your fellow riders. I know I spit a lot more freely when I ride solo.

Due to chronic asthma and allergies that are only partially controlled by medications, and a history of respiratory limitations from too many bouts with pneumonia, if I'm in a group ride on bad allergy/asthma days, I hang at the back so I can spit freely without hitting anyone and, hopefully, not grossing out everyone else. But usually I ride solo on those days to avoid that problem.

A lot depends on temperature, humidity and airborne allergens. Some days I can ride hard without much respiratory discomfort. Other days my body seems to be a phlegm factory.

Friday's weather was perfect -- cool, moderate humidity, low airborne allergens -- and I rode over 100 miles between two group rides with very little respiratory discomfort.

Machka 

You don't suck ginger tablets unless you want the feeling like your tongue is burning off. You swallow one or two of them about half an hour before the big climb.

I get vertigo, nausea, and a sea-sick-like feeling when I climb hills in the dark. The swaying motion of me and the lights. Worse if there are the lights of other cyclists around me.

And then one time I tried the ginger tablets, because I knew they helped me with carsickness and seasickness, and they worked!

Machka 

+1

I also have to make sure I use my inhaler before big climbs, and sometimes during big climbs, but especially in certain environmental conditions like hay fever season, or cool damp days.

That said, if I do two puffs of my inhaler, I get the increased heart rate which isn't particular pleasant. So I can only use a limited amount.