I asked this same question on the 50+ forum. I like to expose my problem to a wider audience, please.

I did an intense six hour bike workout with a lot of sweating at elevated HR of 120 to 140.
I had a very large high Carb breakfast.
I drank one large bottle of water per half hour.
I ate half of one energy bar every half hour.
I ate two sandwich with honey and peanut butter.

The exercise routine was successful.

Five hours later I woke up vomiting and IG distress.
Someone said I was lacking electrolytes. I thought the energy bars took care of that.
It also could be a flu bug.
I appreciate your comments.

Hmmm,what was the outside temperature? Did you weigh yourself before & after the ride to see if you were dehydrated? I suspect you weren't.

Yah, sounds like electrolytes, bars don't have enough. You sweat away 600-1000mg of sodium per hour, eating around 500mg/hr should be enough to keep yourself stocked up. There's also potassium and magnesium to maintain as well.

Danno:
It was on a CycleOps Fl2 trainer inside a room wth <60 Temperature, Big Fan blowing, 50 % Humidity.
I did a 100 miles in six hours.
My weight went up from all the water.

My specific question to you is:
Can a deficiency of electrolytes, (salt, potassium and magnesium) cause vomitting and GI distress?
I also had elevated temperature for half a day. I was fine the next day.
Thanks for responding.
Will

I had the same symptoms, and so did my 2.5 year old. He had it first then two days later I caught it. It was over in 24 hours. Slight dull headache, slight temperature, nausea. May be a bug.

What is referred to as a "24 flu" is generally food poisoning. Is it possible you ate something that was starting to spoil shortly before or during the exercise?

I agree it sounds more like a bug or food poisoning. Primarly because 5 hours later seems like too long of a delay for that type of problem. However, in the future for a ride that long use sport drink; not water.

OP you did 6 hours straight on a trainer? Talk about mental toughness!

Will,

The symptoms you describe sounds like hyponatriumia to me. You drank quite a bit of water. Hyponatriumia (low blood sodium) is often caused by a combination of sweating (you can sweat quite a bit on a cool, dry day and not notice it) and high water intake and no significant sodium intake. It sounds as if you had 2 out of 3. I have gotten hyponatriumia a number of times on long rides because I sweat profusely and if I am not careful to take in sodium (table salt), I get nausea and vomitting. As an aside, the electrolyte replacement drinks do not provide significant sodium replacement. Also another aside, I live in central Florida and very few cyclists ever have this problem. I understand that the symptoms of hyponatriumia are weakness, nausea, vomitting, disorientation (this is as far as I have gone) followed by convulsions and death.

Of coiurse, there are quite a few things that cause the symptoms you mentioned so it could have easily been something else.

Pat

I agree. A red flag for me is that you weighed more after this ride. For such a long ride, it is probably an indication that you may be over-hydrating. Under normal temperature conditions, I try to stick to one water bottle every hour.

This was my initial reaction also.
I am going on this 27 day tour, over 100 miles/day. The tour kit warns about "overhydration followed by bloating and GI distress". This got me to post this question.
Now I am not sure. It looks as if I must drink sports drinks which I avoided because they mess up my water bottle if not very careful. (on long trips in hot weather) I also had a problem with that at one time.

I agree with Pat. If your weight is going up, you are likely over-hydrated. You may also have eaten more than your stomach is comfortable with - most people can only tolerate on the order of 250-350 calories per hour - or perhaps you ended up with more fat/protein than you needed.

You may also have eaten too much for breakfast or too close to working out. The usual rule of thumb is not to eat anything major within two hours of working out.

All the stomach problems I used to have disappeared when I switched from food to using Accelerade.

I am not sure of anything. During exercise, I think not. Energy bars, Peanut butter, Honney, Bread.
After exercise, our favored restaurant with Samon and Baked potatoe.
The problem woke me up at Midnight. So it is time approximate only.
IMHO now, it is my wifes flu bug----OR---- overhydrating with to much water not enough salt etc.

I find this informative. Thank you. I was on a trainer in an enclosed room. I did sweat a lot. That is why I increased my water intake to one bottle per half hour. I am now thinking that was not a good thing. You and the Tour kit I read both warn of overhydration. I never knew about that until now.

I also agree. The reason for two bottles per hour was my (probably misguided) attempt to compensate for body overheating on the trainer in this six hour ordeal.

My Tour Kit for Fast Across America by Bike says that "use of Sport Drinks only can lead to de-hydration".
I do not know any better. I avoided sport drinks because I wound up with contaminated water bottle on a long hot trip.

6 hours straight on trainer? No, I stopped one to two minutes every half hour to drink and eat.
I started this quest to see if I could do 100 miles in six hours at an acceptable HR. That worked, never got over HR 130. Used 85 RPM steady and averaged 16.7 MPH. That is why I drank so much water, to keep it cool. I guess too much water is not good. See the other respondents.

I am a fairly strong guy but have little experience with proper nutrition for this kind of sustained effort.
Your comments sound right to me. I have violated all of that. I gues I better become more careful. I do not need this problem on a cross country tour.

BTW. Many thanks for all these replys. You guys are a great help.
Will Dehne

BTW. I am amazed that anyone can ride for 6 hours on a trainer. This is either very impressive or demented, not sure which one

FWW. The tour requirement is to do 100 miles in under six hours. The weather in my area did not allow organized century in March or April. So, what to do.
I did the 100 miles on a trainer in just just under six hours. So now I feel better that I can do it and I can tell with a straight face that I can do it.

I could have driven many hours to a warmer place but had no time left for that. The tour is April 23.

What do you think now?

I believe I would have had similar results just due to those high fat sandwiches. My digestive system can't tolerate that kind of fat load when I'm doing (or shortly after) long duration strenuous exercise. It's also not recommended by all my cycle training references as the fat inhibits the repleshment of glycogen. You want high carb (low fat, low protein) nutrition during, and for two hours after, the exercise.

As far as electrolytes are concerned, you need several and in amounts of each driven by you fitness and exercise levels. One of Chris Carmichael's books has all this stuff down to amounts calculated by body weights. I can't be sure of the title as my copy is loaned out, but I think it's something like The Ultimate Ride.

Hyponatriumia is in fact insufficient intake of electrolytes for the amount of water intake.

Al

Al:
I am sure that you are correct. I have been able to abuse my body as long as I did not push the limit of my body. Biking back to back centuries in 8 to ten hours caused no problems no matter what I did wrong. Now I am pushing it and have all kinds of problems. Therefore, believe me, I am very greatful for comments such as yours. At 64 I do not have time to learn slowly.
Will

That's about sums it up. You can absorb water about 2-4x faster than needed to replace what's sweated away. There's also a tonne of electrolytes that go out with that water. Coming back after a ride, if I don't change and shower right away, my back & jersey is coated with a white layer of salt after the sweat evaporates.

Here's some good articles on hyponatremia that Machka posted in some previous threads:
UltraCycling - electrolytes
Ultra Cycling - low blood sodium
Ultra Cycling - drinking too much
Ultra Cycling - water and salt intake during exercise
Ultra Cycling - fueling for endurance

It's interesting to note that on the RAAM, they don't drink as much as they sweat away; they end up a little dehydrated at the end of each day. This is to maintain a higher concentration of glucose/complex-carb/protein mix in their stomach and get more calories/hr through.

I can appreciate the feeling of "time crunch" as I'm rapidly approaching 67. An engineer by both temperament and practice, I've always saved time by reading books and by doing google searches to review the state of the art/understanding. That gets me pointed in the right direction right off the bat. That said, you don't know your personal limit until you find it.

Besides, peanut butter sandwiches are hard to resist some times.

Al

My wife and I learned about electrolyte depletion back in '63 when we started jogging here on the Gulf Coast. In our case, it was mostly the loss of Potassium and Magnesium. There's a lot more to the issue than just salt (Sodium Chloride). From the hyperlink above:

"A deficiency in calcium, for example, can lead to achy joints, heart palpitations, nervousness, and hypertension. A deficiency in potassium will manifest itself in muscular fatigue, diminished reflex function, fluctuations in heartbeat, headaches, and edema. The signs of magnesium deficiency include insomnia, chronic fatigue, poor digestion (to the point where the stomach will shut down), and irritability. A lack of manganese can result in excess perspiration, rapid pulse, and hypertension. During an endurance event and in particular an ultra marathon type of event, these problems become more realistic. Making sure your electrolyte needs are met will help you avoid not only cramping, but a host of other potential disasters."

"There is no sports drink in existence that provides electrolytes in substantial amounts."

We have been mixing Gookinaid Hydralyte in our water for close to 40 years. With a pinch of salt added (to meet the Chris Carmichael criteria), it's a complete electrolyte replacement. I use it at a little more than half the recommended strength based on experience with it and the fact that the gel I use has some electrolytes as well.

https://www.gookinaid.com/

Al

Danno and Al:
Thanks to both of you. We are going to do 27 days averaging 120 miles/day at 16.5 MPH. Balanced nutrition will be crucial based on what both of you are posting. I do not have the time to study and set all that good advise into practice------BUT------I am paying good money for an experienced tour leader who has done this about twenty times.
I will surly listen carefully to his advise and follow his example because of this experience and your good advise. Without your advise I may have thought it BS.
Now we know better, don't we?

Hey thanks for the link. I've too found that sports-drinks have too little concentrations of glucose-polymer and electrolytes. I'd have to drink three 24-oz bottles of Gatorade per hour to get the energy and electrolytes on my ride, which ends up over-hydrating me. So I mix my own and make it double-strength along with a bottle of plain water. I can then alternate drinks between the energy-mix and plain water depending upon the intensity of the ride I'm doing.