Lightheadedness, Dizziness, etc

Ok I know there are alot of competitive ahtletes in there so hopefully someone can help- Some background... I'm 24 years old, weight about 250 now, had WLS on Dec 26, so I've lost 93 pounds in about 3 months. I play roller derby (for those of you who aren't familiar, it's on roller skates, skating really fast, and is a full contact sport). Now, the good thing about losing all this weight is that I am suuuuuch a better player now. I can keep up pretty well with the skinny gals and I not miserable the entire time I'm on my skates, which I was before. I train about 4 days a week right now, 2 hour intense practices. I am also planning to start weight training and cardio in the morning before work. Problem.... I have been getting lightheaded alot, even just at work, when I stand up from sitting. So of course, when I get hit and knocked on my arse, things are kind of spinning when I'm trying to get up.  This weekend we had a huge tournament which was really gruelling in terms of play... The first day I just ate 2 glucose tabs in between each period. Not really sure if it helped or not. The second day, our medic (we have emergency personell on hand) threatened to bench me because I was dizzy, apparently my pupils were hugely dialated, and I was pretty weak.  I need to start figuring out what I need to be eating/drinking/doing before and during competition to make sure I'm at peak performance. Some things that I've read on this board seem like things that wouldn't be appropriate for my 3 months post op status. For example, I know people here use the goo... I don't think I can tolerate that yet, etc.  Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Kate

While there could be several reasons for this, it is most often caused by your diet. During exercise, especially relatively intense exercise, your muscles will utilize muscle glycogen which is a storage form of glucose (sugar). You will also remove glucose from the blood for use to fuel exercise. As a result, your blood sugar may drop and cause nausea by the end of your training session. This becomes extremely apparent when you are restricting your caloric consumption whether it be after weight loss surgery or on a self controlled low calorie diet (this is especially true when restricting carbohydrate). When exercise or competition last longer and 60 minutes or so, these issues maybe become even more pronounced. Bottom line...prior to exercise you need to consume adequate carbohydrate. Some people will tell you eat a high protein meal to solve this problem. Unfortunately, protein does very little to provide energy during exercise or for that matter, any other time of day. So, a high protein meal is NOT the answer to this problem. Is a high protein meal better than consuming nothing? Yes, but it is not optimal. I would suggest consuming a meal that is rich in high quality carbohydrate about 30-45 minutes prior to exercising and/or competing. Several examples of this include oat meal, apples, bananas, and whole grain breads. You may also include some high quality protein such as a small glass of milk (soy milk is ok as well), but there is no doubt that high quality carbohydrate should be the focus. This will help stabilize blood sugar levels and assist you in maintaining high intensity exercise. It will also help prevent your blood glucose from dropping below appropriate levels. If your exercise sessions last 60-90 minutes or longer, you may want to consume some carbohydrate during your exercise session or competition. Some post ops do use "goos/gels" and sports drinks like Gatorade, but many folks may not be able to tolerate these types of supplements due to their high glycemic index (may cause dumping which I imagine would cause problems during roller derby...or perhaps you could use this to your advantage :) Sorry, that is one of my many poor attempts at humor. This of course will be more of an issue for individuals who have had RNY versus Lap Band or Duodenal Switch for instance. Dried fruit is also another option (as long as it is not coated in refined sugar). Try some dried fruit during rest periods and see if you can tolerate and/or enjoy this more than gels and sports drinks. Why dried fruit you ask? Well they are pretty convenient, don't require special storage and you can just grab a hand full and pound them down. In summary, if you are trying to play nutrition catch up during a competition, in particular carbohydrate, it is probably already too late. You need to consume adequate carbohydrate prior to exercise or competition and supplement with in-competition carbohydrate if exercise intensity and/or duration make it necessary. Hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions.

Hi Kate! I know EXACTLY what you're going through because this was a problem for me too.  I exercise a lot and it still happens occasionally now but it was more of a problem when I was in my first year post-op.  Anyway, like Jeremy said, it's probably a low blood sugar problem.  It helped me to eat whole wheat crackers with peanut butter or a banana with peanut butter before I exercised hard like that.  I think the peanut butter stuck with me longer and helped keep my blood sugar levels steadier.   I think it's completely COOL that you play roller derby!  Awesome! --Deanna  :)

Well, if I can add to whats been said,...right after my 3 month mark, I started trainng for a 10K and hit some serious energy walls that included dizziness, weak-kneeness, and extreme fatigue. Now,  you could also have some low blood pressure issues so you should have adoctor check you out, preferably your WLS surgeon. Your iron could be low or dipping, I had to increade my iron from 1 mutli a day with 18mcg to two and then change to a prenatal multi (with 28 mcg of iron) and then increase that to two a day.  That helped. Then I added potassium and it helped with the weak-knee problem. I increased my protein consumption from the minimum of 60 gms a day to 120 , then to 180.  That made me feel much better, especially since 120 was from Pure Protein Chocolate Delux bars with 17 gms of carbs in addition to the 20 gms of protein per 170 calorie 1.76 oz bar.  So carb intake Jeremy talked about was increased too. Then I added a liquid sublingual B-Complex vitamin and increased my B-12.  I went from one 500 mg to two 2500 mgs tablets a day.  That helped my energy.  Good luck. You are doing great.  I just hope you having gotten too active too soon and hurt yourself.  You got a pretty physically demanding past-time there. All the best.  Let us know whe you figure it out so we can all be smarter. Joe

Hey Kate. I remember you. It looks like you're kicking A$$. I've done everything all the others wrote about on here. The rules for being a competitive athlete after WLS just aren't the same as someone that's walking a half hour a day. You really tear your body up doing some of the stuff the runners and other athletes do around here. Personally, make sure you’re consistently taking your vitamins, especially iron and B-12. Studies have shown most athletes are deficient in Zinc and Magnesium. Just don’t over do it.

 

 

 

When I was only a few months out I did the oatmeal and peanut butter or peanut butter on an oatmeal cookie. Especially during squat workouts, I would crash like you’re doing and I would eat a oatmeal cookie with a little peanut butter. It really goes to your system fast and allowed me to complete my workout. I would not have been able to complete it without something like that.

 

 

 

Now, I found I really get good results sipping a potion I mix up of basically whey protein, creatine, glutamine, splenda and sugar free kool aid. I mix it with water in a liter bottle. I sip this before during and after my workout and it’s surprising how much energy this can give you. Good luck. Earl

Thansk for some of yuor corporate secrets Earl.  I might give that concoction a try myself.

I've had the same problem.  I developed reactive hypoglycemia after surgery and was crashing regularly (same symptoms you are having) when exercising.  After extensive journaling I found foods high in carbohydrates to be the problem if I waited to exercise an hour or longer after eating them.  Because I like to stay hydrated during exercise and drink throughout my work out, eating doesn't work because I would have to wait an hour to drink again so I opted for energy gels.  Carb boom, GU and Hammer all have worked well for me.  I tried mixing one into water once but it sunk to the bottom so I went back to having it on hand incase I start crashing.  THey work very quick and are very portable. good luck :)

Hi folks! I was reading your notes and can identify now with exercising and getting a little dizzy - 2 weeks ago I mentioned it to my dietician and told her since I'm 5 months po from RYN, now exercising every day at LAFitness, I'm getting dizzy. She asked me how much I was eating, and at that time, it was 600 calories per day.  She told me to eat more good carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables and bread, rice etc. to give myself more carbs.  Well, for the past 3 weeks I've done just that, and now I'm eating more carbs and my calories are about 1000 - and I'm on a plateau but not getting dizzy at the gym.  My question to all of you is this:  How many carbohydrates should I be eating per day?  I'm very concerned about this now, because my weight stopped losing and only an inch has come off in the last month.  I have 80 more pounds to lose. HELP! I can eat more now too.  Please advise, I will listen! Thanks, Gail.