Aside from the neck pain, I have two other issues I am trying to resolve on the bike. One is the splitting headache problem I get during races. The other issue is new – slight dizziness while riding my bike. Every time I hit a little bump in the road, I get a momentary bout of dizziness. This just started a couple weeks ago.
I went to an ENT doctor this week, thinking all of this might be sinus or ear related. Dr. Yu at Chapel Hill ENT did not see anything wrong with my ears or sinuses, other than my deviated septum which pretty much blocks me from breathing thru my nose! She said I should get surgery for that. Maybe after my race season is over. She gave me three different nasal sprays to help with the nose breathing. She thought the headaches and dizziness might be a slight oxygen deficit issue. Interesting theory. Some googling turned up this link which talks about “oxygen fatigue” – sounds kind of like my issues: http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/health/tired.htm
Yesterday I went on a tempo bike ride. I had used all those nasal sprays, so was getting plenty of air thru my nose and mouth. Still got the dizziness. It seems worse when I go faster. It actually made me kind of scared to go too fast. WTF? That just ain’t right!
Other thoughts I have are:
- low iron. I do have low iron, and frequently get dizzy when I stand up quickly. The sensation I get on my bike is very similar to that. I’m supposed to take iron supplements, but they give me a stomache ache, so I tend to eat lots of raisins instead. Probably not enough. I started taking the FeSol again to see if that helps.
- motion sickness. maybe I am developing motion sickness. I do tend to look down at the road in front of my wheel, rather than ahead at where I am going. When I look ahead, I think the dizzyness problem is less. I know, I should be looking ahead anyway!!! I wonder if dramamine would help?
- pinched nerve? I wonder if the dizzyness and headache are related to the neck pain. Maybe there is some pinched nerve thing happening in my neck? The headache only happens during longer races, and I suspect they are set off by the swim. I do twist my neck funny when I breathe. I work on this problem, of course, but old habits die hard! I have another appointment with the Chiropractor on Friday and plan to ask what he thinks about this.
- Nutrition: I did change my Infinit forumula two weeks ago. I was using my friend’s formula which has 201 calories per serving. My friend weighs alot less than me, so I decided to use the Infinit questionnaire and make my own formula. [link to my formula] My formula has 261 calories. Nothing else was different between the two formulas other than number of calories (The carbohyrate blend slider was up all the way on mine, all other sliders were the same). Could a few extra calories be too much and diverting blood to my stomach? (that’s one thing the article about oxygen fatigue talks about). This seems unlikely, but I’m brainstorming here!
- Black Cohosh. For several months, I have been taking 40mg of Black Cohosh per day to help with menopause symptoms. Sucks being an old lady, let me tell you! lol! I just now googled ‘black cohosh dizziness’, and there are lots of references to dizziness as a side effect. Dang, that stuff works! I’m going to wait to see if taking the iron helps first, then maybe stop the Black Cohosh.
Anybody have any ideas, I’d love to hear them! I’m starting to kind of freak out about the ironman. I do not want to suffer that splitting headache on the long bike rides at Duke 1/2 and B2B. And I need to solve this dizziness problem so I can go FAST down hills at Duke. That is how I always get a good bike split there. Help – I need to get my bike mojo back!!!!
I have the same problem…I have taken Gravol and it may work…I thought it to be lactic acid build up…and neck pain and pinched nerve…usually happend at the 10-15k mark…if I rest 2-3x then it goes away and can ride up to 60-100k…the problem is when you are in a group ride…you get dropped and then can’t catch them…still not sure what to do…try to snack, hydrate???
if you are getting dizzy on the bike due to iron and can’t stomach supplements try drinking orange juice while eating high iron foods like red meat, spinach etc. The vitamin C makes it much easier for the body to absorb the iron.
One thing you probably haven’t thought about is whether your helmet could be a little too tight. If your helmet is too tight, it will stop your cranial bones from moving as they should. Everyone has a natural “cranio sacral rhythm” where the fluid surrounding your brain and spinal chord moves around and the bones almost “breahte”, moving with the fluid. If you have something tight on your head that prevents the natural movement of the fluid, it can give you a heck of a headache.
Make sure you are drinking! It is not likely O2, the brain is always last to get cut off there. Your hands will feel like they are going to sleep before you get dizzy from O2. If it happens with bumps you should be thinking nerve stuff. Adjust your position and see what happens. If you find this only happens when you are on the top of the bars, are your arms slightly bent? They should always be and that is not what you normally see unless you look at the pros. Locked elbows is bad. It takes a bit of getting used to but will help. Biggest thing is to always be feeling your body out for tension. Over the long ride holding any muscle under tension uses too much energy and might give you the problems you are talking about. Move the head, roll the shoulders and see what is tight then concentrate on loosening up there. Don’t worry about the legs they know what to do. Also, if the road is clear spend some time looking just past the front wheel so your neck can get a rest.
I hope you get it figured out. Just remember to relax! You are going to do great!!!!
Unilateral or bilateral breathing on the swim??
Wow. Dizziness on the bike is scary. I got a case of the spins on a few runs this summer, but it just turned out to be dehydration. Drinking up pre-workout fixed it. I hope you get down to the cause of it!
Jennifer – Good point! Low iron can’t be good for training and racing, dizzyiness or not! I will ask my doctor about that one.
Karen – that’s something I hadn’t considered. I don’t know how I’d test that on the bike. I suppose I could set up the trainer at home. My husband does have a blood pressuer thingy.
TriDiesel – that’s a good thought too. That’s what Stacey Richardson said when I told her about my headaches. The dizzy thing is new, so I didn’t get to ask her about that.
Rebecca – thanks for your concern and link. Too bad Joanna didn’t figure it out yet (for her sake as well as mine!). She was at Rev3 and got 4th place, I think.
Weird thing is, I don’t get it in the run. Just the bike. Maybe it will force me to not go so fast on the bike, which might actually be a good thing for the longer races…trying to think positive!
Thanks again for all your thoughts, Carol
I am so sorry to hear about these issues to close to Duke half and B2B. I know how bad it sucks when you work so hard and are super fit only to then deal with mysterious pain. Your post made me think of an article about Joanna Zeiger and dizziness. http://www.slowtwitch.com/Interview/Zeiger_sidelined_by_dizziness_960.html
Could it be high blook pressure when you ride? I’ve heard that can cause dizziness and headaches. I have no idea how you would test it though..
I was thinking about this when you had back and shoulder issues, and now I am thinking it again, maybe its your bike fit, I dunno, just a suggestion.
The best iron supplement is called Repliva and it is by prescription only. If your doctor is not familiar with it, tell him to look it up. It is awesome and does not have all of the side effects of other iron tablets. It has different forms of iron and then a bunch of other stuff that helps your body absorb it. My hemoglobin went up 2 points in just a week while I was taking this. Please look into, it could make a huge difference. Low hemoglobin means low oxygen because that is where the O2 attaches. Good luck!