Nausea after a long run

kristinegift

After the last few long runs I've gone on, though I haven't changed much about my routine, I feel sick and nauseous for hours afterward, almost always after I eat my post-run breakfast. I usually eat some bread with PB before I leave and drink a cup of coffee, then I drink about 20-24 oz of water while I'm out (it's been really hot and humid lately) and consume about 120-140 calories during the run (~2.5 hours long). When I get home, I drink some G2 Gatorade (the low calorie, low sugar kind), then shower and then scramble 3 eggs and drink some chocolate milk. This has been my routine for months, and not until the last 3 weeks have I felt "off" afterward. I eat my breakfast and then feel nauseous/overfull/gross until early or mid-afternoon.

Does anyone else experience this? Could it just be that I'm eating too much? Am I waiting too long to eat something? Could it be the long exertion in the heat? Something else I'm not connecting?

Any and all advice/comments/"oh hey, me too"s would be appreciated! I'd really like to avoid spending next Sunday laying in bed feeling like poo.

litsy3

Assuming you're not pregnant, it looks like the only thing that has changed has been the weather. You may just have to play around with what you're doing till you find the right way for your body to cope with it.

Have you increased your water intake a LOT to deal with the heat? If so it could be a bit too much?

kristinegift

I suspected it may have been a case of being too full with liquid, so I purposefully drank less today. I'm thinking now that it may be low sodium levels since I usually sweat out 3-4 lbs in the summer during a long run. I just ate some flaming hot Cheetos and my stomach feels much more normal.

litsy3

Ha! Told you more chips was the answer to all your problems... Electrolyte tabs in your water?

kristinegift

litsy3 wrote: »

Ha! Told you more chips was the answer to all your problems... Electrolyte tabs in your water?

I use a hydration mix that has sodium and potassium, but during the summer, I'm just so darn sweaty! I will just have to keep Cheetos on hand for post-run snacking. Oh what a horrible fate...

Wendy98

I struggle more with stomach issues in the heat and humidity. Mine is usually GI problems which really sucks. I think my problem is dehydration--looking toward to fall weather ( can't believe I said that because that means winer is coming and I HATE winter.).

Carrieendar

the mix you use, is it ONLY sodium and potassium? If so, magnesium might actually be the issue. Or other essential electrolytes like calcium. Both can cause a feeling of weakness while, at the same time, causing tremors and more rapid heartbeat.

The_Enginerd

Carrieendar wrote: »

the mix you use, is it ONLY sodium and potassium? If so, magnesium might actually be the issue. Or other essential electrolytes like calcium. Both can cause a feeling of weakness while, at the same time, causing tremors and more rapid heartbeat.

All of the sports drinks seem to have only sodium and potassium. Does working out in the heat cause a loss of any of the other electrolytes? My understanding was it's mostly sodium which is lost through sweat.

litsy3

I wish this was a problem I have, but it's so fecking cold here I've just had to turn the heating on.

jchite84

I sometimes feel nauseated/sick after long runs, mostly due to dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. I've gone through phases where I didn't think about it as much as I should have and paid the price (serious bonking in a dangerous race). So nearly falling off of a mountain into the river below got me thinking about this stuff more. It might be just timing your food and water intake differently. I recently got the Feed Zone Portables Cookbook. The introduction is about 50 pages and it goes a lot of information about mid-performance nutrition and the timing of digestion of food vs. water vs. sports drinks. It has definitely helped me think about my food intake as part of my training more, and seems to be helping. I don't think I've ever felt better during or after a run than since I've started focusing more on this. Also, how are your calories coming in during your run? I'm sensitive to gels and sports foods. They just sit in my stomach like a brick, and don't seem to mix well with anything I try and eat afterwards. I do better on "real" food. (Nuts, raisins, boiled and salted potatoes, etc). Feed Zone Portables is all about the real food. A whole section is on making tiny pot-pies to eat mid run. It's a fat runner's dream. (Refering to myself as a fat runner...not you.)

Carrieendar

Sweat has tons of ions in it- sodium, calcium, potassium, magnesium, etc. pretty much any ion that plays a role in a cell's ability to do work are found in sweat. Potassium is found in higher concentrations inside cells than outside, so you get less in sweat than sodium, which concentrates outside the cell.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/17172008/

Maybe something to experiment with if nothing else is working. Nuun, cytomax, and others have more electrolyte variety.

kristinegift

Carrieendar wrote: »

the mix you use, is it ONLY sodium and potassium? If so, magnesium might actually be the issue. Or other essential electrolytes like calcium. Both can cause a feeling of weakness while, at the same time, causing tremors and more rapid heartbeat.

I use Osmo active hydration mix; 3 scoops for 20-24 oz (idk how many oz my water bottle is). There's a ton of good stuff in there: calcium, magnesium, niacin, riboflavin, vitamins, etc. I think I may try to find some salt tabs or take some pretzels with me on my next long run, as I'm suspecting it's an electrolyte imbalance since I'm losing so much sodium, etc. during the course of a run, especially when it's humid.

Stoshew71

Try Coconut water. It's God's Gatorade. In addition to drinking my 1 bottle Gatorade or PowerAid (whatever is cheaper that week) I will also have some coconut water because of the other electrolytes that is in CW. "Eight ounces of coconut water has 46 calories, 9 grams of carbohydrates, 250 mg of sodium, 600 mg of potassium, 60 mg of magnesium, 45 mg of phosphorus, and 2 grams of protein. The electrolyte content is more than double that of traditional sports drinks with about half of the carbohydrates." per an article from Kaplin University.

kristinegift

Stoshew71 wrote: »

Try Coconut water. It's God's Gatorade. In addition to drinking my 1 bottle Gatorade or PowerAid (whatever is cheaper that week) I will also have some coconut water because of the other electrolytes that is in CW. "Eight ounces of coconut water has 46 calories, 9 grams of carbohydrates, 250 mg of sodium, 600 mg of potassium, 60 mg of magnesium, 45 mg of phosphorus, and 2 grams of protein. The electrolyte content is more than double that of traditional sports drinks with about half of the carbohydrates." per an article from Kaplin University.

I'll have to pick some up and try it out after my next long run! Thanks!

pobalita

I've had the same problem after long runs during warmer weather. As other's have said, I think it might be electrolytes. I try to drink a lot of water during runs, but I know I always fall short in consuming enough and not being able to replace electolytes adequately. I've recently added s-caps and they seem to have helped a lot with muscle cramps during running and stomach problems after running.

The_Enginerd

Carrieendar wrote: »

Sweat has tons of ions in it- sodium, calcium, potassium, magnesium, etc. pretty much any ion that plays a role in a cell's ability to do work are found in sweat. Potassium is found in higher concentrations inside cells than outside, so you get less in sweat than sodium, which concentrates outside the cell.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/17172008/

Maybe something to experiment with if nothing else is working. Nuun, cytomax, and others have more electrolyte variety.

I have been using regular Gatorade, water, and/or Clif Shot energy gels for my long runs. These only have Sodium and Potassium though, and I've had problems with muscle cramping and spasms in hot weather. My electrolyte balance problems also seemed to be exacerbated by a medication I was taking at time. I'll have to look at getting something with a more complete electrolyte balance like the aforementioned products.

The_Enginerd

Stoshew71 wrote: »

Try Coconut water. It's God's Gatorade. In addition to drinking my 1 bottle Gatorade or PowerAid (whatever is cheaper that week) I will also have some coconut water because of the other electrolytes that is in CW. "Eight ounces of coconut water has 46 calories, 9 grams of carbohydrates, 250 mg of sodium, 600 mg of potassium, 60 mg of magnesium, 45 mg of phosphorus, and 2 grams of protein. The electrolyte content is more than double that of traditional sports drinks with about half of the carbohydrates." per an article from Kaplin University.

@Carrieendar curious what you think of coconut water. This person owns a company which makes a mix similar to the other endurance fuels, so there is bound to be bias, but he makes the argument that coconut water is just what you wouldn't want since it has very little sodium but a lot of potassium.
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/learn/coconut-water-the-bizarro-sports-drink

Carrieendar

I was thinking the same thing. If you recall bio 101, you may recall the ol' sodium potassium pump that cells use to create charge difference across the membrane. *boiling down a lot here* but, although potassium levels outside the cell are very important , fluctuations in sodium concentration do more damage when working out because the gradient depends on that sodium found outside the cell, which is lost through sweat in greater quantities.

But maybe it's enough sodium? Maybe other products go overboard? I would have to research that.

Eta: another argument for more sodium would be that the kidneys use sodium ions to create the gradient to re-absorb more water from urine and put it back into the blood. Low sodium will therefore affect that important process and force the kidneys to use other hormones instead- hormones that usually cause thirst and other signals to stop the body from working.

Stoshew71

The_Enginerd wrote: »

Stoshew71 wrote: »

Try Coconut water. It's God's Gatorade. In addition to drinking my 1 bottle Gatorade or PowerAid (whatever is cheaper that week) I will also have some coconut water because of the other electrolytes that is in CW. "Eight ounces of coconut water has 46 calories, 9 grams of carbohydrates, 250 mg of sodium, 600 mg of potassium, 60 mg of magnesium, 45 mg of phosphorus, and 2 grams of protein. The electrolyte content is more than double that of traditional sports drinks with about half of the carbohydrates." per an article from Kaplin University.

@Carrieendar curious what you think of coconut water. This person owns a company which makes a mix similar to the other endurance fuels, so there is bound to be bias, but he makes the argument that coconut water is just what you wouldn't want since it has very little sodium but a lot of potassium.
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/learn/coconut-water-the-bizarro-sports-drink

Yup. That's why I drink both. I was suggesting complimenting coconut water with the sports drink, not as a direct replacement.

I could easily drink 2 maybe 3 big bottles of G-rade or Pwr-Aid during and after my long run. So no problem getting sodium and sugar. Then when I get home, I drink a liter of CW. That will ensure I get the other electrolytes in as well that the G-rade or Pwr-Aid may miss.

I haven't tried any of the NUN or Skratch tablets or similar products out there. I wonder if I should scout. Anyone have suggestions, favororites, or dislikes?

Carrieendar

I like Nuun now and then but the sorbitol in them bothers me at times. Cytomax has the electrolytes plus carbs and amino acids, so it's more of a gatorade replacement rather than an electrolyte only option. But you can just carry one drink when you use that, which I like. It doesn't work if you want a run without carbs though. Cliff's mixture and UCann's I have heard are good, but they are kinda pricey.

The_Enginerd

A friend gave me some Tailwind Endurance Fuel to try and I liked the taste of it at least. More sodium and a complete set of electrolytes from what I can tell. No experience using it in hot weather endurance conditions yet though.

Gatorade has an endurance fuel which seems to have a more complete electrolyte profile. It's quite a bit lighter on calcium and magnesium than Tailwind, but I'm not sure if that matters. Probably depends on the individual. It also might be more available locally. Gatorade also seems to sell packages of just electrolytes called Gatorlytes (really...), which might be useful if you are looking just to have those without the addition of carbs by just adding it to water. Adding it to another sports drink to up the level of electrolytes, as it seems to be marketed for, might be kind of pricy.

Of course, I'm also pretty partial to Brawndo. It's got electrolytes.


Info Links:
http://www.tailwindnutrition.com/tailwind-endurance-fuel#.VbjxKMllCJA
http://img.docstoccdn.com/thumb/orig/79425735.png
http://www.endurancecyclist.com/Gatorade-Gatorlytes-20Ct-012-Ounce_p_68.html

JustWant2Run

I tried Clif Electrolytes Mix in my 3+ hours race in 95F weather 2 weeks ago and I had 0 issues. They had it at aid stations and since water wasn't cutting it for me, I tried it even if it was something new for me. It worked great! I usually find those kind of drink too sweet but it tasted more salty than anything I've ever tasted before. Sad part is I can't find it in Canada

I'm using a diluted mix of Cytomax lately (too sweet for me if I follow the ratio they give on the jar) and I think it's making a difference in the very very hot days vs only water. I'm not sure how much sodium and such it has, but I figure it's better than nothing.

Carrieendar

I dilute my cytomax, too!

Stoshew71

Thanks all for the suggestions.