Seeing black spots hour after WOD

sapalee

Hey all,

I've been doing CrossFit since January (my brother who has been doing it for years got me a month membership for Christmas, best gift EVER, I've now drank the kool-aid I've had great results and always feel really good after workout, like jell-o, but good.

Last night we finished up, stretched out, ate an orange in the car, drank my usual glutamine powder in water, and drove the hour home.

Shortly after getting out of the car and walking around (10 min) I started getting spotty vision coming in from the sides. Like right before blacking out but not quite that bad. This continued all through making dinner (made things tricky, didn't want to chop my finger). After dinner in the shower I noticed the spots were gone to be replaced by a gnarly headache on one side.

I'm not sure what the deal is, I started snacking pretty heavy while prepping dinner (tablespoon coconut oil, walnuts, applesauce) because I thought it was maybe that I hadn't eaten enough before. I also wondered if I had maybe overhydrated without electrolytes, I have been getting small foot cramps for a few days and craving salty things.

Has this happened to anyone, any suggestions? I've blacked out from heat stroked several times in the past and if this had happened immediately after the WOD I wouldn't be wondering, but is was well over an hour later.

For the whole day and night I had about 2500 calories Paleo and over 64 oz water.

twinmom01

I have this happen when my blood pressure changes - I have low blood pressure (my normal is like 100/60) - when it goes even lower I start seeing spots...

When I did my first CF workout (Helen) I had spots and slight double vision for about 1/2 hour (and it was a good hour or two after my workout) - I chalked it up to blood pressure...but I was a bit scared there for a little while.

I had the same thing happen a few weeks later after a particularly intense kickboxing workout - so I have learned to take it a bit easy and really spend some time stretching and deep breathing after an intense workout

jukemaster

I'm not a doctor, but it sounds exactly like you experienced and exercise induced migraine. Chances are your blood vessels dilated quite a bit during the exercise and you then experienced a drop in blood sugar. If it keeps happening, you might want to see a doc. However, you can try creating an insulin spike before a workout by drinking a protein shake or some fresh and raw juice (not concentrate off-the-shelf stuff). You could also get glucose tabs or packets before you start. Alternatively, if you feel a headache coming on during a workout, pop the glucose tablet. If you don't want to fool with any of that, you could eat something starchy right away after the workout, but that may not cause enough of an insulin spike to halt the headache. But again, I'm not a doc and this is just based off what I've picked up over the years.