Dizzy, again
Options
marius_paps
Posts: 52 Member
Only at the end of the day, when I get up quickly from the couch (is there another way of getting up?), I've got these dizziness attacks again.
They last for a few seconds, and sometimes even black out my eyesight. They only happen in the evening, when I settle down to rest. But not every day, but yesterday it was pretty annoying.
It's freaking me out (and my wife even more so when she see's me faltering).
I'm certain this is related to my weight loss but would like to know what causes it and what to do about it.
I drink liters of water (& coffee
), take additional protein (whey) and feel like I'm eating all the time (a lot of fruit & nutty stuffs before and after dinner). I'm definitely eating a lot (++2000 cal).
Not eating back all of my exercise calories because it's difficult to gauge how many there are (many many).
I am losing a lot of weight, very quickly, maybe too quickly. So, maybe the calorie estimate from my activities are accurate after all? (we discussed this in some other post already).
For instance yesterday (and this is my typical day):
1500 (allowance) - 2874 (food) + 2170 (exercise) = 796 remaining.
The remaining calories are roughly what I estimate the overestimation (sic) of my exercise calories. And 2800 calories of (mostly) wholesome food is a lot. But will all that food, carbs & protein and other macros, are still under the (exercise) adjusted goal. Others are mostly OK.
I'm weighing and logging my intake, so I shouldn't be to far off regarding calories in.
Looking forward to tips from the experts
Thanks
They last for a few seconds, and sometimes even black out my eyesight. They only happen in the evening, when I settle down to rest. But not every day, but yesterday it was pretty annoying.
It's freaking me out (and my wife even more so when she see's me faltering).
I'm certain this is related to my weight loss but would like to know what causes it and what to do about it.
I drink liters of water (& coffee
), take additional protein (whey) and feel like I'm eating all the time (a lot of fruit & nutty stuffs before and after dinner). I'm definitely eating a lot (++2000 cal).Not eating back all of my exercise calories because it's difficult to gauge how many there are (many many).
I am losing a lot of weight, very quickly, maybe too quickly. So, maybe the calorie estimate from my activities are accurate after all? (we discussed this in some other post already).
For instance yesterday (and this is my typical day):
1500 (allowance) - 2874 (food) + 2170 (exercise) = 796 remaining.
The remaining calories are roughly what I estimate the overestimation (sic) of my exercise calories. And 2800 calories of (mostly) wholesome food is a lot. But will all that food, carbs & protein and other macros, are still under the (exercise) adjusted goal. Others are mostly OK.
I'm weighing and logging my intake, so I shouldn't be to far off regarding calories in.
Looking forward to tips from the experts
Thanks
0
Replies
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See your doctor. A friend of mine's DH had something similar and they found the problem. It meant re-educating eyes and is connected with your ears also. It's something that will not go away on it's own. It's better if you rule out health problems, so I'd suggest getting it checked out. Good luck.5
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Definitely see a doctor. When I had this it was due to low blood pressure and accidentally going low sodium since my husband needs that diet and I just ate the same food, but there are a lot of options and most of them need a doctor.3
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See your doctor. Sounds possibly like blood pressure dropping (postural hypotension) but your doctor needs to check you over. Get up slowly until this is resolved to avoid falling.1
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I get this too after losing weight: my regular blood pressure while obese went back to its natural low state after losing weight.
It's especially bad after exercise, since the blood vessels are dilated, dropping blood pressure even more.
I add a lot of salt to my foods and use electrolyte tablets after strenuous exercise to counteract the loss of sodium from sweating.
I confirmed the low pressure issue by taking my own blood pressure at home, but it could be something else too for you, so it can't hurt to get it checked out.0 -
I notice that your sodium is low for the day. If you are drinking a lot of water, etc. you are diluting your electrolytes as well. That can cause issues. Drink to thirst, without forcing yourself to drink more than you need. Make sure you get enough sodium, potassium, and magnesium.4
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spiriteagle99 wrote: »I notice that your sodium is low for the day. If you are drinking a lot of water, etc. you are diluting your electrolytes as well. That can cause issues. Drink to thirst, without forcing yourself to drink more than you need. Make sure you get enough sodium, potassium, and magnesium.
I think you may be right, esp. about the Sodium. Even if I don't like salt (except in crisps, which I don't eat anymore) I ought to have more salt. With the drinking and sweating from my bike rides, it's got to be the electrolytes (I forgot to mention I do take magnesium). For the potassium though, no bananas for me, no thanks!
I have been checked out by my doc not too long ago: I'm in good health. I'll have to dig out the tensiometer though.
Thanks!0 -
marius_paps wrote: »spiriteagle99 wrote: »I notice that your sodium is low for the day. If you are drinking a lot of water, etc. you are diluting your electrolytes as well. That can cause issues. Drink to thirst, without forcing yourself to drink more than you need. Make sure you get enough sodium, potassium, and magnesium.
I think you may be right, esp. about the Sodium. Even if I don't like salt (except in crisps, which I don't eat anymore) I ought to have more salt. With the drinking and sweating from my bike rides, it's got to be the electrolytes (I forgot to mention I do take magnesium). For the potassium though, no bananas for me, no thanks!
I have been checked out by my doc not too long ago: I'm in good health. I'll have to dig out the tensiometer though.
Thanks!
There are lots of good potassium sources that are not bananas. In fact, bananas are really not the ultimate best source, when it comes to potassium, they're just the frequently-mentioned one.
Options: Potatoes, nuts, spinach, apricots, dried beans/peas, sweet potatoes, yogurt, prunes, some types of seeds (like pumpkin, sunflower), and lots, lots more. Do a web search, get ideas. It's so diverse, there's got to be something you enjoy eating, that will add potassium.
If you have MFP premium, you can tap on Potassium in the app (on the nutrition display in your screen cap), scroll down & see your current top sources of potassium for the day/week, and consider eating more of those.
As far as whether you're losing weight too fast: Once you have a 4-6 week track record of logging (whole menstrual periods for women of that age), IMO most people should avoid losing more than 0.5-1% of current weight weekly on average, with a bias toward the lower end of that range unless severely obese. (I'm not alone in that opinion, BTW. It's a rough rule of thumb.) Within 10-15 pounds of goal weight, slower than 0.5% can be a good idea. Someone who is severely obese *and* under very close medical supervision may be able to lose faster safely.2 -
marius_paps wrote: »spiriteagle99 wrote: »I notice that your sodium is low for the day. If you are drinking a lot of water, etc. you are diluting your electrolytes as well. That can cause issues. Drink to thirst, without forcing yourself to drink more than you need. Make sure you get enough sodium, potassium, and magnesium.
I think you may be right, esp. about the Sodium. Even if I don't like salt (except in crisps, which I don't eat anymore) I ought to have more salt. With the drinking and sweating from my bike rides, it's got to be the electrolytes (I forgot to mention I do take magnesium). For the potassium though, no bananas for me, no thanks!
I have been checked out by my doc not too long ago: I'm in good health. I'll have to dig out the tensiometer though.
Thanks!
Did you tell your doctor about this problem during your last visit? This really isn't something to fool around with and try to self-diagnose. Also, if the issue is low sodium, this is not the time to be bulking up on potassium (because potassium and sodium basically work against each other and crowd each other out in your body's chemistry), but you don't know what the problem is for sure. So find out before you make things worse by guessing.3 -
Your sense of what a lot of calories is doesn't take into account you are burning far, far more calories than most people!
You have cycled 178 miles so far this week, often in very cold temperatures, so "I'm definitely eating a lot (++2000 cal)" is a false statement. It's not even "a lot" for an average guy that drives a car to work!
I am losing a lot of weight, very quickly, maybe too quickly. So, maybe the calorie estimate from my activities are accurate after all? (we discussed this in some other post already).
Don't ignore what should be a very obvious and simple solution, if you are losing weight too quickly then eat more. Worry less about accuracy and more about the very clear direction you need to take. Adjust your eating upwards and make it a significant adjustment.
You need to personalise your weight loss to your very unusual circumstances.
Ask yourself what do long distance cyclists (and others doing very high cardio volume) tend to eat like.
Low or high calories?
Low or high carbs?
Low or higher salt/electrolytes?4 -
Thank you all for your excellent and insightful answers.
There's no doubt that the dizziness is due to my reduced intake of whatever (be it calories, sodium, carb, protein, etc.).
I'm still trying to fine-tune things (CI CO). Clearly, the weight tumbling off the scales is NOT a good thing. We'll need to experiment some more.
The most important is to overcome the self-restrictive effects that calorie counting seems to have on me. Those bloody calorie figures in the app really grate on me. They're in a nice friendly green colour but they appear to me like a big red STOP sign🛑
I ought to stop worrying and taking things too seriously:
Perfection is the enemy of the good.
Having gone cold-turkey on some of my snacking habits (cookies!) has put a huge big dent in my calorie intake. I've mostly kicked off from sugar and suchlike cravings and really enjoy eating wholesome foods. Most of these foods are lot less calorie-dense than the tasty junk. But clearly I do need a lot of calories.
Indeed, @sijomial , I know that a cold ride really consumes quit a few extra calories (I can definitely feel that upon arriving), but neither Strava nor MPF know that. Clearly I need to compensate for that too.
@AnnPT77 , I eat a handful (or 2) of pumpkin seeds every day, but weirdly enough, no potassium or iron gets added to my macros. Probably the database entry I'm using isn't complete. B.t.w. it says Bolognaise is my 2nd potassium source for the week. That made me laugh out loud! #1 is avocado (yummmm).
Again, thank you so much!! I'm really happy for your support!
(Guess who ate 2 handfuls of salty peanuts after having completed his diary? Shush! don't tell anyone🤣)
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marius_paps wrote: »Thank you all for your excellent and insightful answers.
There's no doubt that the dizziness is due to my reduced intake of whatever (be it calories, sodium, carb, protein, etc.).
The thing is, there is doubt. Yes, many of the common causes of this issue are related to nutrient or hydration issues), but they are not the only possible causes. Did you bring this issue up with your doctor?
3 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »marius_paps wrote: »Thank you all for your excellent and insightful answers.
There's no doubt that the dizziness is due to my reduced intake of whatever (be it calories, sodium, carb, protein, etc.).
The thing is, there is doubt. Yes, many of the common causes of this issue are related to nutrient or hydration issues), but they are not the only possible causes. Did you bring this issue up with your doctor?
No I didn't go and see my doc. I'm not that worried.
I've had these spells of dizziness when I did calorie counting a few years ago (lost +30kg).
And lo and behold, the spells are back when I started MFP.
A part from the dizziness I feel like a machine.
Let me explain (or brag ): I commute to work by bicycle. That's 2x28km, or 2h30 of (pretty intense) cardio every working day. Therefore burn a tremendous amount of additional calories that need to be accounted for.
Not too bad for an old geezer. And not surprising that I'm 'tired' and dizzy.
I have to eat and eat and eat...
That said, it might be a good idea to go and see my doc for the 100.000km check up 1 -
marius_paps wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »marius_paps wrote: »Thank you all for your excellent and insightful answers.
There's no doubt that the dizziness is due to my reduced intake of whatever (be it calories, sodium, carb, protein, etc.).
The thing is, there is doubt. Yes, many of the common causes of this issue are related to nutrient or hydration issues), but they are not the only possible causes. Did you bring this issue up with your doctor?
No I didn't go and see my doc. I'm not that worried.
I've had these spells of dizziness when I did calorie counting a few years ago (lost +30kg).
And lo and behold, the spells are back when I started MFP.
A part from the dizziness I feel like a machine.
Let me explain (or brag ): I commute to work by bicycle. That's 2x28km, or 2h30 of (pretty intense) cardio every working day. Therefore burn a tremendous amount of additional calories that need to be accounted for.
Not too bad for an old geezer. And not surprising that I'm 'tired' and dizzy.
I have to eat and eat and eat...
That said, it might be a good idea to go and see my doc for the 100.000km check up
If you're already so sure what your problem is, why post and ask for help? If you know you need to eat more, why don't you?
As we age things change. What something was in the past may not be the same now. Most are saying check in with your doctor.2 -
+1 suggestion to check with your doctor, and +1 suggestion that you may not be getting enough sodium specifically or calories in general.1
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Update: no dizziness the last few days.1
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Did you change anything the past few days, that would point to what the issue was?1
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Did you change anything the past few days, that would point to what the issue was?
Sleep, rest and eat all my calories during the weekend. This must have recharged the batteries to full capacity.
Yesterday, not a single issue and feeling very well, energetic - even at the end of the day.3
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