Forums >General Running>What could be the cause of near-feinting during a run when over 50?
I presume you don’t have any HR data from when an incident occurs?
The description sounds similar to intermittent Atrial Flutter. HR can jump to over 200 suddenly and back down again after a few tens of seconds or longer. Dizziness and fatigue while it happens, sometimes heavy sweating too if the elevated HR continues.
It’s not unusual to be unaware of the elevated HR when it occurs.
But I have no idea if the cardiologist monitoring would have diagnosed this when it was not triggered.
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Unfortunately, i had no episodes during a stress test, so nothing was captured/ recorded during the test. If i read other forums, where someone made a comment that caught my attention. I do remember from some runs ,,that i thought some kind of mild dizziness was oncoming, so i automatically turned my head to another direction, where it made me feel that the dizziness was subsided and went temporarily away. And i do remember this happening a few times, during some runs. i remember, keep shifting my gaze, from staring at some object, away to another object, and that seemed to temporarily hold the dizziness at bay.
Sound familiar to anyone else? Thank you.
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I'm in my mid 40s. I have found as I've gotten older, things that used to not bother me (like roller coasters) now do. Last time I went on one, it made me sick.
Belated, but I am the same age and have had the same experience on roller coasters. There's apparently a reason for it, which is that as we age, our vestibular systems get less efficient at responding to changes in speed and direction.
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Unfortunately, i had no episodes during a stress test, so nothing was captured/ recorded during the test. If i read other forums, where someone made a comment that caught my attention. I do remember from some runs ,,that i thought some kind of mild dizziness was oncoming, so i automatically turned my head to another direction, where it made me feel that the dizziness was subsided and went temporarily away. And i do remember this happening a few times, during some runs. i remember, keep shifting my gaze, from staring at some object, away to another object, and that seemed to temporarily hold the dizziness at bay. Sound familiar to anyone else? Thank you.
I tend to look at the bottom front of the treadmill. I cannot look around the room at all.
This is exactly what got me. A few years ago, DH and I went to Hershey Park. Rode a bunch of roller coasters, mostly the wooden ones since there were no lines. Last ride of the day we got on a hanging roller coaster. it did a roll/loop/corkscrew where it flipped you upside down really quick, way faster than a normal loop. I may have blacked out for a second and was nauseous for the rest of the night.
Unfortunately, i had no episodes during a stress test, so nothing was captured/ recorded during the test.
HR data from an Apple Watch of other regular running watch with HR feature would record higher HR due to flutter.
Hi Timothy,
First off, I am happy you have been checked by a cardiologist. I have an idea what this might be and it has not been mentioned yet.
A couple of questions for you:
1) Do you know if you have low blood pressure or high blood pressure?
2) When you stand up quickly from a sitting position do you ever get dizzy or blurred vision?
3) Do you hydrate more than usual throughout the day prior to running?
4) Do you keep track of what you are eating and drinking on the days this happens?
5) Does this happen typically at the start of the run or always after a few miles?
6) Does a sudden increase in intensity during the run like a drop in pace or a hill on the course trigger this?
7) Have you had a history of this in the past with running or other activities?
8) Is running a new sport for you? If not, how long have you been running for?
Thank God I havent experienced it yet, but i hope you the best. Keep it going.
Any chance you wear bifocals? The last time my prescription changed, they upped the power of the bifocal, and I started having some episodes of dizziness on the treadmill. I thought maybe it was because I was looking at the treadmill screen, and the bouncing of my stride was moving what I was focusing on back and forth between the bifocal and non-bifocal portions of my lens, throwing off my equilibrium. I now have a pair of single-vision glasses I wear on the treadmill, and haven’t had any problems.
Christirei and Altair5:
You both share similar opinions, which kinda makes sense to me. I,, logic tells me that a drop in blood pressure would be the logical response. But my cardiolosgist gave me a compact blood pressure machine, he said, that when i have a "episode" of near-feinting, take a blood pressure reading within 5 minutes. I did do it, after a episode, but nothing special showed on the blood pressure monitor. Which made me think of both of your responses, because, multiple times, i felt a very slight dizziness, until i forced myself to look away in another direction, and things were ok,,for a little while, and then it repeated itself again. I'll try again..though,, not sure how i'm going to be able to remain with my face in one direction only.
Maybe if i didn't turn on the TV..you think that would help?? Or should i force myself to watch the TV and not look away? ( 1980's parenting,,stick the damn kids in front of the TV and leave the parents alone! heheheh)
Not sure,,if i can just stare at the floor for 30 minutes..
I'll try again and experiment,,its still too hot here, to run outside. It's 40 celcius.
Cheers! and thank you for all the advice.
Caffeine-fueled Runner
I sometimes get a sort of zooming feeling (not related to the app) after being on a treadmill. But I recognize that as as inner ear disorientation that is temporary. In warmer weather, I have felt that at the end of a run, particularly when I used to run at lunchtime. I had breakfast but was otherwise running on an empty stomach so that may play into the sensation. Mostly occurred when I came to a traffic light where I had to stop and weight. No radical change in heart rate (it did begin to drop a few seconds after stopping) but I did start feeling lightheaded and my vision began to "close down." Sometimes, continuing walking on the sidewalk would minimize the effect. But stopping suddenly seemed to exacerbate the effect.
It didn't happen this summer, in part because I'm not running as intensely as I had been and I've been doing run/walk as I rebuild my conditioning after an injury.
I am 67 years old, BTW.
PR's--- 5K 24:11, 10K 49:40, 10-Mile 1:26:02, HM 1:56:03, Marathon 4:16:17
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