Now I'm stressed...

4xharley

Barefooters
Feb 6, 2012
33
24
8
44
Athol, MA
I was running in a fund raiser this weekend, a 200 mile relay across MA. This is the third year we've competed. Everything was going wonderfully until about 3am Sunday when i guess i had some kind of seizure according to everyone else in the van with me. It felt to me kind of like i fainted but everyone was freaking out when i came back. The thing that worries me the most is if i have some problem i will lose my military job. I have two little kids and my income is critical to getting by.
I guess the question is, how plausible is it that this was some freak event that will end up being undiagnosed and a non-issue? I've been to the doc and have been referred to a neurologist and scheduled for a sleep deprived eeg. I'm driving myself nuts worrying about this and i don't want to drag my wonderful wife down with me, so that's what brought here. Thanks for any input our similar experiences.
 
Good luck with the sleep-deprived eeg!

Are they testing you for narcolepsy? I have no clue what that will do to your military service. But, there are some other symptoms of narcolepsy - you can google them, and some of them are kind of odd (like, do you get muscle weakness when you laugh?).
 
I've seen a similar thing happen to someone that had hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Looked like they passed out and had a mild seizure. This might be more likely after hard exercise, particularly if you'd been eating badly.

And I'm betting that you and your wonderful wife, and you kids, will all be fine. ;)
 
Well you gotta get the testing done and see what is going on. This can also happen from medications and too much caffeine - if you're on either. Obviously I can't diagnose you over the internet, that would make me a jackass, but take into account any and all meds and stimulants (including asthma inhalers and NSAIDs - common in athletes).
 
Wishing you all the best, Harley!
 
Thanks everybody, had the EEG done but I'm waiting to hear how it was. They had me hyperventilate for 3 minutes and that caused something that seemed wrong to me. It started in my extremities and worked it's way through my whole body. For anybody that has ever gotten shocked by AC voltage, that's what it felt like. For about 5 minutes after my whole body was trembling uncontrollably. The tech asked me once if I was ok because my jaw was clenched, but I was able to talk and consciously unclench my jaw. The tech didn't say anything about it and neither did i, though now i wonder why. So now I'm waiting to hear if there was any abnormal brain activity associated with it.
 
Been there, done that. I had a podiatrist stick a needle straight into my nerve (instead of near the nerve), which caused my leg to kick uncontrollably which caused him to plunge the needle ALL THE WAY THROUGH MY FOOT. That shock to the nerve had the same effect on me. I had trouble breathing, was hyperventilating, clenched my hands together like lobster-claws which I couldn't open, and folded me at the waist, and I could hardly talk to tell them to call 9-1-1. Took about a good 15 minutes before I was back to "normal."
 
Hyperventilation can cause hyponatremia, which can have convulsion-like symptoms as a result...
On the other hand, hyponatremia can be exercise-induced...

So it might be possible that the events you described in your first posting were caused by hyponatremia resulting from racing.

(While studying medicine, our professor of pneumology made us students hyperventilate - I experienced the same kind of muscle-spasms... The jaw-clenching is typical too....)
 
Well, just met with my doctor and he said results from the EEG were normal. Still going to meet with the neurologist in a few weeks but feeling a lot better about everything now.
On a side note, the doctor also told me "exercising for longer than 60 minutes at a time is dangerous and could kill you"! He mentioned a recent study that he read about and "all the triathletes and marathoners that have died recently". I could barely contain myself, what about all the ultra athletes that don't die? This sounds like a case of a study trying to prove the authors opinion and skewing the public's understanding. Any thoughts?
 

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