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Is this dehydration?
Hello!
This will be a long post so please bare with me.
Over the past 3 years I have been experiencing strange symptoms/episodes infrequently that I believe are related to a combination of dehydration and low-blood sugar but because the incidents have varied so much in severity I have had trouble tracking what the actual issue is. I have not consulted a doctor because of how infrequent and varied the incidents are.
I work in the woods for a living as a forester in Oregon. When these incidents started I was working for a timber company on the coast that had just acquired some work inland on the western slopes of the Cascades. While the ground itself wasn't as steep and rugged as I was used too in the coast range, it was higher elevation and the temperatures were quite a bit higher day to day (One week topped out at 108 deg. F consistently). The first day I experienced one of these incidents I was working in a higher elevation area and it was around 95 degrees. I had left at 5 in the morning from the coast to make it to the inland jobsite at 9 am and had drunken a fair amount of coffee and some water but not nearly enough. I had also only eaten a gas station breakfast sandwich with no plans to eat again until dinner that night. After hiking through some steeper ground, I began to have blurred vision in one eye. It felt like I had a "floater" that just wouldn't disappear so I sat down and sipped some water. This continued to a varied degree for about 15 minutes and then dissipated but it was followed with a pretty bad headache coming from the top of my head and my temple. I also felt pretty hungry oddly enough. I took it easy for a little while longer, ate a granola bar, and then continued working. About 10 minutes later I began to feel pretty nauseous and ultimately fell like I was either going to throw up or I needed to have a bowel movement. About an hour later I did the latter and felt better and finished out the day. This didn't happen again for another month or so but when it did, it was under the same conditions in the same area and I ultimately attributed it to not being hydrated enough and started to cut back on my coffee consumption quite a bit and focus on eating and drinking well and the incidents didn't really ever happen again.
After about a year I accepted a job on the eastside of the Cascades where the ground was ultimately way flatter but I was in, again, higher elevations. This position had me in the Office a little more than I expected and definitely more than my previous position where I spent 50-60 hours in the woods a week. I began become more out of shape because I hadn't adjusted my eating habits or began exercising because I had always relied on the work I do to keep me in shape. Every time I would go into the woods in this new position I would over exert myself because I would try and work at the same rate I used too. I began to have the same episodes only I had one that was particularly bad where I had the same blurred vision, headache, and hunger only this time I tried to eat a large lunch after and ultimately ended vomiting. Because of the increased office stress of my new position, I was drinking quite a bit of coffee through out the day and then coping with the caffeine at night with beer (Not a lot of water was being consumed). I had a pretty unbalanced diet with eating next to nothing for breakfast, a medium sized lunch, and then a huge dinner. This has continued until now where I have recently tried to change my habits and get into better shape but the last couple times I have tried to exercise even with adequate water consumption (I have been using the half your weight in ounces rule of thumb) I have the same incident occur and feel like garbage until I sleep it off. It doesn't happen in the woods as much anymore because I don't drink any coffee on those days, drink water consistently throughout the day, and try eat small meals consistently throughout the day.
As I am writing this out, I feel like I am answering my own questions but this has really caused me a lot of depression because I am almost afraid to hike in the woods again because I might have one of these episodes and my job is my passion. I worked out for 30 minutes yesterday and felt great until about 15 minutes after I finished when my vision blurred and the whole process started again.
Do any of you guys have suggestions? This happened maybe 10 times across the last 3 years. I am 6'1 and 250 lbs. When I worked on the coast I was around 215.
Thank you for your time and help
This will be a long post so please bare with me.
Over the past 3 years I have been experiencing strange symptoms/episodes infrequently that I believe are related to a combination of dehydration and low-blood sugar but because the incidents have varied so much in severity I have had trouble tracking what the actual issue is. I have not consulted a doctor because of how infrequent and varied the incidents are.
I work in the woods for a living as a forester in Oregon. When these incidents started I was working for a timber company on the coast that had just acquired some work inland on the western slopes of the Cascades. While the ground itself wasn't as steep and rugged as I was used too in the coast range, it was higher elevation and the temperatures were quite a bit higher day to day (One week topped out at 108 deg. F consistently). The first day I experienced one of these incidents I was working in a higher elevation area and it was around 95 degrees. I had left at 5 in the morning from the coast to make it to the inland jobsite at 9 am and had drunken a fair amount of coffee and some water but not nearly enough. I had also only eaten a gas station breakfast sandwich with no plans to eat again until dinner that night. After hiking through some steeper ground, I began to have blurred vision in one eye. It felt like I had a "floater" that just wouldn't disappear so I sat down and sipped some water. This continued to a varied degree for about 15 minutes and then dissipated but it was followed with a pretty bad headache coming from the top of my head and my temple. I also felt pretty hungry oddly enough. I took it easy for a little while longer, ate a granola bar, and then continued working. About 10 minutes later I began to feel pretty nauseous and ultimately fell like I was either going to throw up or I needed to have a bowel movement. About an hour later I did the latter and felt better and finished out the day. This didn't happen again for another month or so but when it did, it was under the same conditions in the same area and I ultimately attributed it to not being hydrated enough and started to cut back on my coffee consumption quite a bit and focus on eating and drinking well and the incidents didn't really ever happen again.
After about a year I accepted a job on the eastside of the Cascades where the ground was ultimately way flatter but I was in, again, higher elevations. This position had me in the Office a little more than I expected and definitely more than my previous position where I spent 50-60 hours in the woods a week. I began become more out of shape because I hadn't adjusted my eating habits or began exercising because I had always relied on the work I do to keep me in shape. Every time I would go into the woods in this new position I would over exert myself because I would try and work at the same rate I used too. I began to have the same episodes only I had one that was particularly bad where I had the same blurred vision, headache, and hunger only this time I tried to eat a large lunch after and ultimately ended vomiting. Because of the increased office stress of my new position, I was drinking quite a bit of coffee through out the day and then coping with the caffeine at night with beer (Not a lot of water was being consumed). I had a pretty unbalanced diet with eating next to nothing for breakfast, a medium sized lunch, and then a huge dinner. This has continued until now where I have recently tried to change my habits and get into better shape but the last couple times I have tried to exercise even with adequate water consumption (I have been using the half your weight in ounces rule of thumb) I have the same incident occur and feel like garbage until I sleep it off. It doesn't happen in the woods as much anymore because I don't drink any coffee on those days, drink water consistently throughout the day, and try eat small meals consistently throughout the day.
As I am writing this out, I feel like I am answering my own questions but this has really caused me a lot of depression because I am almost afraid to hike in the woods again because I might have one of these episodes and my job is my passion. I worked out for 30 minutes yesterday and felt great until about 15 minutes after I finished when my vision blurred and the whole process started again.
Do any of you guys have suggestions? This happened maybe 10 times across the last 3 years. I am 6'1 and 250 lbs. When I worked on the coast I was around 215.
Thank you for your time and help
Dehydration also has lots of side effects associated with it and headache is one. A significant one. If we couple that with the hard work you do and muscle strain?
It sounds like migraine headaches to me, and not as severe as most. Migraines begin with vision disruption as you describe it, then an incredibly bad headache, and nausea -- just what you're reporting. Anyone can get them for different reasons. These headaches are caused by vascular disturbance, when the blood vessels constrict and then open up. Unfortunately, they open up in the head first and at the extremities later. Not eating enough especially on a hot day and then exercising can bring them on. Certain foods can bring them on. If you have a period of stress, when you relax that can bring them on. I'm not discounting dehydration or blood sugar, both of which can also bring on a vascular headache. The only reason I'm wondering about that is that you were pretty used to the routine you followed and hadn't gotten this before. I would also say, you're getting older all the time, and as we age we go through stages that can come on suddenly. At 37, I could play full court basketball for 3 hours and keep up with anyone. At 38, I couldn't keep up anymore. Stuff happens, bodies change. At any rate, you have some stuff here to talk about with your doctor. There are non-medication ways to deal with all of these problems that your doctor probably won't know anything about, so don't think the doctor visit is the end of it. For me, meditation and some natural remedies got rid of my migraines pretty much. But the first one I got, living in LA, was on a hot day, I didn't eat much, and I went out and played basketball. I was 13, and got them until a doctor had me start meditating when I was in my twenties. Can't tell you if I'm right or not, just offering a possibility. And know that every year you get older the better your nutrition and sleep should be if you're going to be doing such hard labor and not end up with some chronic injuries. Which is another thing -- I would expect if you were dehydrated you would be suffering muscle cramps, but you're not describing that. Good luck.
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Also, remember, Oregon is a very cool climate on one side of the mountains and a desert on the other. I know you know that, you live there, but you have to live differently in the desert than you do near the coast.
One other caveat -- caffeine is actually a treatment for migraines, so the fact you drank a lot of coffee is a contrary factor. The pills I used to take for them had a lot of caffeine in them along with the painkiller, which drove me nuts because I never drank coffee.
Actually, caffeine can also be a trigger for migraines.
This indeed does sound like a combination of dehydration and low blood sugar. You have a physically demanding job when in the woods and in hard conditions. You are like a professional athlete with a training session all day long! Think of it that way. You have to make breaks for food/water.
I would go ahead and talk to your doctor about this even if intermittent. It's always wise to get a full physical especially with your activity level and these episodes.
Set that up and come back and tell us what they say! (and even though you were writing for a difficult reason, I enjoyed reading about your lifestyle! Very different than mine and interesting!) good luck
I would go ahead and talk to your doctor about this even if intermittent. It's always wise to get a full physical especially with your activity level and these episodes.
Set that up and come back and tell us what they say! (and even though you were writing for a difficult reason, I enjoyed reading about your lifestyle! Very different than mine and interesting!) good luck
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