I was feeling proud of myself... until I passed out

I'm no expert, so take it for what it's worth, but I don't think you're eating nearly enough to support that kind of effort...

Hi all.  I'm new to the forum and just started thinking about tri'ing. As a nurse, I actually may have some relevent knowledge about donating blood.  Thought I'd share since I know NOTHING about tri!

You probably passed out because you were slightly dehydrated from your workout (this could be why your BP was slightly lower than usual prior to giving blood) and you lost another 1/2 liter by giving blood.  The combination was probably enough to drop your blood pressure - which started out great, BTW - to the point that you passed out.  Since you have never experienced this before, I would say that you should definitely decrease your activity prior to donating blood in the future and probably not donate at all on days that you work out vigorously.  I agree that you should take in more fluids than usual on the day you donate blood.  Since you hit your head, you should go to the ER immediately if you have any memory problems, weakness or changes in your vision.  And definitely get a cardiac workup if you pass out again!

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the replies.  Some of you mentioned that I might have been dehydrated.  I figured out that I probably had about 50 ounces of water, 16-17 ounces of juice plus maybe 6-8 ounces of Ice Tea before passing out.  But, I didn't have any drinks that replace electrolytes so I'll keep that in mind for the future.  After passing out, I had some raspberry juice and a granola bar then I had a hamburger and fries for dinner.  I don't usually eat hamburgers or fries anymore but I felt like I needed it.  

I have a Bodybugg so when all is said and done, I burned 3030 calories for the day (most of it in the morning) and ate 1995 calories for the day (mostly in the evening).  My goals are to burn 2600 calories a day and eat 1900 so my deficit of 1035 along with the blood donation was obviously too much.  I've gotten so good at watching what I eat that I probably don't eat enough sometimes.

I learned my lesson, I need spread things out better, think about electrolytes and don't workout on days that I donate blood.  I still weigh 181 so I definitely weigh enough to donate.

Just so you know, I felt O.K. the rest of the day, my head hurt this morning where I hit it but no memory or visual problems.  I'm going to try to get into the Chiropractor early this week and I already had a doctor appointment on the 27th to talk about an issue with my knee so I'll talk to him about this incident. 

Thanks again!! 

Slugger - 2008-08-17 11:54 PM I got a little lost in those numbers, but did I read right that you are aiming for 700 net calories a day??? That is way, way too low, especially in training. You should aim for no lower than 1200 a day. Others posts sound right - your OJ had electrolytes, but not enough. And not enough calories. And just a plain hard workout. That itself will make me pretty lightheaded sometimes. I would guess the burger and fries were right on. Try eating essentially immediately after a workout, which is when your uptake is highest. And, well, helping someone else by helping yourself by not exercising hard and donating on the same day.

Sorry if my numbers were confusing.  Actually my goal is to eat 1900 calories a day while burning 2600 a day.  Therefore, I would burn 700 more than I ate, that's what my program calls a 700 calorie deficit.  Those are my goals to lose 1.4 pounds per week.  

Yesterday, I ended up eating a total of 1995 but I burned 3030 for the day.  I didn't realize that the swim was going to burn as much as it did.  I know better now.

nxm165...  

Thanks for the rambling.  Yes, there was some good info in your post that was helpful.  I know I need to learn freestyle.  That was my plan in April and I went to 3 Masters Swim classes.  Unfortunately, I was really intimidated and didn't feel like the coach gave me any useful advice.  I went for a free stroke clinic the previous summer and felt like those coaches had me do some good drills.  But this summer the coach just put me in my own lane and never gave me anything to work on and would just occasionally tell me good job when she found me resting at the wall.  Most of the time I don't think she even watched me.  It was frustrating.  I did this for three sessions and finally gave up, then found myself reverting back to backstroke on my subsequent swims.  

I've been thinking about buying some of the Total Immersion Products and working on it over the winter.  I've also printed out the 10 points of swimming posted by BigFuzzyDog and want to study those.  Part of my problem is that I'm historically a scuba diver and I'm used to being able to breathe "anytime I want to" even being under water.  

I have a doctor appointment for an occasional knee pain on 8/28 so I'm going to talk with him about this incident and see what he recommends.

Thanks again.   

One more lap, and you'd have swam a mile (This is the sarcasm font, BTW) Congratulations on the NOT SO SILLY accomplishment! 

THANK YOU for donating blood!

I'm not much help on the BP (mine's often in the 140/90 range) or nutrition, but you may not want to run such a deficit on donation days (or for the week after, as your body is trying to replentish the red cells). 

Next time, sell tickets.  We like to see people pass out in their showers  

I've been donating blood for years and had one episode where I passed out.  I felt fine until the helicopter came in for the childrens hospital, then I felt super weird and down I went.  The nurses there later told me that they have had a few cases in the pass where the fumes affect people.  I couldn't think of any other reason so that is what I chalk it up to.  Anyways just thought I'd throw in my two cents.                                                            WAY TO DONATE!! Blood it's in you to give!!

Lots of good info above.  A point about the BP- it was a little lower than your usual but not a signal in itself that something was wrong.  What would have been interesting would have been a comparison of your BP lying down, sitting, and then standing.  I'll bet your BP would have been much lower standing up than lying down (called orthostatic hypotension) which can occur in people who are dehydrated, don't have enough salt in their system, or who have lost a lot of weight quickly.  The shower is a typical place for people to become orthostatic (when the blood pressure is low you get faint because it can't pump the blood to the head as well) because with the warmth your blood vessels dilate and it's harder to pump the blood to the head.  Definately mention it to your doctor, and make a visit if it happens again.