Disoriented after working out

[Jeff7181]

On the 17th I was finally discharged from physical therapy after a knee injury. I was doing 15 minutes of stretching then 45-60 minutes of resistance exercises when I was discharged. Last week I took a break from exercising, slept in... still did the stretching but none of the resistance/strength exercises.

Today I started up the exercises again. Last night and this morning I drank plenty of water to make sure I was hydrated. Started with stretching as usual then did as much of my usual routine as I can without all the equipment which ended up taking about 30 minutes. For about 2 hours afterward my balance was off, I had a head ache and tunnel vision. It's pretty much better now except for some blurred vision.

Any ideas what might cause this and how to prevent it?

 

[imported_Imp]

Not a doctor/nurse (obviously), but did you eat before/after exercising? Low energy or electrolyte balance coupled with lots of water diluting everything else is a possibility.

I've felt off balance after 'working out' for 2 hours during the summer, then humping about 5 kilometres home. Never had blurred vision, or tunnel vision though.

 

[Jeff7181]

I had a couple granola bars, a banana and some yogurt about an hour before.

 

[hiromizu]

Too much water can do that.

 

[gramboh]

I get tunnel/blured vision and hearing sometimes during heavy weight training or CrossFit workouts. Sometimes after hard efforts I need to sit for 10min or so before I can leave the gym, and walking to the car/driving home I feel off for another hour or so. If you were going hard/heavy after a long lay-off it would make sense, but tunnel vision for 2 hours sounds a bit weird. I had that once in university when I went hard at the gym when I was still relatively untrained, almost fainted and had to sit down for 30min before I could move, can't remember what my water intake was though.

 

[amicold]

It sounds like blood pressure to me

 

[Kipper]

I think it's time you stopped asking Dr. Anandtech and went to see a GP. Loss of balance, blurred vision, and headaches don't sound particularly good, ESPECIALLY if you are doing the physical therapy-type resistance exercises (generally low intensity).

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Kipper
I think it's time you stopped asking Dr. Anandtech and went to see a GP. Loss of balance, blurred vision, and headaches don't sound particularly good, ESPECIALLY if you are doing the physical therapy-type resistance exercises (generally low intensity).

Strongly seconded.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Kipper
I think it's time you stopped asking Dr. Anandtech and went to see a GP. Loss of balance, blurred vision, and headaches don't sound particularly good, ESPECIALLY if you are doing the physical therapy-type resistance exercises (generally low intensity).

Good advice, but this is the first time it's happened so don't make it sound like I've got a chronic problem that I'm asking AT to diagnose. I just wanted to know if anyone else had experienced something similar or could tell me if it was too little water, too much water, low blood sugar, etc. that would cause those type of symptoms.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: Kipper
I think it's time you stopped asking Dr. Anandtech and went to see a GP. Loss of balance, blurred vision, and headaches don't sound particularly good, ESPECIALLY if you are doing the physical therapy-type resistance exercises (generally low intensity).

Good advice, but this is the first time it's happened so don't make it sound like I've got a chronic problem that I'm asking AT to diagnose. I just wanted to know if anyone else had experienced something similar or could tell me if it was too little water, too much water, low blood sugar, etc. that would cause those type of symptoms.

Dehydration could, hypoglycemia could, a brain tumor could. The problem is that there are a wide range of causes for a problem like this, some of which are serious. That's why it's best to just go see a professional and make sure. It's not our place to tell ya definitively what it is and we want you to be safe. Best of luck with it, man.