Nausea on longer rides

[TheSandwichMonster]

I have the same issue I think, or something like it, anyway. I don't feel sick as such though, it's more like a combination of heartburn/trapped wind - Anything I eat seems to get stuck in my gullet.

I went out on a longer-than-normal ride yesterday: 42 miles in the end as I'm training for a hilly 60-miler. Given the heat, I was careful to be taking small sips from the bottle every 10-15 minutes. I also stopped for some malt loaf about halfway, after a cereal breakfast about an hour before I left. Still no beans... About 5 minutes after eating, I started doing the old "sick burps" along the way. Later on, with about 5 miles to go, I still found myself running out of energy... It's like I can't manage longer distances without food, but my body seems to hate food on the go

 

[Janeyb]

Well I'm glad I'm not alone. I guess I should think myself lucky that I'm feeling ok on the bike generally - it's once I've stopped I feel worse. It sounds like you're suffering quite a bit during your ride. That's horrible. Hopefully it's not a long term thing As for me I am now wondering if I've picked up a bug or something as I've felt awful all day today. Headache and nausea non stop and my appetite has been non existent for a few days now. Hopefully it'll pass soon.

 

[VamP]

Seriously guys, if you have been inactive for large periods of your life, and are now getting into some serious exercise, get yourself checked up. That way you can then push yourself in the safe knowledge that there are no underlying issues, or if there are underlying issue, you can get them treated, or avoid the exercise altogether.

It takes experience of your own body under stress to recognize what is just 'fatigue' and where it's safe to HTFU and get on with it, and where it's a case of your body calling for genuine help.

 

[fimm]

It may be that because you are exercising at a higher intensity, blood is being diverted away from your stomach which is then struggling to digest whatever food you are putting in to it. You might find that small amounts of food or energy drink, taken more often, might be easier to digest. This is why some people find gels, jelly babies, energy sweets, that sort of thing, good on a longer ride.

(Note: I'm coming at this from the angle of doing some longer triathlons and therefore having to eat on the bike in order to fuel the run I'm going to do afterwards. If I try to eat too much too quickly I get stomach cramps.)

 

[lulubel]

Seriously guys, if you have been inactive for large periods of your life, and are now getting into some serious exercise, get yourself checked up.

Well, I've been running for about 5 years, and throwing up after the occasional hard run for 5 years, so in my case it doesn't have anything to do with inactivity. I noticed some of the elite runners throwing up when they finished this year's London Marathon, so I figure if it was a concern, they'd have done something to resolve it.

 

[VamP]

Well, I've been running for about 5 years, and throwing up after the occasional hard run for 5 years, so in my case it doesn't have anything to do with inactivity. I noticed some of the elite runners throwing up when they finished this year's London Marathon, so I figure if it was a concern, they'd have done something to resolve it.

Erm.... I guess my comment does not apply to you then.

I am all for people pushing themselves. It's when they don't appear to have a clue why they are feeling sick that I worry for them.

 

[Janeyb]

The plot thickens.......it turns out there is a bug circulating at my workplace. I felt so rough on Monday that I swapped my work days and took the day off - still thinking it was cycling / heat related. However, I came in yesterday and discovered that two people were off yesterday and my boss is off today. Nausea but no vomiting. Maybe that's been my problem. I'll see what happens on the next longer ride.

 

[TheSandwichMonster]

Seriously guys, if you have been inactive for large periods of your life, and are now getting into some serious exercise, get yourself checked up. That way you can then push yourself in the safe knowledge that there are no underlying issues, or if there are underlying issue, you can get them treated, or avoid the exercise altogether.

It takes experience of your own body under stress to recognize what is just 'fatigue' and where it's safe to HTFU and get on with it, and where it's a case of your body calling for genuine help.

This is not so much a case of pushing myself so hard that I'm sick though... I've done the throwing up thing because I've biked/run/exercised to the very limit of my body before - It's an entirely different kind of sick (to my mind, anyway). This is more of a case that I feel fine, I'm moving at a reasonable pace without pushing myself into discomfort and I even stop for a brief rest from time to time if I consider it necessary. However, I'm conscious that I can't do longer miles without fuel of some nature, BUT the issue is that as soon as I eat anything, I start to regurgitate it. Not so much sickness as a kinda reflux/heartburn reaction.

Liquid foods (i.e. Gels) are less bad - I have some digestive discomfort - probably due to the concentrated nature of them, before my stomach settles down. Solids tend to repeat back on me for a while. In fairness to the gels, I've been trying a few out and I've still not settled on a preferred brand. However, I also don't want to become reliant on expensive gels over regular food for recreational rides...