I have been having hypoglycemic symptoms for many years, beginning in high school cross country. Many athletes refer to this as a “bonk“. Mine seem most common during workouts, I’d estimate 95% of episodes are during workouts. I would further estimate that 80% of those episodes, happen later in the day (like a workout after work). My symptoms have ranged from profuse sweating (even though not hot or working extremely hard), extreme hunger (complete with obsessive thoughts of specific food I want to eat when I get home), confusion, general and deep fatigue (where just standing up is super tough, let alone walking or pedaling home), shakiness, blurred vision, and sometimes headaches (not as common during, but prevalent after the episode). Over the years and after a couple of rounds of inconclusive blood work, I have learned to eat something substantial an hour or so before a workout and I can generally tell when an episode is coming on. When that happens I usually have the presence of mind to take a gel shot or some other quick energy. Usually this is enough to get me home comfortably. There are even instances when I catch it early enough and I can continue the workout. Lately these episodes have become more frequent and less predictable. At Michele’s suggestion, I got a glucose testing kit and have been recording levels for a couple of weeks to see if I can determine more accurately what to avoid or do to prevent the episodes. Through some experimentation, I’ve come up with a pre-workout drink mix that is easily digestible and has mostly prevented the bonks and enabled me to have some great mid & later day workouts.
Yesterday, before a run, my blood glucose level was 106 (mg/dL) at 5:26 PM. From what I’ve been able to tell, this seems pretty good for me – I’ve only been doing testing for 3 weeks. Had a good snack a about 80 min earlier and a dose of my pre-workout mix immediately before the run. Began the run about 5:30 PM feeling decent. Planned a short run of 45 min with some sprints/strides mixed in. After about 10 min felt like a bonk may be coming on, so after another 5-10 min, I turned to cut run short (there’s a shortish loop by our house). Around 20 min into the run I apparently became disoriented, figuring that my pre-workout mix would kick in and so I did not take gel that I had with me.
I don’t remember much of the last 15 min of the run. I knew I was in a full-blown bonk. Never took the gel I had with me and continued to try to run/jog the intervals (watch was pre-programmed). I kind of remember stumbling and falling a couple of times. I remember waving to a neighbor that was talking to a visitor in his driveway. I remember getting to the end of our driveway, looking at my watch (completely confused) and thinking that the timer was still going so I should still be running. I continued down the street for a while before realizing I just needed to get into the house. When I got to the garage and reached for the door knob, I realized I was carrying 2 small sticks in my right had and a crushed aluminum can in my right. No idea when, where, or why I picked them up.
Amazingly, when I got in the house I somehow had the presence of mind to test my glucose level and write it on the white board by the back door. It was 33. Then as I have done many, many times before, I knew I needed to get something in me quickly. Orange juice or soda usually helps bring things around pretty quickly. So of course in my disoriented state, I tried to mix my recovery drink, made a mess, cleaned it up, and then finally drank it. OJ was the next step followed by literally gorging myself until nearly puking (typical post-bonk state). I had lapsed into a post-bonk haze and waited for the extreme headache to take over when Michele got home about 30 min after I’d gotten back to the house. I was sitting at the dining room table with blood running down my shins from the gnarly scrapes on both knees, pretty out if it. We tested my glucose again and got a 157. Fifteen min later, got a 170. The final test 30 min after that was 154.
I’ve never had an episode where it came on so suddenly and so severely. Pretty fucking scary experience in retrospect.
