My wife borderline blacked out during a Hyrox race last weekend (see the Hyrox thread, they carted her off the course at station 7 in a wheelchair). It was probably a solid hour before she was fully coherent again. She's done everything from 5k to Ironman; this was her 4th Hyrox. She's never had anything remotely close to that happen before.

She checked in with her doc today. Going in my explanation was (a) pushing her absolute limit for 50 minutes (we checked her Garmin stats and her max HR was a good 10 bpm beyond any prior race) combined with (b) drinking too much water prior (vs say Gatorade) which flushed her electrolytes. While both may have been factors, her doctor thinks that taking Allegra D for the last two weeks raised her blood pressure and that was the main difference this time around.

Just wanted to put it out there given it's allergy season in Texas. If you're taking stuff, especially of the D variant, be advised that it could impact your athletic performance.

Anyone else had similar experiences?

I've blacked out for several reasons, never because of an allergy medicine.

If she has taken it before and has not had an issue I don't think Allegra D is the issue, sounds more like overexertion and hyponatremia. I know it can cause an increase in blood pressure but it is unusual.

Did they take her blood pressure when she had the issue? Hyponatremia causes low blood pressure and fits the symptoms she was having

In reply to P.U.T.U

P.U.T.U said:

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If she has taken it before and has not had an issue I don't think Allegra D is the issue, sounds more like overexertion and hyponatremia. I know it can cause an increase in blood pressure but it is unusual.

Did they take her blood pressure when she had the issue? Hyponatremia causes low blood pressure and fits the symptoms she was having

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I think this is the first year we've taken the D variant (we both live on zyrtec and other allergy meds). So it was something new there. That said, I agree with your assessment. Symptoms are spot on. I think they took blood pressure but don't remember them being concerned with the numbers. Blood sugar was like 280 but had dropped to 180 like 30 minutes later. We're thinking that was simply from a banana and two Gu's (one pre race, one at the 30-40 minute mark).

I was at a Spartan race. In the parking lot, we pulled up next to a guy drinking moonshine before the race. He said he was going to be fine because he had Pedialyte.

He didn't look so good afterwards. He was still trying to sell me on the moonshine even though he said he felt terrible.

I agree with above that the pseudoephedrine is not likely a problem. Much more likely to be the combo of overexertion and hyponatremia.

The elevated blood sugar was likely just a stress response when her body passed out.

I will not take Allegra because it increases my heart rate (and probably elevates my blood pressure). It literally makes me feel jittery and nervous. If I get allergies I always use Claritin which doesn't cause that symptom for me. I can totally see that causing someone to pass out during intense exercise.

Maybe try Claritin as an alternative?

In reply to MouthBQ98

MouthBQ98 said:

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I will not take Allegra because it increases my heart rate (and probably elevates my blood pressure). If I get allergies I always use Claritin which doesn't cause that symptom for me. I can totally see that causing someone to pass out during intense exercise.

Maybe try Claritin as an alternative?

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It would be very unusual for allegra to change your HR. Are you sure it wasn't Allegra-D?

Allegra has no known effect on heart rate or blood pressure, Allegra- D sure as heck does due to the pseudoephedrine component.

In reply to wcb

wcb said:

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My wife borderline blacked out during a Hyrox race last weekend (see the Hyrox thread, they carted her off the course at station 7 in a wheelchair). It was probably a solid hour before she was fully coherent again. She's done everything from 5k to Ironman; this was her 4th Hyrox. She's never had anything remotely close to that happen before.

She checked in with her doc today. Going in my explanation was (a) pushing her absolute limit for 50 minutes (we checked her Garmin stats and her max HR was a good 10 bpm beyond any prior race) combined with (b) drinking too much water prior (vs say Gatorade) which flushed her electrolytes. While both may have been factors, her doctor thinks that taking Allegra D for the last two weeks raised her blood pressure and that was the main difference this time around.

Just wanted to put it out there given it's allergy season in Texas. If you're taking stuff, especially of the D variant, be advised that it could impact your athletic performance.

Anyone else had similar experiences?

---

My doctor has told me on numerous occasions that he's seen a lot of heart damage in people who do heavy amounts of HIIT. He says the jury is still out on the longevity aspect of it, but he's also talked numerous times about how bad marathons are on your heart (risk of heart attack is 3x-5x greater in marathoners than the general populace). It's why a lot of them die way too young.

In reply to KidDoc I can't remember, it was a long while back. I remember is taking it and feeling like I had just finished running a little while later even though I wasn't exerting myself at all. My pulse was elevated and I felt a bit jittery. It was disturbing enough that I never tried it again.

I will also say passing out is typically low blood pressure or something too low for metabolism in the blood, but a fairly rapid drop in pressure after it had been elevated for a while might do that.

I've passed out from a heat stroke event (dehydration then elevated body temp) and getting up and leaving in a hurry after donating blood, so those are my only experiences. Both of those were low Pressure related I am sure.

I also agree. Probably not pseudoephedrine in the Allegra. In fact I think pseudoephedrine can probably give a performance boost.

In reply to BassCowboy33

BassCowboy33 said:

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wcb said:

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My wife borderline blacked out during a Hyrox race last weekend (see the Hyrox thread, they carted her off the course at station 7 in a wheelchair). It was probably a solid hour before she was fully coherent again. She's done everything from 5k to Ironman; this was her 4th Hyrox. She's never had anything remotely close to that happen before.

She checked in with her doc today. Going in my explanation was (a) pushing her absolute limit for 50 minutes (we checked her Garmin stats and her max HR was a good 10 bpm beyond any prior race) combined with (b) drinking too much water prior (vs say Gatorade) which flushed her electrolytes. While both may have been factors, her doctor thinks that taking Allegra D for the last two weeks raised her blood pressure and that was the main difference this time around.

Just wanted to put it out there given it's allergy season in Texas. If you're taking stuff, especially of the D variant, be advised that it could impact your athletic performance.

Anyone else had similar experiences?

---

My doctor has told me on numerous occasions that he's seen a lot of heart damage in people who do heavy amounts of HIIT. He says the jury is still out on the longevity aspect of it, but he's also talked numerous times about how bad marathons are on your heart (risk of heart attack is 3x-5x greater in marathoners than the general populace). It's why a lot of them die way too young.

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I was skeptical at first but there does appear to be a few studies that seem to support the assertion that extreme endurance events can be detrimental to health:

Training for Longevity: The Reverse J-Curve for Exercise

But when you think about it, competitive "fitness" events aren't about fitness. They are about the competition and about winning. Body Building (not Natural classes), for instance, is obviously about pushing extremes in muscle mass and size and the use of anabolics is prevalent. The size these athletes obtain alone is potentially dangerous, but even more so is the use of gear to get there. It is no different in the endurance world. PEDs also lead to health issues in the competitive endurance world as well (not suggesting that the OPs wife is using PEDs at all-I am referencing the results of the study above). Heck, cycling is supposedly one of the most egregious in terms of the use of PEDs. So there is that aspect. Even for the non user, the natty athlete, the lure to find an extreme sport to push their abilities is always strong in those of us that like training. But if truly pushed to an extreme, there can be issues. Makes sense when you think about it and it's well documented. Though, I'd still argue that these health issues are relatively rare in trainees and that most trainees/athletes, even some competitive ones, never begin to push themselves that hard. I do find it interesting that the best thing one can do to improve their health has its limits potentially.

In reply to BassCowboy33

BassCowboy33 said:

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wcb said:

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My wife borderline blacked out during a Hyrox race last weekend (see the Hyrox thread, they carted her off the course at station 7 in a wheelchair). It was probably a solid hour before she was fully coherent again. She's done everything from 5k to Ironman; this was her 4th Hyrox. She's never had anything remotely close to that happen before.

She checked in with her doc today. Going in my explanation was (a) pushing her absolute limit for 50 minutes (we checked her Garmin stats and her max HR was a good 10 bpm beyond any prior race) combined with (b) drinking too much water prior (vs say Gatorade) which flushed her electrolytes. While both may have been factors, her doctor thinks that taking Allegra D for the last two weeks raised her blood pressure and that was the main difference this time around.

Just wanted to put it out there given it's allergy season in Texas. If you're taking stuff, especially of the D variant, be advised that it could impact your athletic performance.

Anyone else had similar experiences?

---

My doctor has told me on numerous occasions that he's seen a lot of heart damage in people who do heavy amounts of HIIT. He says the jury is still out on the longevity aspect of it, but he's also talked numerous times about how bad marathons are on your heart (risk of heart attack is 3x-5x greater in marathoners than the general populace). It's why a lot of them die way too young.

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Sorry but I call BS on that. "A lot" of people do not die of heart attacks from marathoning. This sounds like the type of doc who is himself inactive and overweight and is quick to write prescriptions rather than encourage healthy lifestyle changes.

In reply to Capitol Ag

Capitol Ag said:

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BassCowboy33 said:

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wcb said:

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My wife borderline blacked out during a Hyrox race last weekend (see the Hyrox thread, they carted her off the course at station 7 in a wheelchair). It was probably a solid hour before she was fully coherent again. She's done everything from 5k to Ironman; this was her 4th Hyrox. She's never had anything remotely close to that happen before.

She checked in with her doc today. Going in my explanation was (a) pushing her absolute limit for 50 minutes (we checked her Garmin stats and her max HR was a good 10 bpm beyond any prior race) combined with (b) drinking too much water prior (vs say Gatorade) which flushed her electrolytes. While both may have been factors, her doctor thinks that taking Allegra D for the last two weeks raised her blood pressure and that was the main difference this time around.

Just wanted to put it out there given it's allergy season in Texas. If you're taking stuff, especially of the D variant, be advised that it could impact your athletic performance.

Anyone else had similar experiences?

---

My doctor has told me on numerous occasions that he's seen a lot of heart damage in people who do heavy amounts of HIIT. He says the jury is still out on the longevity aspect of it, but he's also talked numerous times about how bad marathons are on your heart (risk of heart attack is 3x-5x greater in marathoners than the general populace). It's why a lot of them die way too young.

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I was skeptical at first but there does appear to be a few studies that seem to support the assertion that extreme endurance events can be detrimental to health:

Training for Longevity: The Reverse J-Curve for Exercise

But when you think about it, competitive "fitness" events aren't about fitness. They are about the competition and about winning. Body Building (not Natural classes), for instance, is obviously about pushing extremes in muscle mass and size and the use of anabolics is prevalent. The size these athletes obtain alone is potentially dangerous, but even more so is the use of gear to get there. It is no different in the endurance world. PEDs also lead to health issues in the competitive endurance world as well (not suggesting that the OPs wife is using PEDs at all-I am referencing the results of the study above). Heck, cycling is supposedly one of the most egregious in terms of the use of PEDs. So there is that aspect. Even for the non user, the natty athlete, the lure to find an extreme sport to push their abilities is always strong in those of us that like training. But if truly pushed to an extreme, there can be issues. Makes sense when you think about it and it's well documented. Though, I'd still argue that these health issues are relatively rare in trainees and that most trainees/athletes, even some competitive ones, never begin to push themselves that hard. I do find it interesting that the best thing one can do to improve their health has its limits potentially.

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Correct. I was a bit skeptical at first as well, because we always hear about how healthy running is. It wasn't until I started looking at those medical studies that talked about heart attack rates in serious marathoners. But the big problem is too much of a good thing. Heart just isn't made to run 50 or 60 marathons in a lifetime, or even anywhere close to that.

In reply to NoahAg

NoahAg said:

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BassCowboy33 said:

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wcb said:

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My wife borderline blacked out during a Hyrox race last weekend (see the Hyrox thread, they carted her off the course at station 7 in a wheelchair). It was probably a solid hour before she was fully coherent again. She's done everything from 5k to Ironman; this was her 4th Hyrox. She's never had anything remotely close to that happen before.

She checked in with her doc today. Going in my explanation was (a) pushing her absolute limit for 50 minutes (we checked her Garmin stats and her max HR was a good 10 bpm beyond any prior race) combined with (b) drinking too much water prior (vs say Gatorade) which flushed her electrolytes. While both may have been factors, her doctor thinks that taking Allegra D for the last two weeks raised her blood pressure and that was the main difference this time around.

Just wanted to put it out there given it's allergy season in Texas. If you're taking stuff, especially of the D variant, be advised that it could impact your athletic performance.

Anyone else had similar experiences?

---

My doctor has told me on numerous occasions that he's seen a lot of heart damage in people who do heavy amounts of HIIT. He says the jury is still out on the longevity aspect of it, but he's also talked numerous times about how bad marathons are on your heart (risk of heart attack is 3x-5x greater in marathoners than the general populace). It's why a lot of them die way too young.

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Sorry but I call BS on that. "A lot" of people do not die of heart attacks from marathoning. This sounds like the type of doc who is himself inactive and overweight and is quick to write prescriptions rather than encourage healthy lifestyle changes.

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You are probably more correct in that it isn't "a lot". But the evidence suggests that it is more common than one would think. I mean, the guy who ran the first Marathon, you know, to Marathon, supposedly died upon arrival after telling them of the battle or so the legend goes.

In reply to Capitol Ag

Capitol Ag said:

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NoahAg said:

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BassCowboy33 said:

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wcb said:

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My wife borderline blacked out during a Hyrox race last weekend (see the Hyrox thread, they carted her off the course at station 7 in a wheelchair). It was probably a solid hour before she was fully coherent again. She's done everything from 5k to Ironman; this was her 4th Hyrox. She's never had anything remotely close to that happen before.

She checked in with her doc today. Going in my explanation was (a) pushing her absolute limit for 50 minutes (we checked her Garmin stats and her max HR was a good 10 bpm beyond any prior race) combined with (b) drinking too much water prior (vs say Gatorade) which flushed her electrolytes. While both may have been factors, her doctor thinks that taking Allegra D for the last two weeks raised her blood pressure and that was the main difference this time around.

Just wanted to put it out there given it's allergy season in Texas. If you're taking stuff, especially of the D variant, be advised that it could impact your athletic performance.

Anyone else had similar experiences?

---

My doctor has told me on numerous occasions that he's seen a lot of heart damage in people who do heavy amounts of HIIT. He says the jury is still out on the longevity aspect of it, but he's also talked numerous times about how bad marathons are on your heart (risk of heart attack is 3x-5x greater in marathoners than the general populace). It's why a lot of them die way too young.

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Sorry but I call BS on that. "A lot" of people do not die of heart attacks from marathoning. This sounds like the type of doc who is himself inactive and overweight and is quick to write prescriptions rather than encourage healthy lifestyle changes.

---

You are probably more correct in that it isn't "a lot". But the evidence suggests that it is more common than one would think. I mean, the guy who ran the first Marathon, you know, to Marathon, supposedly died upon arrival after telling them of the battle or so the legend goes.

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The clinic I work at and the research institute published a study several years ago that showed in higher arterial calcification buildup in heavy endurance athletes (marathoners/triathletes/cyclists). However it also showed no increase in mortality rates in these athletes.

In reply to wangus12

wangus12 said:

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Capitol Ag said:

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NoahAg said:

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BassCowboy33 said:

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wcb said:

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My wife borderline blacked out during a Hyrox race last weekend (see the Hyrox thread, they carted her off the course at station 7 in a wheelchair). It was probably a solid hour before she was fully coherent again. She's done everything from 5k to Ironman; this was her 4th Hyrox. She's never had anything remotely close to that happen before.

She checked in with her doc today. Going in my explanation was (a) pushing her absolute limit for 50 minutes (we checked her Garmin stats and her max HR was a good 10 bpm beyond any prior race) combined with (b) drinking too much water prior (vs say Gatorade) which flushed her electrolytes. While both may have been factors, her doctor thinks that taking Allegra D for the last two weeks raised her blood pressure and that was the main difference this time around.

Just wanted to put it out there given it's allergy season in Texas. If you're taking stuff, especially of the D variant, be advised that it could impact your athletic performance.

Anyone else had similar experiences?

---

My doctor has told me on numerous occasions that he's seen a lot of heart damage in people who do heavy amounts of HIIT. He says the jury is still out on the longevity aspect of it, but he's also talked numerous times about how bad marathons are on your heart (risk of heart attack is 3x-5x greater in marathoners than the general populace). It's why a lot of them die way too young.

---

Sorry but I call BS on that. "A lot" of people do not die of heart attacks from marathoning. This sounds like the type of doc who is himself inactive and overweight and is quick to write prescriptions rather than encourage healthy lifestyle changes.

---

You are probably more correct in that it isn't "a lot". But the evidence suggests that it is more common than one would think. I mean, the guy who ran the first Marathon, you know, to Marathon, supposedly died upon arrival after telling them of the battle or so the legend goes.

---

The clinic I work at and the research institute published a study several years ago that showed in higher arterial calcification buildup in heavy endurance athletes (marathoners/triathletes/cyclists). However it also showed no increase in mortality rates in these athletes.

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Which is why, I still contend, that it's still overall not a huge risk if the athlete prefers that level of intensity in their training. Look, I get it. I don't have to train 6 days a week. There is a study that shows up to 1 hour (of moderate weight training) a week is enough for health (the study states, and I might be murdering this, that after 1 hour of moderate to intense weight lifting, one sees no more health benefits beyond that. Not that they could gain more muscle, just that there is not a substantial health benefit after the hour). But come on, why do most of us train?!?!?! its not to "be healthier", its to push an extreme in some way or another. I want to be as naturally "jacked" as I can be. Others want to want further and faster than they ever have. Others want to be able to squat a small building. If these were reduced to just what was healthy, most of us would be too board to train. I need an incentive. I never started doing this b/c I wanted to be healthier. I was just finished with 8th grade and wanted muscles so girls would notice me and guys would respect me. I wanted to playe sports better and be stronger at my positions I played. I'm 50 and in great health. But it isn't health that gets me back to the gym every day. It's greed. To be bigger, more cut (if leaning out), better looking. To feel athletic and capable and be able to move and react better. To just feel awesome. But that, in my estimation, is how I get the most health benefits from training. B/c there are incentives beyond "health". It's why I feel the best way to use exercise to get healthy is to chase those other incentives. To train extreme and train hard. I actually have never understood how anyone would want to do anything less. Training hard with goals keeps you coming back. So in the end, it IS healthier. So, better put, it's worth the very slight risk training like this might have. I say go for it!
Just listen for the signs your body is telling you and you should be fine. Using progressive overloading principles should be enough to condition one's body to some very extreme training. No, you don't run a marathon on day 1. That's why the legend states that Pheidippides died after his run from Marathon to Athens. A few months of training may have lead to a different outcome.

So a quick follow up on this topic. We talked to her coach yesterday. He's a fit dude. Said a few weeks ago he was having a rough go with the allergies so started on one of the D allergy meds. A few days in he was doing a workout when he started getting light headed. Stepped outside and puked, then almost blacked out. Took a few minutes for him to settle down.

He went back and looked and his peak HR during the workout was 230.

I was a bit skeptical on the D med theory but we've now had three known scenarios that all played out very similarly, all after starting on it.