Early starts and feeling sick

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ker0uac
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Re: Early starts and feeling sick

Post by ker0uac »

I agree that diet and sleep are possible factors. If you feel equally sick on routes that you have climbed before several times, then I'd think emotional might not be a big factor. Given that you begin to feel better after sometime, my best guess is that it's related to increasing and then stabilizing your heart rate.

Several years ago, I switched my weekday training routine to start at 530am. It begins with a HIIT cardio exercise, so I get my body used to the quick bump in heart rate when my body is still coming off REM sleep.
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Rollie Free
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Re: Early starts and feeling sick

Post by Rollie Free »

Let me get this straight.

1. Sleep in your car..... at a high elevation, noisy trailhead.
2. Get up at 1:30 AM.
3. Get a good night's sleep.
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Dakota
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Re: Early starts and feeling sick

Post by Dakota »

cottonmountaineering wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 8:19 am if you're stressed/anxious about the route next day, it can make you feel sick. i think this happens to almost everyone to some extent though
+1 Stress and anxiety about the coming day was what crossed my mind.
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TomPierce
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Re: Early starts and feeling sick

Post by TomPierce »

Rollie Free wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 1:23 pm Let me get this straight.

1. Sleep in your car..... at a high elevation, noisy trailhead.
2. Get up at 1:30 AM.
3. Get a good night's sleep.
Just reading this makes me stressed :lol:

-Tom
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aholle88
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Re: Early starts and feeling sick

Post by aholle88 »

Make sure to get the early morning 💩 out before you start. I had this happen this morning for the first time in a while, just felt awful and couldn’t figure out why exactly. Then after the business, felt back to normal. It’s weird because it doesn’t necessarily feel like ya gotta go, but if ya usually go in the AM before your normal exercise and don’t do it before a big hike, it can throw you off without recognizing what it is.
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Re: Early starts and feeling sick

Post by justiner »

Pro Tip: Smooth Move tea the night before, then be ready in the morning!
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HikerGuy
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Re: Early starts and feeling sick

Post by HikerGuy »

I'm too old for early starts. I rarely start before morning twilight, maybe once or twice per year, maybe. I have been able to start later because I can choose good weather days at will and I do. I know not everyone has that luxury. How early are we talking? Anyway to mitigate that? For example, sleeping at the trailhead instead of driving from home. What are you eating for breakfast? That may be the first place to investigate. I can't eat much when I wake up. A light snack and small protein shake and I'm on my way. First snack break is about an hour in which usually coincides with sitting in some nice early morning sunshine.
Last edited by HikerGuy on Wed May 19, 2021 4:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
cheechaco
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Re: Early starts and feeling sick

Post by cheechaco »

^^^^^^ What Hikerguy said. I'll sleep in my truck at the TH, get up early, have a snack and hit the trail, eating regularly through the day. Caffeine is a no go for me pre-hike, that makes me puke. One time I had a muffin and milk (my old go to breakfast before mountain biking) before an early start after camping at the TH. That was the worst hike ever!!! I would look at your diet the morning of or night before. Good luck!
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SchralpTheGnar
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Re: Early starts and feeling sick

Post by SchralpTheGnar »

You should take up golf.
Dayute
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Re: Early starts and feeling sick

Post by Dayute »

justiner wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 3:21 pm Pro Tip: Smooth Move tea the night before, then be ready in the morning!
Kind of the opposite of my chug immodium the night before method. I might give it a try. Nothing worse than blowing out an explosive wet one into a wag bag above treeline on a crowded mountain. Never again!
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jfm3
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Re: Early starts and feeling sick

Post by jfm3 »

When my buddy and I hiked Handies we each did a shot and a half of Pendleton in the tent before starting up. I cannot recommend it- felt like s**t all morning and threw up on the way down. We skipped the whiskey the next day before Redcloud/Sunshine and I felt much better.
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DeTour
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Re: Early starts and feeling sick

Post by DeTour »

My daughter has experienced this nausea and wooziness on several occasions. Very pronounced when it happens, debilitating. Doesn't seem to be altitude sickness - she lives in Denver area and can seem perfectly well acclimated and still encounter it occasionally. She has speculated that maybe hiking by headlamp, combined with the exertion of the uphill grind, is a factor. I have speculated that it could be a migraine reaction, as she has some history of that manifesting primarily in that type of symptom, not severe pain. (That doesn't necessarily exclude the headlamp theory as a trigger.) But that's pure speculation by me, not the one experiencing it.

She tried a dose of children's Dramamine once. She didn't get the nausea, but had serious wooziness from she thinks the medication side effect, even at a low dose. Last time we climbed, she skipped the robust breakfast that we usually eat at camp. She went with minimal food at the beginning, nibbling a Luna bar or something like that. Didn't have an issue, but that was just one climb. A slow pace seems intuitive to try to avoid the problem, but doggone we're pretty slow all the time and you can only go so slow before it creates another potential issue later in the day. So, bottom line for her, still pretty much cloaked in mystery.

I'm surprised by the number of others who seem to experience something similar; like several of you, I thought it was more or less unique to her. It sounds like a thing. We will definitely be watching this thread for any further insights or thoughts about it.
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