Stomach Problems

[Dumpster Juice]

I have a question and hope someone can help me. While doing longer rides over 50 miles or so I get sick on my stomach. I can not drink or eat anything wihtout it going into reverse and coming up. This really sucks when you are doing a 12 hour ride and for the last 6 or so you can not drink or eat. Dehydration kicks in and makes things worse. It usually last for a few hours after stopping and then I can start drinking fluids. Milk seems to be the best drink when I can finally hold something down. Even water taste bad when this condition kicks in. I have tried water, gatorade, hammer products, nothing seems to work. I get sick and it ruins the ride or race I am in. Any ideas or has anyone else had this problem?

[bartspedden]

All of my early efforts at long rides ended the with stomach problems.  Over the years I've read many books that deal with sports related nutrition.  For me, I had to learn about electrolytes and consumable calories.  You  may obviously be dealing with something different. Basically I needed to balance out my electrolytes (there's  4 different ones) and get 200-400 calories per hour.  As soon as I feel anything abnormal in my stomach I increase the electrolytes and eat some food.

But that's my story, what's yours? How much do you eat/drink? How often do you eat/drink? What do you eat drink? You mentioned a handful of products, but no actual schedules or riding conditions. For me, I took a somewhat scientific approach and counted calories and milligrams of electrolytes and came up with a schedule of eating/drinking. I learned a lot about how my body reacts to different things while doing this.  For instance, my heart rate greatly changes how my stomach reacts.  A lower heart rate and I rarely get sick, a higher heart rate without the correct nutrition and I'm screwed. And the calories that work at lower heart rates don't work at higher heart rates.

To get things under control I started riding with a heart rate monitor and learned how to adjust my menu and consumption rate with respect to my intended workout and weather. Summer versus winter is a big deal for me.

Unfortunately, it's taken me 3 years to really get things dialed.  Hopefully you're faster and smarter then me.  Hell, it took me almost 2 years to get a systematic plan in place where I could actually test things.  Do that now and you'll be on your way to fun rides without the stomach issues.

[elobeck]

I have a question and hope someone can help me. While doing longer rides over 50 miles or so I get sick on my stomach. I can not drink or eat anything wihtout it going into reverse and coming up. This really sucks when you are doing a 12 hour ride and for the last 6 or so you can not drink or eat. Dehydration kicks in and makes things worse. It usually last for a few hours after stopping and then I can start drinking fluids. Milk seems to be the best drink when I can finally hold something down. Even water taste bad when this condition kicks in. I have tried water, gatorade, hammer products, nothing seems to work. I get sick and it ruins the ride or race I am in. Any ideas or has anyone else had this problem?

Many endurance athletes suffer from similar ailments, myself included. Exercise induced nausea can appear without rhyme or reason and even exercise physiologists have not pinpointed an exact cause. Their suggestion is to try different foods and conduct experiments. i.e high in carbs vs protein etc and maintain a log until something seems to work. I have experienced this in long races, even on day 1 of tour divide where I was nauseous for 5 hours, and then didn't experience any issues for the rest of the race despite a really absurdly crappy diet . I just kept riding and it went away as quickly as it disappeared. I have had it come up and seriously curb my performance potential in other longer events as well. Curiously, training rides never have this issue for me, and I think I've traced it to Gu packets as a potential culprit, which I coincidentally don't take before a training ride but have on occasions prior to races that resulted in "that yuky feeling" Hope this helps. I understand how crappy it can be.

Erik

[mbeardsl]

It seems everyone goes through this.  I still do from time to time but overall I find it happens less and less.

Everything bartspedden said is spot on in my experience.

For all my training rides and "short" races (by bikepacking standards) I have moved to one bottle of Infinit mixed according to however many hours I think I'll be riding and either 1-2 bottles of water or a Camelbak up to 70oz.  For food I stay away from gels and other "performance" foods.  "Real" food simply goes down better and stays down.  My new favorite is stroopwafels but I usually carry a few granola bars also.  If I think I may get into cramping I will carry some Twizzlers - weird I know, but for some reason it works for me (probably mental) and something I got from a MUCH better racer here.  If I'm on a longer ride and only have fast food options Chikfila chicken nuggets and chocolate shakes/milk ALWAYS make me feel great.  I think you just need to experiment and find stuff that works for you as everyone is different.  It sucks to find the stuff that doesn't work but feels great when you end up with a good list of food that does.  I went from maxing out at 35 miles due to stomach issues to now trying to find my limit in the legs and lungs, which right now is about 70 miles so pretty weak compared to many others that post here but awesome for me.

I'd also be careful of overhydrating especially if you aren't supplementing with electrolytes (you ran out but have plenty of plain water etc).  Water is actually considered "poisonous" if too much is consumed in a certain time period.  I've only dealt with it mildly once when it was super hot out and I kept drinking cold water to lower my temp and in fear of getting dehydrated.  Not fun, so now I keep track of how many bottles I'm going through per hr and it helps keep me from drinking too much (18-24oz/hr is good for me depending on weather).

Best of luck - keep us updated on your progress as I am still learning each ride what does and doesn't work.  Today for example, did a high intensity 1.75hr ride with nothing but 1 bottle of water and felt great during the ride.  Anything more though and I would have needed food and electrolytes pretty quickly.

[AZTtripper]

A friend of mine has had similar issues. He has mostly overcome them by making sure to eat sooner and eating more during long rides. He even carries a stove and eats backpacker meals on day rides.

I have heard of water poisoning but always thought it would be hard to drink that much thru a straw/camleback tube. But everyone is different so no doubts its possible. I think the 18-24 oz/hr sounds about right. I have while bikepacking drank as much as 6 to 10 liters in a 24 hr period depending on temps. The only ill effects I have suffered thou are mild leg craps which are mostly eliminated by adding electrolytes.

I really like this product http://www.vitalyte.com/ it's more mild then the rocket fuel drinks that are more popular and cost less as well. I also like http://www.sportlegs.com/about/welcome.asp again not as popular but they seem to work good for me. When I first started taking them I thought I could feel my legs being extra warm in the bag at night. Might be some kind of subliminal thing from the fire legs on the logo.

Best of luck figuring out what works best for you.

Tim

[tonymason]

What you are describing could be gastroesophageal reflux or a hyperacidity problem. Do you get heart burn or sour stomach other times? If so might be something to talk to your physician about.
Tony ( I am a family doc in real life)

[Dumpster Juice]

I get a little heartburn when I eat Mexican food, but other than that no problems with my stomach. I think it might be salt. During long hard rides I get crusty, white stains on my jersey, gloves and down my face. I think I need to increase my salt intake during long events. It goes against what I normally do, I try to stay away from salt. I use e-caps, but think I may need to increae the number I take or take them more often...

[bartspedden]

but think I may need to increae the number I take or take them more often...

This is where it got personal with me and I needed to read more and start taking notes on what how much I consumed, how hot/cold it was, heart rate, etc... In the various books I've read they seem to hold back from saying "take this much <whaterver>".  My guess is that because of the variables listed above combined with all the variables of the individual body, there's just not one answer. 

Now I'm to the point where I'm doing a much better job of prevention and I can respond almost immediately when I start to feel  the first indications of stomach issues. I use a combination of pills and NUUN. I use the pills as a stopgap before I can get to a water source. Once I get to the water source I filter 16oz and pop a NUUN in it. Then I guzzle the 16oz.  This is just my pattern though that worked last year.  I'm guessing this stuff changes with time....

[Dumpster Juice]

Is Nuun carbonated?

[bartspedden]

Nuun is not carbonated. It is an electrolyte tab.  Drop it in a water bottle, it dissolves, drink it:  http://www.nuun.com/

[bartspedden]

I got taught a new lesson about stomach problems last weekend while competing in the grand traverse. A lot of the literature on stomach problems talks about stomach emptying. I read it, thought I understood it, and moved on.  Basically, I had never had a problem with this so I didn't grok it. And then this past Sat. around 4am I vomited. 30 seconds later I vomited again. I stopped, waited about 90 seconds took a sip of sports drink vomited again. While I was able to finish the race, it was at a drastically different pace then if I hadn't vomited.  What went wrong?  I had trained with my nutrition plan for months with success and I had executed my nutrition plan flawlessly during the race. SO WTF? My guess is that I was a slave to my nutrition program and wasn't listening to my body.  2 feeds points before I got sick I noticed a little nausea so I increased my electrolyte fluids just a bit. 1 feed point before I got sick I felt a little worse, this time I added electrolyte pills. Then I got sick.  I think was really happening is that my stomach wasn't emptying as fast I was putting stuff in it and it faintly put the brakes on anything more going in. I stopped eating and drinking for 2 hours (my wife towed me) and then I started to feel a little better and was able to eat a single gummy bear. A disciplined constitution :-) of single gummy bears and tiny sips of plain water spread out over a could hours got my stomach back in shape and allowed me to finish.

I guess the lesson is that if you still are dealing with stomach issues after you know you've had enough electrolytes you may be dealing a stomach emptying issue and it's time to back off eating/drinking for a little.  I just kept on eating/drinking and paid the price.

[offroute]

Ginko Biloba provides some relief for nausea at altitude, and I've had success with it for general anti-nausea from prolonged activity. I take half a 60mg tablet at most, usually a quarter or third. Inexpensive and widely available.

To relief...

Mike

[mbeardsl]

Good post bartspedden.

I had a similar issue this last weekend on my first 100 mile ride (not race).  I had stopped to eat a "regular" sized meal around mile 75 and for the rest of the ride my whole abdomen felt tight.  My sides were sore, my lower back (kinda kidney area) was sore, if I sneezed it felt like I just got done doing 1000 crunches, deep breaths felt slightly restricted, etc.  I had never expereinced this before and I think it was just that I had eaten too much and my body was trying to digest it all.  I drank some plain water and just ate some small sugary snacks for energy for the rest of the ride but I felt tight all the way through the next morning. Performance wasn't affected but the feeling couldn't be ignored.  Thank goodness no vomiting - I'll do just about anything to avoid that.

[Dumpster Juice]

I did the Huracan 300 two weeks ago and sure enough about 80 miles in my stomach problems started again. I had to drop out...I really hated doing that. I went to my doctor, who is an endurance runner and here is what he said...Just as Tony suggested he thinks it is an acid problem. He said during endurance events you are eating and drinking and acid is being pumped into the stomach to aid in digestion, but you also need blood in the stomach. Your blood is being diverted to the muscles being used to get them O2. The result is to much acid in the gut and something has to give. He gave me some Rx strength antacid. He said to start taking them about two weeks before my next event and everyday during the event. He really thinks this will help. I will keep you posted as I am planning a long ride in 3 weeks just to test the theory. Kid of sound dumb to ride to see if you get sick, but I never want to drop out of a race again...What do you guys think?

[Marshal]

I did the Huracan 300 two weeks ago and sure enough about 80 miles in my stomach problems started again. I had to drop out...I really hated doing that. I went to my doctor, who is an endurance runner and here is what he said...Just as Tony suggested he thinks it is an acid problem. He said during endurance events you are eating and drinking and acid is being pumped into the stomach to aid in digestion, but you also need blood in the stomach. Your blood is being diverted to the muscles being used to get them O2. The result is to much acid in the gut and something has to give. He gave me some Rx strength antacid. He said to start taking them about two weeks before my next event and everyday during the event. He really thinks this will help. I will keep you posted as I am planning a long ride in 3 weeks just to test the theory. Kid of sound dumb to ride to see if you get sick, but I never want to drop out of a race again...What do you guys think?

Ha, I have had the pleasure of being sick on almost every multi-day race I have done…..

I wouldn’t know if antacid will help.  I remember trying this several yrs ago without success.  I think an antacid will just mask the issue.  However if it works then great!!

However I do think you have your problem nailed.  IE: Your pace/effort is forcing your stomach/digestion to shut down.  You are pacing beyond your stomach’s means to sustain your effort.

Personally the only thing that works for me is to carefully regulate the amount of liquid & cals per/hr going in vs my effort + temp + route demands.  Sometimes ‘regulate’ means back off my pace & slowing down, sometimes sip & eat smaller amounts more frequently, sometimes it means skip eating and just drink for a 1hr or so—on and on with various combinations to give the stomach a chance to settle back down.  Sometimes it means suffer and hope it gets better.

Oh-- my “endurance” fitness level has a huge impact on how efficient my body is at absorbing cals.  If I have been doing some long, hard hot rides before a event that seems to help more than anything else.

Keep working on it and best of luck!!

[Dumpster Juice]

I did a long ride Saturday at race pace and had no stomach problems...The reason: I tryed a new drink, Spiz, it worked great and tasted great. You can check it out at spiz.net. I asked for a freee sample and they sent it in two days. I tryed it Saturday and by that afternoon I placed an order. If you have stomach issues I would strongly suggest you give it a try. There are two flavors, chocolate and vanila. I used the chocolate. It tated like Chocolate milk or maybe a better caomparison is a Yohoo. My riding partner knew it must be good when at the 50 mile mark I was mixing another bottle and spilled some of the mix on teh neck of the bottle and licked it off, not wanting to waste it.

[metalartgate]

Years ago when I was racing UMCA Ultra Marathons. Randy Ice with another Dr. developed Ultra Energy for Pete Penseyres. It was a food replacement that required next to no digestion eg. it is readily absorbed by your body. The amazing this was at the end of Race Across America the riders using Ultra Energy had GAINED muscle mass! Ultra Energy has gone away and Spitz is the replacement Randy has developed.

-gary

[Dumpster Juice]

All I can say is that it works and taste great. After long rides I am not hungry, but I also don't feel bloated or full.

[sam.pederson]

Well, this is not exactly what you are asking about, but as someone who has had stomach issues, I thought I'd offer advise.

I ALWAYS pack Imodium, zantac and Gas X when bikepacking (or backpacking, or even an all day hiking adventure). Imodium is a wonder drug, it will cure any diarrhea problems you may run into. And it works fast. The worst thing is having loose stool in the backcountry, and it can really mess with your body fluids (you are forced to drink more to replenish what you lost). If I feel even slightly like I am going to get it, I will pop 1-2 Imodium and it works like a charm, every time.

Zantac will prevent acid reflux (heartburn). It's pretty normal to get heartburn when exercising heavily so 30-45 mins before the ride will do the trick. I only do this if I'm feeling like I'll get heartburn though. Also, zantac you can use to treat heartburn, but it's even more effective if you use it for prevention.

For dealing with any gas, I use Gas X strips. Little paper thin lightweight things. They go on your tongue and you feel relief very quickly. 

Between these things, I've been saved quite a few times.