Mental confusion after intense exercise? Anyone experience this with mechanical valve?

[tommyboy14]

Hi Everyone, I hope that all of the wise people here can help me with the following.

and when I say help, I mean did you experience something like this before?

- It seems that after intensive exercise (going at 150bps for 40 minutes on the cross trainer), I now get some degree of mental confusion. For example, After I shower after exercise ideas pop into my head which I then cant remember five minutes later. Or I am working (lets say 30-40 minutes after exercise) and then while I am on the computer, I get these ideas about the project I am working on, sometimes even imaging emails on the subject that I just read from other people, but then I come back a couple of minutes later to realise that this was all a figment of my imagination.

I normally dont have such issues, i.e. when I dont exercise.

I am trying to figure out what is happening. I wonder if somehow I dont get enough oxygen to my brain during exercise. But everything else seems to be working well - I.e. I dont get massively fatigued after exercise. I am trying to figure out what is happening, but even describingmy symptoms seems a bit hard.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks
Tommyboy

 

[3mm]

I have not experienced what you describe, nor have I heard of anyone else experiencing it. I strongly urge you to ease back during your exercise until you can talk with your Dr, Cardiologist, etc. Have you had a stress test to monitor your heart, breathing, pulse, oxygenation level, etc, while exercising?

 

[pellicle]

After I shower after exercise ideas pop into my head which I then cant remember five minutes later.

this seems to happen to me more each passing year.

Given what you say about HR association I'll ask a few questions

• INR during these times
• are you on aspirin
• have you considered that its microemboli

 

[MdaPA]

It seems that after intensive exercise (going at 150bps for 40 minutes on the cross trainer), I now get some degree of mental confusion.

Don't know your age but are you at or above your peek target HR Zone 50-85% (220 minus your age) for too long perhaps? Not that this is the cause of your problem though.

Target Heart Rates Chart

 

[JWalters]

Interesting. Still have some propofol in your system ?

 

[tommyboy14]

I am 43. I spoke to my cardiac rehab trainder today. He said many people experience this if they get dehydrated and if their blood pressure falls too much following exercise. So he said we need to keep monitoring blood pressure to see if that is related and drink water in the mean time while exercising.

To be honest I have been a couch potato my whole life other than the past year and a half following valve replacement, where I am exercising a lot. I guess perhaps I need to take it a bit easier to allow the rest of my body to adapt.

Thanks for the advice everyone

 

[pellicle]

Hey there

guess perhaps I need to take it a bit easier to allow the rest of my body to adapt.

yeah, in my "simplification" its a lot easier to train up when you're 18 then 48 (the age I was when I had OHS3) and even though I was not a couch potato by any means it was harder.

Also I'd not discount the microemboli which could be caused by the pressure gradients of higher exersize.

So I'd encourage you to make regular small steps forwards and not have any slips backwards.

However what is ignored here is the effect of platelet being triggered by jet pressures.

from a paper by Yoganathan 2004:
FLUID MECHANICS OF HEART VALVES
Ajit P. Yoganathan, Zhaoming He, and S. Casey Jones

Best Wishes

 

[vitdoc]

Way back when I was in my thirties after my second surgery for aortic stenosis I used to play full court basketball often for two to three hours. One day after playing I had an appointment for a medical checkup. So I went to the university hospital clinic where the nurse greeted me saying something like it’s nice to see someone as healthy looking as you. She then took my blood pressure and started to look at me differently. She told me not to move and she ran out of the room and got me something to drink. My blood pressure was 70/30. It was after that I learned to hydrate better. I often wondered why I felt crummy after playing. Then I knew. So if you are lucky, as others have mentioned check you BP before and after exercise and see if something like that is going on.

 

[Survived03]

This may sound crazy, but what about red cell damage during intense exercise and a prosthetic valve?

 

[vitdoc]

This may sound crazy, but what about red cell damage during intense exercise and a prosthetic valve?

I don't think this has been noted as much of an issue. I think if there were "micro emboli" some would not be so micro and there would be focal neurological defects that would be long standing. I doubt there is any issue with showering of emboli leading to alterations in brain function that would just disappear. More likely something else like dehydration with decreased BP. Also emboli would go to many locations including the retinal circulation where rather small clots can block areas of retinal circulation with concomitant loss of peripheral or central visual field that is very obvious when it occurs. I have had this happen several times and it is very scary. Fortunately mine have all cleared quickly presumably due to breakdown of the clot. I think most of these happened when I was not following my INR closely.

 

[tommyboy14]

Hi Vitdoc,

thanks this is very useful feedback. I will monitor this very closely now and record my experience in this chat, also so others can refer to in the future if the ever run into this issue.

Have a great day
Tommy boy

 

[pellicle]

I don't think this has been noted as much of an issue.

I think you should blame me for the microemboli suggestion, I think @Survived03 just got hit with a stray bullet there.
;-)

 

[vitdoc]

Just to add to the emboli discussion. They do occur especially if the INR is too low. In my particular case when I had my temporary visual loss episodes they all happened when I was exercising. So perhaps clots start to form on the valve when the INR is low and maybe they will dislodge with very high heart rates and high blood flow with turbulence. So don’t go for an INR of 1.5.

 

[tommyboy14]

I just checked my INR this week (I do every sunday). It was 2.5. Previous reading last sunday was 2.3. It is quite steady for me. So I assume it was somewhere in between. I will exercise more cautiously, but also drink a lot more while exercising

 

[V__]

maybe they will dislodge with very high heart rates and high blood flow with turbulence.

This description reminds me of "Italian tune-up". Wikipedia claims it's obsolete, but some mechanics still claim revving up the engine once a couple of weeks is helpful to avoid the deposits. [And I guess drawing inferences from this analogy may not be wise.]

 

[Cosyloft]

Hi Everyone, I hope that all of the wise people here can help me with the following.

and when I say help, I mean did you experience something like this before?

- It seems that after intensive exercise (going at 150bps for 40 minutes on the cross trainer), I now get some degree of mental confusion. For example, After I shower after exercise ideas pop into my head which I then cant remember five minutes later. Or I am working (lets say 30-40 minutes after exercise) and then while I am on the computer, I get these ideas about the project I am working on, sometimes even imaging emails on the subject that I just read from other people, but then I come back a couple of minutes later to realise that this was all a figment of my imagination.

I normally dont have such issues, i.e. when I dont exercise.

I am trying to figure out what is happening. I wonder if somehow I dont get enough oxygen to my brain during exercise. But everything else seems to be working well - I.e. I dont get massively fatigued after exercise. I am trying to figure out what is happening, but even describingmy symptoms seems a bit hard.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks
Tommyboy

I had an aortic valve in 2015 and when I exercise I try to keep exercise heart rate to 110bpm to 120 and I am ok
if I go to 135bpm I get problems with irregular heartbeats tiredness much more

 

[tommyboy14]

I just wanted to let everyone know how I solved this issue for future reference. It turns out that drinking water during exercise means I dont experience this anymore to such a degree. I think that I was just getting dehydrated.

In all honesty, I never worked out like today. Sometimes I sweat so much it feels like I took a shower. So I think dehydration is a good candidate to explain what was happening. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the right ones...

 

[pellicle]

In all honesty, I never worked out like today. Sometimes I sweat so much it feels like I took a shower

Might want to look at potassium citrate in your water too

Personally I salt my water to a level where it tastes present but not too distasteful (such as one may consider adding sweeteners or flavors to mask that)

PS



Now I've seen other videos, but his point of "if Andrew Huberman is recommending it AND It's cheap then I'm taking it" seems legit

This guy doesn't always side with Joe or Andrew


(spoiler alert yes)



HTH