What Causes Blackouts During Workouts?

Posted on Mon, 26 May 2014

Question: Hi I have had pretty controlled epilepsy for most of my life 37 years, over the years I have had some pretty big seizure but with health and exercise it can mostly be controlled. Lately when I go to the gym which is very early in the morning 3.00am and I am on the treadmill i have blackouts. This has always happened but not usually till I really start pushing myself. now it seems to be happening every minute while im on whatever cardio machine im on. I blackout for maybe 2-3sec and I havent hurt myself but its really starting to affect me as I realise im lucky to be getting away without hurting myself, its also frustrating that my fitness levels stay the same because at the moment i can only push myself a small bit. I have read up on low sugar levels and this could be the answer as I dont really consume any sugar but what else could I take early in the morning before I work out to stop this. I take 1000mg epilim and 200mg of dilantin. I also read about dilantin doing this as well. Thank you

Answered by Dr. Sudhir Kumar (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
My reply is below.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thank you for posting your query.

I agree that these episodes could be related to low sugar. So, it is important to have some fruits/milk/oats prior to starting the exercise/treadmill.

Also, we need to exclude any drug toxicity. The blood levels of epilim (sodium valproate) and dilantin (phenytoin) can be checked in the blood. If the level is high, the dose may have to be reduced.

I hope you have undergone a cardiac evaluation including EKG, and it has been normal.

I hope my reply has helped you.

I would be pleased to answer, if you have any follow up queries or if you require any further information.

Best wishes,
Dr Sudhir Kumar MD (Internal Medicine), DM (Neurology) XXXXXXX Consultant Neurologist
Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad,
For DIRECT QUERY to me: http://bit.ly/Dr-Sudhir-kumar
My blog: http://bestneurodoctor.blogspot.com/

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar