Ever had this feeling??

[Bob]

This is going to sound strange, but when I burp while running my heart rate drops quickly and this is followed by a brief period of feeling flushed or drained of energy.  After about 10-20 sec I can feel my energy return to normal, but I found it takes longer to return to normal when I'm more tired or dehydrated (i.e. later in a long run, etc.).  It can get annoying and is the main reason why I try to run on an empty stomach in order to avoid the burping.  Told you this was strange.  The energy drain is probably due to the heart rate drop, but why would it drop in the first place?  I've also started to experience more light headedness when I stand up.  I think this is caused by my blood pressure going lower ever since I started to run more volume.  Anyone else experience this stuff on a regular basis?

[Bonnie]

Bob, I am a little concerned about the burping part.  What you are experiencing could be caused by acid reflux - if it is, then when you burp you are actually getting some acid into your esophagus.  Your body could be responding to this by some sort of cytokine (anti-inflammatory) response -- which could influence your heart-rate.  You should go see a GI doc just to get this checked out - this is a fairly common thing among runners, btw, and there are some easy fixes (one of which is to use a drug that reduces this occurrence just before you run).   

I have pretty severe low blood pressure too, mine is generally due to chronic hypoglycemia, maybe your not eating as much might be causing yours too?  Again, I would suggest you see a doctor, as neither of these symptoms are easily diagnosed online and without a thorough history.  The low blood pressure is pretty serious, especially when running, and you really need to keep an eye on this.  You don't want to pass out because of it (trust me) - it takes a lot out of you if gets that bad.

[Sasha Pachev]

This does not sound normal, but unfortunately I do feel rather skeptical about an average medical doctor being able to diagnose it. Conditions that are mild often have no symptoms unless you run, and those symptoms often will not come out in a 15 minute treadmill test. With the health care costs going through the roof, I do not imagine that you'd be able to run on a treadmill for an hour a day for a couple of weeks with diagnostic equipment around, and somebody sitting there ready to draw your blood when needed. However, it would certainly be nice if we had a paradigm shift in our medical profession. In my dream world, if a man younger than 45 comes to a doctor and says he's been running 60 miles a week for two years and still cannot crack 3:10 in the marathon, the doctor would treat this as a pathology, and not just because he thinks the guy is crazy :-)

My reasoning is that if the lack of what is currently considered top physical fitness is a pathology, that would hold off what is currently accepted as pathology a whole lot better. You defend your goal in the midfield, not when the ball is already in the penalty area.

[Bonnie]

If it is "acid reflux" it can be diagnosed easily, as the scar tissue is easily seen (and is not evaluated using a treadmill test).  Same with the low blood pressure, these are both ailments (if they in fact ailments) that can be diagnosed by a preventive medicine doctor - and are not directly related to running (though may manifest themselves BECAUSE we are runners who are hypersensitive to our bodies).   

If these symptoms were ONLY reproducible while running, then maybe they would be difficult to diagnose, but in my opinion they are both things that are easily brought up through preventive medical care -- which is most definitely the type of care that should be used (rather than waiting until you have a serious illness or things progress to the point where there is no alternative other than expensive treatment).

[Bonnie]

By the way, I agree with Sasha regarding the paradigm shift ... I have to fight to have doctors look for traditionally running related ailments (e.g., low ferritin, thyroid, etc).  For an alternative approach, try homeopaths, they know about the difference between "test results that are pathologic" and "test results that are pathologic for an ATHLETE versus the general population" -- these are two different sets of results.  Borderline deficiencies in potassium or sodium can have a tremendous affect on athletic performance, and yet if they are not "outside of normal limits" to some physicians they would not even mention them (that is why I ask for a copy of all lab and test results - I keep a running log of them going over years, when I am healthy, when I am not healthy, when I am running well, when I am not running well)

[Bob]

Thanks for the replies and info.  The burping only becomes an issue when my heart rate is elevated.  It's like the burp slows my HR down, which then leads to the energy drain or flush feeling until my HR climbs back up.  There is no pain involved, just the strange flush feeling.  As a test, I ran with a HR monitor once and my HR dropped from the 120s to the 90s after a burp.  Fortunately, they're not really frequent unless I had food to eat beforehand.  However, if one shows up at the end of a long run or during a tempo run then I have to fight the urge to stop a walk until the feeling is gone.  Just that one little blip in blood circulation is causing the system to go idle until the engine RPMs return.  No burp, then no problem.