Weird Event

So a couple years ago I was antelope hunting and found myself out in the hot sun with a dead antelope several miles from a road and one bottle of water between my dad and I. I placed the entire antelope in my pack, then proceeded to pack out. After a mile or two I noticed I wasn't sweating anymore that was shortly followed by slight cramping and the immediate feeling to vomit. I was able to get the pack off, rest for a bit and then continue on. But in a mile this same event occurred, then a half mile followed by a quarter mile. I finally made it to some shade and my dad went ahead to bring water back, everyone I spoke to said it sounded like heat stroke.

Fast forward to last year where I shot a decent mile deer buck a couple miles from the truck. Got it quartered up, my cousin took the smaller half and I took the larger portion with the head. As I proceeded ahead in the 70'ish degree air I noticed the same feelings as before and was able to sit down to take it easy while my cousin brought the truck closer and we packed the meat a shorter distance. This time though I was sure to drink more water and take some electrolytes thinking that was what I didn't do before but it didn't seem to help.

Now to this year I shot a bull in the backcountry by myself, the days leading up to the season I had drank a fair amount of water, taken some supplements and took it easy the day before I got the bull. As I was working on it in the 70'ish degree weather I noticed the first sign (no sweat on my arms) so I drank more of my precious water and rested for a bit. Continuing to process the bull the second sign followed shortly after with a hand cramp now I drank some more water and decided to stash my meat but when stashing it I immediately began to feel like I was going to vomit, being five miles from camp some panic began to set in. I dumped everything from my pack and took the slow walk back to where help could get to me.

Each time this has happened it follows a kill but that seems to be the only denominator. After the feeling of nausea I am sapped of my energy to the point where just carrying my own body becomes a difficult task, the following couple days I feel as though I am hungover but even the next day I am able to proceed to hiking again. Just curious if anyone has suffered something similar, or knows what could be going on. I have a doctors appointment scheduled but would like to see if anyone has some real world experience.

It definitely sounds like dehydration or heat stoke, you dont mention your age or general health but those are symptoms I get frequently with diabetes. Low blood suger after an adrenaline rush is a pretty common symptom. It is easily corrected with the correct snacks but, you are doing the right thing getting looked at as those things can kill you.

Have any worsening of eye sight or constant need to urinate recently? that is typically how it presents. Keep us posted and wishing you a good outcome.

Glad you're getting into your doctor. If you're hydrated there must be something off. Take it easy for now.

So, just to be clear, you're not feeling queasy from killing are you?

I've seen it present itself like shock before. A vassalvagal response.

I work excavation for living and seen this a few times, both are sound recommendations but I'd lean towards heat stroke. Once you get it, it gets eaiser and easier to get.

What elevation are you used to and at?
Tom

Sounds like dehydration, I know you say you were improving hydration as these successive events occurred but was it enough?

You did not mention if you ever urinated during these events. Hydration is a relative thing. Did you ever urinate during these events and what color was it? The best test of your hydration is are you urinating and is it pale/very light yellow (near clear is even better). If you are not or only small amounts and it is bright/golden in color you are dehydrated.

I have found experienced dehydration twice and its bad news. One time the symptoms were severe (like double over invalided) stomach cramps and the other was headache, loss of motor skills, loss of clarity of thought almost like being under the influence of alcohol.

For me this begs several questions. The biggest is why not carry more water?

No expert here…sounds like dehydration…(weakness, nausea, cramping).
Once I get behind the hydration curve…it takes several hours to catch up. Electrolytes can help markedly with the cramping and mental state but my physical weakness remains until a meal and a sleep reset happen…I avoid getting behind the curve…coffee is a diuretic and will cause lots of urinating especially in the morning hours and leaves me electrolyte deficient and in need of fluids…hunting breaks up the usual daily routine of food and water and as you age you really aren't as tough as you were.

I have 30 years experience as an endurance athlete (running ,nordic skiing ,marathon canoeing).
Early on I got involved with Hammer Nutrition and used their products.
Heed,& Hammer Jel,I found that with a jel every half hour with water I could maintain a hard pace for 5 hors or more!
Now while hunting I pack a few jels with my lunch and if I expect a hard day I will mix Heed in my water.
Heed is an electrolyte !
There are several companies that make these type products!

Southpaw Tikka said:

I work excavation for living and seen this a few times, both are sound recommendations but I'd lean towards heat stroke. Once you get it, it gets eaiser and easier to get.

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Yep, once you have had it you are more susceptible to getting it again.

Surveyor in East Texas. The first time it happened, it was a heat stroke (heat exhaustion more accurately) due to dehydration and exertion. After that first time, the dehydration isn't necessary to trigger the event, only the exertion. A couple guys that work with me have this "condition".

I don't stop sweating but I get dizzy sometimes and seem to lose some cognitive capacity. I'm almost 60 and live in central mt in the mountains. I must carry snacks and enough water to float a boat , diabities possibly?

With heat stroke or hyperthermia ( hypothermia as well)once you get one of these it supposedly causes some chemical changes in your brain that affect you randomly. This is what I was told when I had hypothermia back in the late 80's doing cold weather training. Also I would have a cardiac work up to be safe.