As a healthy guy who had never previously spent the night in the hospital other than to attend the birth of my son, I was pretty darn surprised to wake up last Monday in the Intensive Care Unit after a long, hot Saturday of Ultimate. Apparently I had gone into a seizure shortly after coming home and had been on life support for the following 48 hours. My nephrologist diagnosed my condition as Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia, otherwise described as a severe case of overhydration in which other factors were also at play. The condition is somewhat rare, but can most often be seen in super-endurance athletes and military recruits. It can also be fatal.

Basically, I had prepared for the ridiculous 105 degree heat index of the first day of the Cornhusker State Games as I knew I should, with plenty of water and sports drink. I drank a ton. Over the course of four long games, I drank four 32 oz bottles of sports drink and probably an equal amount of water. Turns out that was a bit too much, and the ibuprofen I took after the second game didn't help things. I actually felt great while we played, but after finishing, my body wouldn't calm down. Once at home, I could not stop breathing heavy, I became light-headed, and my muscles began cramping. Mistaking my symptoms as heat exhaustion and/or dehydration, I drank more water. Then I vomited uncontrollably, seized, and passed out.

The doctors later told me that the amount of water I drank (despite the amount of sports drink), in combination with the sweating and the very little amount of food I had that day, caused my sodium levels to drop. The ibuprofen had apparently prevented what electrolytes I had from being properly absorbed and processed into my body as well. I spent the next week confined to a hospital bed being flushed by multiple IVs to make sure my kidneys were functioning and my muscle enzymes, which were continuing to destroy my muscle fibers all week, were going down to an acceptable level. That sucked, man.

Now, many of us Ultimate players have been aware of recent articles such as this which state that ibuprofen does not necessarily help as a preventative measure, but this situation takes it a step further. I know this is a very common practice in the Ultimate community. Further, while it is obviously important on long sweaty days such as an Ultimate tournament to stay hydrated, take care to replace what you are losing, with an adequate level of electrolytes, without going to excess on the water. Not everyone's body will react the same way, and I certainly wasn't in my finest condition prior to that hot day, but I've also always paid attention to my body and tried to stay educated on health issues. This was new to me, and quite frightening. My wife appreciated it none too much, either. Be careful out there, everyone.

More info on Hyponatremia here and here.

-Baer