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An embarrasing confession. I am not healthy enough to drive a Porsche
After some consideration I've decided to post about this subject in hopes that it might help others. It's really kind of foolish and embarrassing to some degree.
(time saving summary - it appears that my g-LOC is caused by blood pressure meds. I am working to get off of them over the next few months)
# 1 - I am easily identifiable, the car and the fact that I wrote a lengthy piece about bringing my Mexico Blue TTS back to Texas for the local PCA magazine "Slipstream" make it very easy for someone to know who I am.
With that said - I am trying to be a better and more helpful person than I might normally be, especially here on Rennlist. (I trolled the photographic forums for years under multiple aliases prior to getting involved in Porsches again).
So here it is. I had a perfectly fine C4S that fit my needs perfectly but shortly after buying it realized that my life long dream of a silver 911 with a full leather red interior (I wisely compromised and went with black) I found out there was a 911 that I wanted more, a Mexico Blue TTS that was on Bring a Trailer. I didn't have the money at the time to participate in the auction but with a little hard work and sacrifice in about a year, I was positioned to buy the car if it ever became available. Long story short, some very lucky timing just happened to meet with my preparation and the car was mine.
In April and back in Texas but while several factors coexisting (wife sick, son throwing up, me feeling a little out of sorts from 6 closely occurring international flights to Europe) I tried my first semi-hard acceleration while in sport mode. I don't know the exact distance or time under hard acceleration (about 90% and from a rolling 5mph) but I started to black out. I became dizzy, by vision went into a tunnel and I felt myself losing control of the car if I continued to accelerate.
This scared the **** out of me and I felt like an idiot - and weak.
I tried to find a ride as a passenger with some local racing friends prior to another international trip to test my theory that I would full pass out if I continued with the acceleration. Any car capable of under 11 should be able to generate the approaching 1G force needed to do this.
I was unable to and then hoped it was just a temporary situation. While in Europe, I did some research online and found I was not alone and that others in BMW motorcycle and GT-R forums had experienced the same for themselves or witnessed it with their passengers.
When I got back after 2 more weeks out of the country, I retested the sport mode acceleration at 90% and from a rolling start again - again the black out sensation began to happen. Recognizing it and expecting it I slowed down at the first sign. I wasn't as scared as the first time but was thoroughly pissed at myself. I finally has the car of my dreams but would never be able to fully enjoy it. Like an old billionaire that marries the young trophy wife I had let myself get too old and too out of shape to enjoy what I had earned and sacrificed for. The irony of life.
A few days later I tried a 90% rolling acceleration in normal mode - no problem at all. At about this same time, some continued research and some serendipity, I have the cause reasonably narrowed down to my overall fitness coupled with the blood sugar and blood pressure medications I am currently on and working to get off of.
So this is where I am at today.
I am doing the KETO diet, intermittent fasting (only eat between 7 AM and noon) and already seeing some weight loss and much improved numbers in my blood work. In fact, I just wrote my Dr. this AM about getting off of the blood sugar meds as my post meal measurements are all under 130 and my overnight readings are in the low 70s. Almost hypoglycemic at this point and in large part because I am eating according to the insulin index and not the glycemic index.
I am convinced that for most people and especially those that are insulin resistant that sugar is poison and that insulin is the root cause of many health issues.
I am also convinced that for the non-elite athlete* excess carbohydrates are no different than sugar when there is excess insulin at play.
(* In my teens and 20s I was an Olympic class athlete with multiple state championships and national placings.)
I am posting this information in hopes that it might help others. I was too embarrassed and too scared to discuss it until I had a handle on both its cause and remedy.
There's a chance I am wrong about some of this but I seem to be headed in the right direction and I hope that this embarrassing confession may help someone else here.
Some things that have helped me understand this issue - (please see this new post as a follow up - much better video sources)
The Amazon link becomes kind of hidden but it is to the documentary "Fed Up" - available on Prime for free right now.
Feel free to comment or PM me confidentially.
( I now understand why some congratulate others on their new Porsche acquisition by writing "Enjoy your Porsche in good health". You'll need both. )
All the best,
Jeff
July 2 Update: I didn't want to bump this thread and be seen as attention seeking but will update progress here.
Changes in June, I bought a fitness tracker and have really cracked down on the diet - now doing IF 17-19 hours a day and avoiding all processed foods. Things I rarely ate before are now mainstays, lots of seafood (salmon, wahoo, blue and yellow fin tuna, shrimp - I have a friend that deep sea fishes and trades his fish for my bread). Lots of avocados, broccoli, and salads. I am also reducing calories further and increasing activity.
A quick Google search says that when you accelerate to 60 from a standstill in a Tesla (Model S--2.39 sec to 60), you pull 1.14G. When you take off in a jet liner, as the plane leaves the ground, you pull up to 1.25G. You also experience similar loads when you land and the thrust reversers are applied.
So I'm curious, you have this issue when you fly in a plane?
Iceter - no. None. But IMHO - the Porsche seems to generate greater forces than the planes I've been on.
Groovezilla - it does. I really am fed up with the disease and the drugs. I'm not sure the ordinary Dr. wants to cure you. Nor big pharma. Nor even the insurance companies. According to the documentary they invest in the food companies that are killing us.
Jeebus31 - agreed. The point has been made - a bowl of sugar or a bowl of cornflakes - no difference.
Balr14 - agreed and one on one - I privately asked Big Swole for some advice considering his racing history, I considered it might be technique and due to the fact we have similar cars except his is faster than mine.
On the whole - this problem is a big plus. It made me finally face up to my health issues and do something about it.
What's the point of all this labor if one can't enjoy the fruits of it. The car made that point for me.
I'm pretty sure that if I had a TTS it would take me a long time to be able to withstand the acceleration. Partly because I have severe vertigo problems, partly because the opportunities would be limited and mainly because of age.
I did the paleo diet a few years ago and accidentally ate some potato salad 2 weeks into it (I didnt realize at the time potatos were the worst thing to eat in terms of glycemic index). Anyway, I broke out in a sweat and my whole body ached, so much so I had to go home from work. From that day I realized I had just become de-sensitized to what sugars/carbs had been doing to my body over the years. I would feel like crap after eating a bowl of pasta or pizza but just figured I over ate.
I no longer follow that diet religiously but I cant go back to eating high carb foods. If I do (pasta, pizza, French fries = the worst, bagels, certain beers, etc) my joints ache and I get in a really bad mood.
And as for the myth that you need a high carb diet for sports, totally agree, it's nonsense. I run marathons and I've gained far more endurance after removing carbs from my diet. From my limited understanding on how it all works ive trained my body to burn fat more efficiently on long runs. When I first started running I would eat a bunch of carbs before and hit the wall hard when those were burned up.
I really am fed up with the disease and the drugs. I'm not sure the ordinary Dr. wants to cure you. Nor big pharma. Nor even the insurance companies. According to the documentary they invest in the food companies that are killing us
Doctors would prefer their diabetic patients lose weight and exercise, get off insulin and other meds for diabetes and control cholesterol and diabetes. Most patients don't care. Most are fat and sedentary and don't have the willpower to change. For those without a real disability, exercise is free and easy. It doesn't require a gym membership or personal trainer. Just my opinion, and I won't even go into why, the keto diet sucks. Any diet with substantially decreased caloric intake works. Nothing wrong with intermittent fasting. Read the China study by Dr Campbell. Read stuff by Dr Dean Ornish. If you want off diabetes, cholesterol, and BP meds, or at least reduce them, follow a plant based diet. Or not, because it's not easy because it's a lifestyle change and pills are easier.
No reason 1G in a car under acceleration should cause near blackout. Make sure you're not accidentally forcefully holding breath and decreasing cardiac output during that 5-10 seconds of excitement.
Last edited by C4SDayton; 06-03-2019 at 08:34 PM.
Reason: Repeated words
Doctors would prefer their diabetic patients lose weight and exercise, get off insulin and other meds for diabetes and control cholesterol and diabetes. Most patients don't care. Most are fat and sedentary and don't have the willpower to change. For those without a real disability, exercise is free and easy. It doesn't require a gym membership or personal trainer. Just my opinion, and I won't even go into why, the keto diet sucks. Any diet with substantially decreased caloric intake works. Nothing wrong with intermittent fasting. Read the China study by Dr Campbell. Read stuff by Dr Dean Ornish. If you want off diabetes, cholesterol, and BP meds, or at least reduce them, follow a plant based diet. Or not, because it's not easy because it's a lifestyle change and pills are easier.
No reason 1G in a car under acceleration should cause near blackout. Make sure you're not accidentally forcefully holding breath and decreasing cardiac output during that 5-10 seconds of excitement and suddenly decreasing cardiac output.
I would consult your doctor (preferably a cardiologist). It sounds to me something like orthostatic hypotension, akin to what you might experience in a tilt table test. Whatever the case, something is likely tanking your BP, which in turn reduces oxygen to your brain and cause the blackouts. I would see an electrophysiologist (EP) for a full cardiac workup. If it's arrhythmia related and you're near Austin, I recommend Dr. John Burkhardt at TCA Heart. Best of luck to you.
C4SDayton - I've tried for almost a decade the old calories in calories out equation and it doesn't work when you have messed up chemistry. I have no problems in motivation to exercise 5-8 hours a day. I've done it before and could do it again. But every attempt I made this time I ended up needing days to recover from a mild 30 mile bike ride. I could feel and told my Dr that something was wrong at the cellular level. Right now for me Keto is working. I am off of blood sugar medicine 100% with my Drs. approval as of today. My last 24 hr. blood sugar readings were 80 - 70 - 81 and 85. The 81 is 90 minutes after lunch and with no meds taken in the last 24 hours. That's a huge amount of progress in 3 weeks. I do agree that a largely plant based diet (I was a vegetarian for over a decade) is the right long term diet once I get the chemistry straight. Watch the Peter Attia TED video posted above - when I was young and athletic (and still to some degree today) I had seething contempt for fat people. I now understand that for many of them they are getting bad advice, have bad habits and are constantly challenged by the system. This is very apparent in the 'Fed Up' documentary - at one point the mother is showing her food purchases and explaining how they try to eat healthy and she's holding up low fat crackers, another time a family is shopping 'healthy' and the cart is all full of processed food from the middle aisles of the store.
RRX - thank you for your thoughtful input. I have had several diagnostic procedures in the last 12 months including a stress test and nothing to note other than a small amount of calcium. No issues with moving or standing quickly and I use an inversion table for my back at times and have no problem using that for 20-30 minutes at a time. (similar to part of the tilt table protocol) I also keep a portable EKG and use it when I suspect something (feel out of sorts) but nothing alarming ever comes up other than low or high rate and an occasional missed beat. (little handheld EKG device on Amazon - amazing really)
It could be technique - I might be doing something stupid like holding my breath, tensing up, or having my head in the wrong position (off of the seat rest) when I begin an acceleration. Once I am off the blood pressure meds and down 25lbs, I will try again. Kind of a reward.
Update, June 7 : I reviewed my heart data from about 6 months ago - relatively good considering I am no swimsuit model.
a. concentric left ventricular hypertrophy. Trace aortic valve regurgitation. Aortic root is dilated measuring 4 cm. Proximal ascending aorta is dilated measuring 3.7 cm.
Drs. notes - "The heart ultrasound shows normal heart pump function with thickening of the heart muscle which is due to high blood pressure. The aorta which is the major artery that comes out of the heart is dilated or enlarged. This is because of high blood pressure. Otherwise I did not see any major valvular problems."
b. Normal myocardial perfusion imaging stress test without reversible ischemia or prior infarct. The heart size is normal with normal wall motion and thickening. Calculated LVEF is 55%. No TID.
Drs. notes - "The stress test results look normal. This is great."
Getting off the BP meds and having normal readings is the next goal.
Last edited by MexicoBlueTurboS; 06-05-2019 at 10:54 AM.
06-03-2019, 12:41 PM
An embarrasing confession. I am not healthy enough to drive a Porsche
