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Does age increase propensity to grey outs?

H

harutaper87

Roller Poster
Just got back from Magic Mountain; a park which I've been visiting since I was 8 years old (I'm 33 now), and have observed something peculiar as the years have gone by. The tolerance I used to posses for high G-forces on roller coasters is slowly dwindling. The bottom of initial drops used to never bother me when I was younger, and although I could feel the G's, they would never cause grey outs. I greyed out at the bottom of the drops for Viper, Scream, and Batman the Ride today; rides I never had problems with in my late teens and early twenties, and rides which aren't particularly know for their intensity. Greying out isn't necessarily the primary concern of mine, but the inability to comprehend your surroundings and the individual ride elements during a grey out takes a little bit of joy away from the ride experience. With Batman today; I honestly can't remember the first 5 seconds of the ride following the initial drop, and I always loved that first vertical loop (sucks not being able to remember it). One of the greatest joys I get with riding coasters is comprehending the inversions and recognizing what's happening, which in and of itself adds a level of thrill. When you have no idea what's going on for a good portion of the ride, it feels like you've been cheated in some way, and I don't know whether I'm ever going to be able to experience these rides the same way I used to when I was younger.

Has anyone else noticed a lower G-force tolerance as they've progressed in age? I know there are multiple variables that contribute towards grey outs (hydration, nutrition, fitness, etc.), but wanted to ask the community if this is something anyone else has noticed with age in particular. (FYI; coming from a quasi-GP so preemptive apologies for my pedestrian sentiments).
 
It's natural that your body will deteriorate with age, some quicker than others. Horrible thought. However, it'll be so gradual you probably won't notice until you attempt to do something one day and realise that it's not as easy as previous times. It was in my early 30's that I first noticed a bit of greying out riding some forceful coasters. At first I put this down to what I ate that day, how dehydrated, different levels of fitness I was etc etc. But it kept happening. What changed is beyond me, but I accepted it and stopped, or cut back, riding certain types of rides that I knew would make me feel uncomfortable. I'll kep on riding stuff if I want to, but I can quite happily turn something down.

Treat a theme park like a buffet - eat some of the rides but avoid those that will give you the runs. Although that big coaster there looks tasty and it's bound to give you a bad stomach, have a nibble anyway because it's worth the risk.
 
I used to always grey out on Nemesis as a teen, but now I never do. Weird because I was young with a good diet, now I'm an overweight beer-monster.

Either way it's not a pleasant feeling when it happens, no idea how some people seem to enjoy it.
 
Again, it all depends on how "up for it" you feel on the day.
And just to make some feel a little better, my nemesis limit on single rider used to be three rides.
I'm now 57, and the only change is no single rider queue.
Still do a three limit, but only because of all those bloody steps!
No greyout change at all over the years.
 
Tell me, what is this mysterious greying-out of which you speak? I'm 45, a fossil compared to some of you lot (*edit; but still a babe in arms compared to others^ ;) ) and I've never had it.
Some high g force rides might make my feet tingle every now and then - Batman clones, Olympia, i305 etc - but I've no idea what this greying out business is all about. Kinda feel like I'm missing out. :(
 
I may be too young to comment on aging, but I've always had a bit low blood pressure and sometimes just standing up too quickly can make me grey out, especially in the morning. Rides that accelerate a lot tend to cause that to me sometimes, I suppose it's harmless but a bit annoying. Maybe your blood pressure has changed from what it used to be?
 
Generally speaking, as people age, their average blood pressure increases. Greying out is when there's a low level of oxygen for the brain.

On a coaster it is caused by high g forces (or a rapid increase in g forces) being put on the body, causing lower blood pressure around the head, which reduces the amount of oxygen going to the brain.

So I guess it's possible that as you get older and your blood pressure increases, you become more susceptible to experiencing the effects of the those spikes in low blood pressure. This would be particularly true of you have high blood pressure which is untreated, which is why you see it as a warning on most rides.

NB: I could be talking a load of BS here, but just how I've interpreted it.
 
I'm not sure whether age is entirely responsible, but it could well be a factor. My mum often comes off Nemesis feeling giddy these days as though it's a bit much for her, whereas she never used to.

I think grey outs can be caused by a number of factors; dehydration, tiredness, hunger, how quickly the ride is running etc. For example, when I was at Blackpool Pleasure Beach on Saturday, I started to grey out on the Big One's first drop a little on our first ride of the day. However, when we rode it for a second time later on, when the ride would perhaps have warmed up a little, this didn't happen.
 
I've never had any "greying out" on coasters either and I reckon one of the factors is a particular person's tolerances of the forces but I don't know whether age is one of those too.
 
Never had a grey out whatsoever. Closest I’ve come is what I like to call “jelly legs” when stepping off a positive G heavy coaster, and the only one to do this to me so far is Nemesis, and I get it often on Nemesis. (I was expecting Mamba to give me the good stuff, but it just didn’t come close, hence I don’t rate it as highly.)

As I get older though, 35 BTW, I have noticed I need to drink more water in parks, or coasters can give me a very mild headache, especially vibratey ones like Gerstlauers. But drinking more seems to keep that in check.
 
Nicky Borrill said:
Never had a grey out whatsoever. Closest I’ve come is what I like to call “jelly legs” when stepping off a positive G heavy coaster, and the only one to do this to me so far is Nemesis, and I get it often on Nemesis. (I was expecting Mamba to give me the good stuff, but it just didn’t come close, hence I don’t rate it as highly.)

As I get older though, 35 BTW, I have noticed I need to drink more water in parks, or coasters can give me a very mild headache, especially vibratey ones like Gerstlauers. But drinking more seems to keep that in check.
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Doesn't need to be water sir.
Beer is equally effective in such situations.
Many decades of scientific research has been undertaken.
 
hendrixmarshall said:
I'm thinking I305 is the King of Giga "drops" and gravity grey...and Nemesis is Peter Dinklage at his tallest.
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It’s not just the ‘positives’ that do it on Nemesis (although there’s plenty) it’s the rapid transition between high positive and 0/negative... I have a very high tolerance to sustained positives such as found on i305, so doubt it would touch the sides so to speak ?

Edited to add: You don’t need height for intense positives, you need elements that are too compact for whatever the speed you’re travelling. ;)
 
Indeed.
Half a dozen rides on t'Ultimate with Dippy Dave at Lightwater, and no amount of beer could have cleared my head.
 
I have an issue with beer (that sounds worse than intended) in that I can’t drink one or two for the same reason. If I stop at one or two I get a thumping headache. So the only answer is to drink more, until tipsy / drunk. This is why I don’t very often drink at all.

This is genuine too, not just an excuse, I honestly can’t drink 1 or 2 without my head throbbing.
 
A supply of paracetamol would be the trick.
I’m 38 and I can’t marathon rides like I used to before I start feel the effects of positive Gs. Beer is always good during and even after a coaster session ?
 
Howie said:
Tell me, what is this mysterious greying-out of which you speak? I'm 45, a fossil compared to some of you lot (*edit; but still a babe in arms compared to others^ ;) ) and I've never had it.
Some high g force rides might make my feet tingle every now and then - Batman clones, Olympia, i305 etc - but I've no idea what this greying out business is all about. Kinda feel like I'm missing out. :(
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Because you are rock and roll, Howie.



Nicky Borrill said:
I have an issue with beer (that sounds worse than intended) in that I can’t drink one or two for the same reason. If I stop at one or two I get a thumping headache. So the only answer is to drink more, until tipsy / drunk. This is why I don’t very often drink at all.

This is genuine too, not just an excuse, I honestly can’t drink 1 or 2 without my head throbbing.
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Had exactly the same problem, marched myself into the doctor's after a failed attempt at drinking in the occasion at my 25th birthday. Turns out he diagnosed me with (then chronic) migraines. No more beer for me. Though tequila is fine?!
 
I'm fairly young for CF (under 20) and I started to grey out on Shaman at Gardaland on the 2nd loop. I was kind of suprised that this began to happen
 
As always it depends person to person, but I think it's logical that with age, in aggregate, there is more propensity to it.
Funny you say SFMM....6 years ago I really didn't much of the Goliath helix. I was 25. Now at 31 I started to feel the twinges of grey out.

And in general, while I still go hard, I don't have quite the same stamina for rides that I used to. Nothing major but yeah I can see the seeds of it.
They do take a toll, so it seems reasonable that with age the body can't take quite as much/would be more prone to grey out
 
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