Warning as gym mistake triggers brain bleed in ‘ultra-fit’ 40-year-old

A super-fit personal trainer has claimed medics blamed her sudden brain bleed on ‘years of overdoing it at the gym’.

Linzi Todd, from Northampton, suddenly developed tinnitus — a ringing or buzzing in the ears — and throbbing headaches while teaching at a fitness boot camp in March. 

But the 40-year-old mother of one dismissed the symptoms as merely feeling ‘overtired’.

It was only after the pounding headaches persisted — leaving her bed-bound — that days later she visited A&E, where she was referred for an MRI scan and claimed doctors advised her to increase her caffeine and water intake.

Scan results, however, showed she was suffering a bleed on the brain and a 17mm blood clot.

Ms Todd said she was called by medics who urged her to come to hospital as soon as possible.

Here, further tests showed the brain blood clot was triggered by fluid leaking from her spine — which doctors suspected was caused by years of intense exercise — and she underwent three weeks of treatment.

Now Ms Todd, who is no longer a personal trainer and works for a mental health company, is urging others to not take no for an answer from their doctors or give up if they think something isn’t right. 

Recalling her terrifying ordeal, she said: ‘I was doing a training camp to teach outdoor bootcamp fitness and went to bed that evening and developed tinnitus, which I’d never had in my life.

‘I woke up the next morning with a really banging headache. I popped a couple of pills, felt unwell but cracked on.

‘I rang the doctors and they put it down to labyrinthitis [an ear infection] because I felt dizzy as well.

‘I just thought maybe my body was tired. I’m not the type of person that gets sick. I’ve always been really fit and healthy.

‘But the headaches persisted. I would wake up with intense throbbing in my head as soon as I got up every morning. 

‘It felt like the worst brain freeze and only lying down and painkillers would give me some relief.’

After attending A&E and undergoing an MRI, she said she received an urgent phone call from the neurologist who urged her to attend hospital immediately. 

‘He said he could see an acute subdural hematoma on your brain, which is very serious and a very large blood clot,’ Ms Todd said. 

‘He said we don’t often see bleeds of this size in women of your age without any head trauma and it was a medical emergency.

‘I was Googling what this condition was and it said there was a 25 per cent survival rate. I thought, “am I going to die? Do I need to plan my funeral?”

‘It was so traumatic. I had to say goodbye to my husband and daughter. I didn’t know if I was going to see them again or not.

‘Doctors were baffled by how I was presenting based on my scans and what they found. I was at high risk of a stroke and seizure, yet I was passing all of their cognitive and reflex tests.

‘It’s normally found in boxers, rugby players, horse-riders — someone that has had trauma to the head.

I was walking around with that in my brain and it could’ve killed me.’

Tests showed the bleed on the brain was caused by fluid leaking from her spine —which doctors explained can happen to fit and active people who ‘overdo it’.

They believe over-exercising may have torn her dura.

The dura is the outermost layer of membranes, which acts as a barrier between the brain and spinal cord.

In rare and severe cases, the leak causes a drop in spinal fluid pressure, tearing the veins. This allows the blood to then form clots.  

She is due to undergo an epidural blood patch, a procedure used to stop further leakage of fluid surrounding the spinal cord. 

She said: ‘I don’t want anyone to be put off exercise because it’s a very rare thing to happen but it’s the only logical reasoning for why this happened.

‘I never thought a bad bout of headaches would result in this and nearly three weeks in hospital.

‘I had to push every single step of the way. It would’ve had a different ending if I hadn’t pushed as much as I did with doctors. I absolutely would’ve died.

‘I just knew there was something wrong. I always tell others to listen to their own body and gut. Push to get seen and get answers. 

‘You’d rather get a normal result than leave it and it be too late.’

Previous studies have suggested excessive exercise may trigger brain bleeds, leading to potentially fatal strokes or brain haemorrhages.  

In 2019, Joanne Leach, 46, from Anglesey, Wales, also died from a brain haemorrhage while working out on an exercise bike.

Despite her husband Justin Beilensohn, 47, performing CPR for 20 minutes and managing to revive her as paramedics arrived, she later died in hospital.