6 replies to this topic

[mrwhyte]

Does anyone have any information or know of anyone who specialises in Rhabdomyolysis?

I attempted the Melbourne Marathon in 2008 and ended up spending 5 days in hospital because my quad muscles broke down, entered my blood stream and clogged my kidneys (Rhabdomyolysis). Although it was not complete renal failure it still knocked me around (not an experience I want to go through again). Ran onto the MCG to complete the last 300m of the marathon and woke up 15 mins later in the first aid station with no recollection of how I got there (think of the gatorade add with the ironman competitors legs turning to jelly with the finish in sight).

I have been running fun run distances since then (currently completing the Salomon trail running series in Vic) but would like to have another go at a marathon.

I am seeking some advice to determine if the Rhabdo is likely to reoccur.

2008 training
- First fun run - run for the kids in April 08 (approx 25km /wk)
- Melbourne HM - June 08 (approx 30km/wk)
- Melbourne Marathon - Oct 08 (approx 60km/wk following a specific training program)

Abnormally high health levels 5 hours after the marathon
CK 7502 (45-250 healthy range)
Creat 190 (40-130)
Urea 12.6 (3 -
Alt 358 (5-40)
Ast 445 (5-40)

Fortunately these levels returned to the healthy range after a month and my kidneys are back to normal.

Causes
- dehydration (first hot day of the year and was not aware of how to effectively hydrate)
- insufficent training (was always sore after long runs for a day or two, didn't have the km's in my legs to attempt a marathon. Missed the longest training week due to injury)
- Partying (was still going out binge drinking most weekends)
- not listening to my body (hit the wall at 25km and kept pushing, thought I could push through it)

I have done some reading up on this topic and it seems to be more prevelant in ultra runners.

Any advice/comments would be appreciated

mrwhyte

Edited by mrwhyte, 23 August 2011 - 08:39 AM.

[Emrun]

mrwhyte, on 23 August 2011 - 08:38 AM, said:

I am seeking some advice to determine if the Rhabdo is likely to reoccur.

What does your doctor say?

[adr1an]

Have you been training specifically for the marathon?

My understanding is that it tends to occur in individuals who are out of condition and push themselves far too hard.

Allow your body to adapt and I wouldn't think it would happen again, but - I'm not a Dr.

Talk to your GP as mentioned above.

[Colin]

adr1an, on 23 August 2011 - 02:45 PM, said:

Talk to your GP as mentioned above.

With respect to GP's here, look up some specialists in this field- check their research papers etc to narrow down- go to your GP explain what happenned and ask him to refer you to that specialist. You may already know one from your hospital stay, but better to get another opinion.
Your GP is unlikely to give more than 'educated guesses' which may even give you a bum steer- as was my recent experience.

My blood figures were equally bad, still abnormal, plus ESR, CRP, Hb, Na etc all abnormal after I got pyomyositis randomly - at least yours is due to a certain activity- and GPs didn't know, I persisted and in fact told GP to refer me for IV antibiotics etc.

Read up as much as you can about case studies and try to get underlying reasons. At least you can narrow it down to undertrained, hot day i.e. muscles overheated plus low glycogen etc and you pushed through it. You needed some combination of factors at same time i.e. possible infection, viral (? ), not hydrated enough etc etc. Unlikely to have all circumstances come together again, but see a specialist.

Main thing is to do some extra training next time.

[Learjet]

mrwhyte, on 23 August 2011 - 08:38 AM, said:

- Partying (was still going out binge drinking most weekends)

I hate to point out the obvious but... binge drinking and marathons don't mix very well. Excessive alcohol alone can elevate LFT's.

Edited by Learjet, 30 August 2011 - 01:47 AM.

[TriRunner]

Learjet, on 30 August 2011 - 01:31 AM, said:

I hate to point out the obvious but... binge drinking and marathons don't mix very well. Excessive alcohol alone can elevate LFT's.

I'd be interested in any findings.

I consider myself to be superfit without banging the drum. Top 20 at The North Face 100k, 6th  at Cradle Mountain Ultra this year and regularly riding 1000k a month and running 250k etc. I had to pull out of the Oxfam Trailwalker on Friday at 20k after contracting cramps at about the 3k mark. I had rhabdomyolysis at 15k (peeing rusty sludge) and a CK level of 90000. I also have a suspected blood clot. I did not drink any alcohol in the week leading up. My current theory is overcompression (tight calf guards, constricted space in the car and a box on my lap), compounded by 4 x anti inflammatories on the day (a mobic 2 days out) and vigorous massage to get rid of the cramps. The anti inflammatories and the massage were both big mistakes.

I am currently having tests to try and get to the root of the problem.

[UnfitnessFanatic]

A friend of mine suffered from this due to medication she has to take.  Her CK levels were through the roof.  We did a liver cleanse diet with her for 8 weeks.  After 4 weeks her CK levels were back under control and in the normal range.  

She did not change the medication type or dosage at all over the period of time that we did the detox.

For those interested the program can be found here. http://www.liverdoctor.com/
Her book is very good and makes following the program very easy.