Working out sent me to the emergency room

nspire

nspire

Cathlete
I had the most scariest thing happen to me yesterday. Yesterday morning I did Leg/Glutes and P90x kickbox video. I felt a little short of breath but thought nothing of it because I've been having these episodes for a few years now and it just seems to go away. I'd gone to the doctor a few times thinking maybe I wasn't getting enough oxygen or something in my lungs, so they just gave me an inhaler.

Anyway, last night after leaving the movies, I had a real hard time catching my breath, my limbs began to go numb and weak and I felt like I was on the verge of passing out. I swear, I thought last night was my last night on this earth, I had never been so scared in all my life.

Well my BF rushed me to the emergency room and after 3 hours of wait time, EKG, chest x-rays and blood work, the Dr asked me if I work out strenously. OMG! was he serious. He said there was a breakdown in my red blood cells in which my blood flow in my chest area was being restricted, however, my EKG and chest x-rays came out normal.

WTH! He told me I was over training and I needed to cool it. I couldn't believe my ears. He said I was suffering from Rhabdomyolysis(whatever that is). The funny thing about is I've been to the doctor several times in the past, had normal physicals and all I got was an inhaler.

Can anyone give me any insight on what I can do to prevent this?
 
Hope you are feeling better and getting some much needed rest, I would contact your primary phyiscian for more details and go to Web MD. Thank GOD, your BF was there and he acted wisely.
My last episode from working out was a sprained foot from the Challenge from Step Blast two years ago which I ended up in urgent care.

Keep us posted on your condition.
 
Overtraining!!

I just wanted to respond quickly to say that what you are experiencing could be dangerous and you may need to reevaluate your exercise regime.

Rhabdomyolysis is the breakdown of muscle fibers resulting in the release of muscle fiber contents in the bloodstream. I've heard of this happening to marathon runners (blood tests done immediately following a marathon looking almost like the athlete had suffered a heart attack! - this is not as uncommon with these athletes as one may think!) This condition can also be the result of heat stroke and complications from alcoholism among other things (not that you have these conditions). But to me, it sounds like you may not be listening to your body during exercise and this may be very dangerous. I know we all want to increase strength/cardio capacity, but we also need to pay attention to important signals that our body sends us. Shortness of breath (different than 'being out of breath) is a sign that you need to stop or at the very least slow down.

If I were you, I'd immediately schedule an appt with my regular doctor and see how to proceed from here. In the meantime, I would take a break from working out until further notice. I think your body may need some time to recover here.

And don't panic, this could have been a lot worse. You'll get back to working out again, just make sure you take care of your health first! :)
 
Thanks you guys for your response and I feel a little better. As far as workouts are concerned, I've been doing the Cathe Sept rotation, with a little P90X thrown in, but I've been working out for years and this is the first time this has happened. I have been doing more cardio, but I haven't had any pain.

I had gone to urgent care a few weeks ago after work because I was experiencing tingling in my arm from what I believe was a strain in the back of my shoulder blade. However, the EKG and blood work came out fine then also. It's really wierd. Like I said before I've been experiencing episodes where I feel like I can't take a deep breath, it's so hard to describe. I thought it was my lungs or something.

I scheduled an appointment with my primary doctor for the 6th of Oct. I'll keep you posted.
 
Sometimes the first diagnosis, especially in an Emergency room, is not the right diagnosis. Regardless, clearly SOMETHING is very wrong, and until you are sure what it is, it makes sense to not do any strenuous activity. Hard, I know, but absolutely necessary. Definitely follow up with your GP and get lots of tests done, see whatever specialists you need to see. Remember, you may have been working out for years, but your body changes over time, and you have had symptoms before that were problematic. Just because no one figured out what was wrong using the tests that they used doesn't mean that there was nothing wrong.
 
What does your workout rotation look like? Personally, I think doing L&G and P90X kickboxing in one day is overdoing it. I'm sure that equaled to about a 2 hour workout that day if not more. Yes, you are overtraining if you are doing this daily.

If you want my help or suggestions, let me know what the rotation looks like and I'll try to tweek it for you.

I definitely think you need to back off a bit. This is no laughing matter. Learn as much about rhabdomyolysis as you can.
 
Fitnessfreakk366 said:
I think doing L&G and P90X kickboxing in one day is overdoing it. I'm sure that equaled to about a 2 hour workout that day if not more. Yes, you are overtraining if you are doing this daily.

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I definitely think you need to back off a bit. This is no laughing matter. Learn as much about rhabdomyolysis as you can.
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ITA

I agree with a previous poster who said to take a break until you can see your primary care physician. At least take it easy for a week. You might do some lower-intensity workouts (after a day or two off), but not more than 50 minutes daily.

In your post, you said you've been doing the same type of schedule for years. Your current condition could be due to the cumulative effect of that. And the fact that as we age, we need more recovery (even Martina Navratalova says she does).
 
Although I feel terrible that you had to go through this, I also want to thank you for providing some information on something I have never heard of before. I have been having some of the same symptoms you have described and thought maybe it was asthma or working out too hard on certain days. From what I have just read on the net, it looks like staying hydrated can help. It also appears dark urine is a symptom. I wonder if that symptom is always present.

I'm going back to doing more research and I hope you feel better very soon.
 
rb38 said:
From what I have just read on the net, it looks like staying hydrated can help. It also appears dark urine is a symptom. I wonder if that symptom is always present.
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Well, dark urine is one way to gauge if one is not consuming enough fluids, so if the syndrome is related to dehydration, dark urine would go along with that. Urine should be clear to light-lemonade colored (except perhaps the first pee in the morning, and certain B vitamins can turn the urine darker as well).
 
I am glad that you are okay. I hope you take it easy until you see your doctor. You may want to also keep a journal of when you feel you are experiencing this shortness of breath and rate the severity on a scale of 1-10. Your doctor might find that information helpful.

Monica
 
Thanks, all of you for your concern.

Debbie(aka Fitness Freak)as far as my routine goes, I've been doing Cathe's Sept rotation. I missed one kickbox day, so I just did both kickbox and legs on the same day.

But this shortness of breath is really hard to describe. I feel like my lungs don't expand all the way when I take a deep breath. It's really wierd. I plan on having my doctor do estensive testing, but doctor's seem to want to give you a quick fix solution instead of finding out what's really wrong and that really upsets me.

I really felt like I was either on the verge of having a heart attack or a stroke. I don't know if they are related, but I felt like by body was being deprived of air and I got really light headed and felt like I was going to pass out.

On a different note, it made me view life alot differently. It really got me to thinking that I need to enjoy everyday, because you never know if it'll be your last. I thought about my girls and family. I'm 43 and always hoped to live a long life, but you never know what the day might bring.
 
morningstar said:
Sometimes the first diagnosis, especially in an Emergency room, is not the right diagnosis. Regardless, clearly SOMETHING is very wrong, and until you are sure what it is, it makes sense to not do any strenuous activity. Hard, I know, but absolutely necessary. Definitely follow up with your GP and get lots of tests done, see whatever specialists you need to see. Remember, you may have been working out for years, but your body changes over time, and you have had symptoms before that were problematic. Just because no one figured out what was wrong using the tests that they used doesn't mean that there was nothing wrong.
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MStar is right. I think you should go back to see another cardiologist for a secondary opinion. Thats one scary set of symptoms. Also, they may want to look for electrolyte imbalances (which can also be a side effect of exercise.) I hope you find the solution soon, hugs.
 
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