Rhabdo What?
Last month I was in the best shape of my life. Until that
all changed…
My name is Molly and I consider myself a fit and healthy
30 year-old-woman. I am an avid
soccer player and workout regularly in the gym.
One hot Friday this summer my arms were feeling pretty
sore after an especially tough Crossfit workout. I drank some extra water, but shook it off as the normal after
effects of an intense day at the gym.
I continued with my normal life, and played in my regularly scheduled soccer
game on Sunday.
Monday morning I woke up with huge, swollen, tight
arms. I did a quick Google
search of “swollen arms after a workout” and this weird name popped up: Rhabdomyolysis
(or rhabdo for short).
Basically
it is the rapid break down of muscle fibers and the release of too many toxins
into the blood stream. It can happen after running a marathon, getting into a
car accident, or having an extremely tough work out.
Symptoms include extreme muscle weakness, swelling, and
dark or tea-colored urine. The
most serious complication is kidney failure. Early recognition and management of rhabdo are crucial to a
successful outcome.
My Google search freaked me out enough that I decided to
go to the local urgent care. Let’s
just say, they were stumped! They tried to tell me I had two sprained elbows
and I should go home and take ibuprofen (thank goodness I did not do
this!). Instead I asked for a
blood test incase I had this weird thing called rhabdo-something that I read
about. The doctor looked at me
like I had completely lost it and said, “I highly doubt you have that, but I’ll
appease you”. Later that afternoon
the doctor called me back. My
blood test results were in. Normal CK (Creatine kinase) levels are between
100-300. Mine had maxed out the
lab at more than 16,000. That’s
right, thousand. The doctor said,
“You were right! You have rhabdomyolysis and you need to be admitted to the
hospital immediately. Should we send an ambulance?”
I spent the next four days in the hospital, hooked up to bags
and bags of IV fluids to flush out the muscle breakdown, and avoid kidney
failure. Basically I was peeing
away my muscles. Most doctors and
nurses had never heard of this. I
felt like I was on a bad episode of “House”.
During this time I met with specialists and researched my
own diagnosis. But most
importantly, I re-evaluated my priorities. I have two young, amazing children and a loving, supportive
husband. They are my life. The
outpouring of support from my friends and family were overwhelming. Yes, I love working out and
staying fit, but this suddenly did not seem so important. I just wanted to be OK.
Finally my CK levels were healthy enough for me to go
home. My doctors told me how lucky I am, and I know that they are right, in far
more than just a medical sense.
Now I don’t know why I got rhabdo while millions of people
who have done similar workouts have not gotten it. I do know that I have changed because of it. I approach workouts differently with a
bigger focus on recovery. And I
want to inform and educate other athletes about the risks and symptoms of this
scary diagnosis.
Rhabdomyolysis is rare, but it is becoming more common
with the popularity of intense exercise programs. I am not going to single out any certain program, as I do
believe it could happen to any athlete, regardless of the sport. My hope is that gyms and fitness
programs will educate their members about rhabdo, but we also need to educate
ourselves.
We, as a culture, are pushing ourselves past our physical
limits. We are starting to believe
that we aren’t getting a good workout unless we finish feeling completely
exhausted. We aren’t giving ourselves enough time to rest and recover. We are doing more harm than good.
Please use my story as a warning when you exercise. Listen to your body. Know your limits. Rest between workouts. Hydrate. And most importantly, take
care of yourself. -- Molly Talevi
