Hospital

As a note: this will contain stuff that would, in any other circumstance, be considered TMI; But I feel it necessary to be specific and unabridged. 

If you don't care to read my account of the last 5 days, at least read the last four paragraphs, for your safety.

As you might have figured out from my Facebook link that brought you here, I have finally been discharged from the hospital. I had been afflicted by Rhabdomyolysis, a condition where the muscles break down, releasing myoglobin and enzymes into the bloodstream. The kidneys, acting as they usually do, attempt to filter the blood out but become overwhelmed as the myoglobin reaches toxic levels - which soon leads to renal failure. 

It's not a nice thing. So to start, I'll explain how I got it. One of the ways that you can find yourself with this condition is after extreme workouts and muscle strain. Now I wouldn't call what I did "extreme." Difficult, but not "extreme." Anyway, last Tuesday I decided to start back up with P90X, a 90 day exercise program with a video and everything. I had done pretty well with the program during the school year but stopped right before finals. It was hard to get back into the hang of it but I finally found the motivation to start it back up. I took it easy, at about 30% of my normal capacity of a 15 minute workout.

The next day my muscles were sore. Really sore. I couldn't stand up straight, I couldn't walk normally. But I thought I must have just pulled them and was now facing the consequences of the first day back to working out. I continued through my day and even went to a local restaurant's trivia night that day.

The second day after the workout was even worse. I woke up feeling like I hadn't moved all night; my legs and abdominal areas were so stiff and sore. But I expected it to worsen, the second day after working out always seems to be the worst and Advil and Aleve didn't do anything to help.

When I go to the bathroom at work to pee I happened to notice the color seemed off. Like it seemed darker but not just like "oh I need to drink more!" kind of dark. It just looked like normal tint of yellow except with an added shade of slight brown. Instantly I had concerns of what it could be.

I found a disposable 4oz gladware container at home. My urine was definitely brown. Iced Tea or cola colored.

I load up and check myself into the ER at 6:00 Thursday evening. I waited about 1 minute before they brought me back to a room and 1 urine sample and 3 hours later the doctor came in, incredulous, "You have what's called Rhabdomyolysis..."

One of the dangerous enzymes that's released into your body during Rhabdo is called Creatine Kinase (CK/CPK). The normal levels are around 200 (I don't know the units) - mine were at 46,000 and only after lots of IV fluids, did they slowly come down.

Each of my two doctors (one was a nephrologist - kidney doc) individually noted the severity of this condition stating that if I hadn't come in that day, I would likely not have lasted the night. The nephrologist added in that even if I recover, any damage done to my kidneys will give me increased risk of kidney troubles in my later life. Not cool.

My luck, however, while absent when trying to bring my numbers down, was apparently working solely on keeping my kidneys healthy. My nephrologist kept saying, "I have never seen someone with the high, sustained levels like yours walk away with no kidney damage - but yours are fine."

15 minutes of exercise put me in the hospital for five days, and I'm supposed to stay inside for another week. 15 minutes of exercise could have killed me. I know I seem melodramatic, but its terrifying. This is something I feel needs to be known. I'm not a completely out of shape guy, I'm not an athlete by any means but I don't lead a sedentary lifestyle either. This could happen to anyone. You don't have to spend hours overtraining your body to be at risk and it doesn't have to be P90X. That's why everyone needs to know the symptoms. Doctors propose that Rhabdo is actually more common than originally thought. Dehydration, hot environments, and physical stress are just three risk factors that lend themselves to someone developing Rhabdo. 15 minutes of exercise should not have done this to me. I've done this program and pushed myself before. There must have been a combination of things that caused it to happen but regardless, don't think that it can't happen to you. If you do decide to "get back into shape", take it slowly, give your body some time to understand what your plan is. And stay EXTRA hydrated. But this can happen anytime someone is pushing themselves. Marathon runners have developed this after races, even after months of training.

So you need to be wary of the warning signs: if your muscles seem extra sore, beyond what you expected, this is a sign of something wrong. For me, I couldn't stand up straight, every movement was difficult and I could only walk by moving my calves. I couldn't lift my legs while laying down or standing. It can happen to any muscle group. The biggest sign is your urine, if you discover that you aren't peeing as often or as much as normal; or if your urine has a brown tint to it in the toilet (try peeing into a small container without water in it to get a better idea if you are suspicious), go to the hospital. You could go to an AM/PM clinic but if they discover that you have rhabdo, they'll direct you to the hospital and you'll have to go through triage there, further delaying the fluid input that you need.

Lastly: don't take any of these signs lightly, especially if you are experiencing more than one of them. Rhabdomyolysis can easily kill you without medical treatment and even with it can cause irreparable damage to your kidneys and other organs and even still kill you. So don't waste time. It probably sounds like I'm making a big deal out of this but if I wasn't so health paranoid, would I have thought things seemed bad enough to go to the ER? If you saw your urine was a strange dark color, would you have gone to the ER or would you write it off and think "I'll see in the morning"? Because the doctors believed that things likely wouldn't have turned out okay for me had I waited. It scares me to think of how tempting it was to save the money of an ER visit and to just stay in bed with water.

So do yourself a favor, if you intend to do any exercise, google Rhabdomyolysis and learn more about its symptoms and causes. Be watchful and don't be afraid to get a urinalysis if you are concerned. It isn't something to mess with - I certainly didn't expect to spend five days in the hospital and another week in bed following it. And I was a lucky one.