Runners Forum - Kick Runners banner

Where in the World is PCSRONBO?

1K views 23 replies 9 participants last post by  Yo Sake 
#1 ·
So I haven't been around much because, from a health and mental perspective, this has been a bad year for me so far.

Posting this not for a pity party, I know you guys care, but I am really looking for some out-of-my-body opinions and thoughts so I can continue getting back going so I can enjoy the season! CC has been amazing (and yes she is still my coach!) and yes I have been seeing my doc, a LOT.

Ok background... Late 2015 I decided I would focus on some shorter races this year and we dialed my training back accordingly starting in November. After all, 2015 was a mofo-epic year for me (2 iron, alcatraz, sprint at worlds, local oly, Aquabike Championships for Rev3 @ Knox, and another AB in Maine).

Work has been very busy (in a good way), so stress as we have 2 major contracts coming up for renewal 7/1 but we landed a massive contract - so even if we lost some, we would be gaining some. Although I will admit I am sad when we lose clients (ok, most clients) as I really do care. But logic says financially, it will all be ok

I did my obligatory eating and drinking post season, to the tune of gaining 20+lbs. Which for me, isn't hard, but it kind of blows because I was able to trim off 30 for the 2015 season. So was I sad about that? Yeah probably.

December I was still grieving my tri club which was shutting down. I had been a founding member in 2004 and had basically run it, but our primary sponsor decided they were no longer in interested in having the club after 11 years. 2015 was a low year (mostly because I was out doing my sh!t) so I really didn't have the mental energy to start all over again.

My next struggle was basic - which was I needed a new shoe. The Glycerin 12 was awesome for me, but they disco it in 2015. I tried the 13, but as I found out in IMOO - I should not have worn in for the 2nd half of the run on the marathon. My feet paid dearly. So my running struggled... and my endurance suffered... so my running was going to h !ll.

I was sustaining workouts, more or less, but not going outside. This the first year in all of my endurance sport career I stayed inside. Literally today was my first outside run since 2nd week of Jan. I just didn't want to fuss with all the prep. Chicago winter wasn't actually all the horrible.

In Jan/Feb I was fighting with, I think, Kidney stones. They felt the same so I was fooking miserable. There is a chance is was just tight hamstrings. Never found them on tests, but it sure a **** felt like a stone. HOWEVER... there is a chance it was stupid tight hamstrings. Crazy right? Well, I have figured out if I put a tennis ball under my thigh when sitting - I can alleviate my back pain. I have begin stretching the hammies and made major progress - this has never been good area for me, but I think all the sitting for work may have really made it worse. Don't know - but it was gone in Feb.

However, right after I moved into crazy fatigue. To the point I would get 7 hours of sleep, get kids to school and have to take a nap instead of work out. Then I would be really tired after work - to the point sometimes I napped in my recliner a bit before/after dinner. And then go to bed exhausted. And even go to bed when maybe there would be something more fun to do? Yeah, THAT tired.

I got "sick" like a flu without much drainage (but some) 6 times from Feb through mid April. Each one was about a week. Sometimes chills - but no fever. A lot of sweating, while in an nice AC room. Stinky sweat. Not normal sweat, stinky sweat. Don't know how to describe it but at least 4x in my life I have dealt with this stinky sweat. Headaches too - I never get headaches - well, 3-4 days I went home or worked from home because of headaches that motrin didn't work on

Have had LOTS of blood work - in several cases white blood cells are a little high - implying I am fighting a bug. Sometimes liver numbers are a little high. Hemocrit (red blood cells) is a bit high - but that is normal for me, 2015 brought them higher and they have stayed.

Blood and urine cultures just recently, both came back negative. EKG, Xray of heart, all sorts of dang tests - all coming back either clean - or close.

since Feb I have been using Resting Heart Rate (RHR) to tell me whether it is ok to workout. I am normally high 50's in season, low 60's off season. I have been consistently over 70 and frequently 80 and sometimes in the 90s. A week ago at the Doc I was 102. Yes, that is sitting completely still, thinking calm thoughts, controlling my breathing. It's a little game to see how low I can drive the number. It has, plain and simple, been HIGH.

Last week I stopped taking this new supplement I was taking, SuperLysine+ (Quantum Health) on Monday - by Tuesday I felt AMAZING (well, relatively speaking)

it has a bunch of other stuff (Vit C, Echinacea, Licorice, Propolis, Garlic and others)

I have also reduced my caffeine intake substantially and considering dropping it more. I am ramping it down.

Starting Thursday I wasn't feeling "as amazing" but RHR consistently low 70's and sometimes very high 60s - which is the best it has been but I did a 1 hour ride, WELL RESTED, yesterday and very slow - and I was really tired after. I ran 50min today, super slow, and again really tired. Took a nap, I am still a little tired. Last week I did the state swim meet (Fri 1 event and Sat 6) and it really didn't nuke me any worse than a normal workout Ez. Weird right?

So right now I am in a holding pattern. Clearly I am Improved, but I am not Better. I think there may be more than one thing at play so I am working to peel them all out.

thanks in advance for any thoughts!
 
See less See more
#3 ·
Crap, man. I am very sorry to hear. It sounds a lot like *some* of what I went through and am still going through.

A few random thoughts:

For the time being, stay away from that SuperLysine+ stuff. One thing I have learned in my journey with auto immune/Lyme, etc, is that the immune system can get out of whack by certain triggers. It is most susceptible when the body is undergoing a lot of stress. Since the body cannot differentiate too well from physical stress and mental stress, both of which you have off the charts according to your writings here, you were obviously pretty taxed. And when you're in this state, you are prone to those triggers. One of those triggers is certain "medications" -- but medication doesn't need to be medication of the traditional sense. Medication could be *anything* the body isn't used to, and in this case it could be that SuperLysine+ has triggered something in you. Fatigue is among the symptoms that come with this sort of thing. I call out immune system because it is obvious yours has been compromised.

Keep on with the doctors appointments. It is a maddening how long these things take to sort themselves out, both doctors in figuring you out and the body in how it will change with your condition. For this reason, it takes doctors on average 3.5 years to diagnose an autoimmune disorder. Although you may have something else and think, "3.5 years for that? I don't have that!" the truth is that this isn't about auto immune disorders per se. What I've learned is that when you show these kinds of symptoms with blood work that doesn't really shine a light on one thing, those types of things take this long to diagnose. In the end the result is more often than not autoimmune. Autoimmune is just a fancy term to describe, among other things, when you have inflammation in the body that doctors *think* but aren't always sure is related to the immune system attacking a part of the body -- could be joints, could be nervous system, muscles, etc.

If you think you are alone, here's an incomplete list of my symptoms that thankfully are mostly gone or at least only shown a trace now: fatigue (still around just not nearly as bad; at it's worst: yawn all day; head dives driving to work, fall asleep by 7:30, latest 8:30 totally unable to stay away, not able to run, at all), headaches, strange muscle aches, kidney aches (no stones; saw doctor twice convinced I had a stone that was stuck; there was no such thing), dry burning eyes and dry mouth, unable to run in the morning, joint stiffness in every joint in my body, light sensitivity in early morning, nausea so bad I needed to sit, etc.

Hang tough, RonBo! And if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. I've been living this for nearly a year, but in reality it's been 4 years since I had Lyme, though then it was all more mild. I'm in decent hands now and being treated, still with good days and those not so good.
 
#4 ·
Hey Ronbo! Thanks for posting.
It's nice to hear that others are having their own difficulties and climbing their own mountains. Not that I wish that on anyone but having my own issues, I get into the place where I think that the **** is only happening to me. :D

I don't know if Chicago has had the same thing but the Seattle area has been under siege of some horrible virus that presented a lot like what you described. Many people I know had it for couple of months.
Regardless of whether or not that is the case, I agree with Thor. Keep up with your dr's and make sure you're letting them know your symptoms and such. It helps them put the pieces together.
 
#5 ·
Hey Ron, great to see you back! Sorry to hear you have been going thorough tough periods. Other than what others said I have nothing to add. Hope the supplements played some havoc on your body along with other health issues (kidney stones and flu). Maybe let it go all together for a while? And reset?
 
#6 ·
Don't have a lot to add, but given that you were sick 6 times in a short period of time, says to me that your body is still recovering from that. Glad to hear that coming off the supplement seems to make you better, how long were you taking it? May take some time for it to fully clear your system and the residual effects make take time to clear...couple that with being sick quite a bit prior = more recovery time...

Just thinking out loud....
 
#8 ·
Zoj - Was taking that stuff for probably 2+ months. So it somewhat lines up - so yeah, it is OFF the list! Who knows how long it will take to clear though?
Thor - absolutely and amen. Thankfully I have a special arrangement with my primary doc called "concierge" which is all focused on proactive care. Mandatory 2-3 hour physicals every year and he manages my overall care of all specialties - no extra cost. This year I am absolutely taking advantage of that arrangement and we are on the warpath to figure it out. I have 1 more week of holding pattern then re-evaluate.

Tammy - Chicago has had several wicked rounds of flus (plus normal colds). The weather here is bouncing all over and every time we get about 50 and then back down, another wave of sick. It has been doing this for months, literally. Weirdest winter ever. Example? It was 41 this morning. Freaking great - bet you another wave of sick is headed our way. Could I have gotten the flu and it is lingering? Certainly. Could I maybe have gotten several worn down by Stress? Certainly. That's the frustrating part, some of these things we cannot diagnose we just wait. I hate waiting.

And for a bonus round, I spent Mon/Tues in the hospital with Liz because we thought she had a heart attack. She didn't, but a scary 24 hours. Instead it was a result of her thryoid meds being wrong. SOMETHING changed, we don't know what, but since she has no thyroid (cancer 2008) she is reliant on it. Doc visit today to help sort that out.

Rest is in order and on the schedule. Took about half this week off from work and I'm going camping with the scouts this weekend (relaxing? hmm... maybe, we will see). And "racing" Sunday. Well, we will use that term very loosely - I am going out to enjoy a morning with like minded friends :). My workouts are limited to <1 hr and ez at the moment. Just trying to get some consistency and not gain too much weight.

thanks all, if you think of any other areas to explore - I am all ears!
 
#9 ·
latest is high white blood cells - consistently now over a period of time and high ferritin for at least last 3 weeks (no prior tests)

high ferritin could cause these symptoms
 
#10 ·
I hate that I can even relate, but dang, it can be maddening, or at least time consuming, when you do get numbers because you Google, research, read, dig deeper and Google again trying to connect dots that the doctor can do with one look. High white usually means your body is fighting something.
 
#12 ·
Thanks!

Journey still continues. took the hereditary high iron test sat, will be a week to get that back.

The ultrasound showed fatty liver, which is not great but maybe a cause. Had that going back to 2001 (or earlier) when I was still morbidly obese. Getting MRI this week to look at it in more detail.

Getting Pulmonary function test tomorrow, long shot.

fun times... at least I got 2 workouts in a row! that is a streak of some kind!! Rev3 Knox is this coming weekend, I'm thinking I may wear my kilt and make it a totally goofy cheerleader kind of experience.
 
#16 ·
The feeding tube will be way later ;-) that is when there is substantial damage

fatty liver means 2 things (over simplified)
1. that the liver cannot process things, particular fat, as well - which means you will get fatter (which could explain why during my multiple 140.6 trainings and an ever improving diet I still struggle)
2. i am at risk for it progressing into cirrhosis - which is permanent damage - although they do not know why those who progress, progress (unless alcoholic typically)

the liver can heal. However, I notice that I have results going back to 2001 showing fatty liver, at which time the doc put me on NAC (supplement) and after 3-4mo my liver numbers improved. I do not know what, if any, other tests were done back then. But I have a 2012 scan, 2015 scan, and 2016 scans now all showing it - but since I guess I wasn't showing symptoms they felt not much to do. However, the more I read the more I see we need to
1. continue weight loss (duh)
2. give the liver some help (NAC and some other supplements) - which is not real "western doctory"

and if so, there is a chance we can heal it
But that is just where i am at right now, not sure.

Waiting for insurance to approve contrast MRI - everything i have so far is noncontrast so it is not real specific - and not a specific liver study. At this point it could be another week for approval, then a week for scheduling, so more waiting.

the more I look at it, the more 2016 race season is a non starter :(
 
#19 ·
Am I allowed to find this fascinating (also adding my name to the 'this sucks' sentiment)? So, assuming this is not alcohol related do the deposits accumulate? Or is this something that excess weight contributes to or exacerbates?

Again with my cat reference (because I am a crazy person) I'm glad you are far away from feeding tubes because warmed up canned cat food put thru a blender is nasty. :wink:
 
#21 ·
Sparty - Fatty liver, if not alcohol related, is almost due to obesity. Considering how fat I was for how long, this is not a surprise. there seems to be serious debate on whether it can heal or not. I tend to think we can alleviate some symptoms, because clearly I did and became active enough to function, only recently has this fatigue come back hard. Seems similar to what happened in 2001 but I was a big fat fatty and so it made me virtually useless. I can pretty reasonable Adult now, being more fit, but knowing what my body should be able to do and not being able to is super frustrating. Thor knows this well!

Today's update - Well crap on a stick

good news! No Iron overload. I do not have the genetic marker. Therefore the high iron MUST be inflammation or infection. From what? WTF Knows.
good news! Endo doctor says thryoid test result (that I cannot see) is actually OK, so I am not hypo (hypothyrodism would mimic these symptoms). The test results I could see said I was slightly hypo.

so more of what it is NOT, but not a step closer to what it might be.

Still waiting on insurance to approve liver MRI could be another week, then scheduling, and well.. there goes 2-4 more weeks.

BOO

on the other hand, energy has been reasonable all day and yesterday wasn't horrible. I dropped ALL supplements 3 days ago. Even stuff I have been taking forever. I'm doing what I can do while I wait for the rest of the world to get their poopoo together.

keep on keepin on !
 
  • Like
Reactions: SpartyGirl
#24 ·
keep on keepin on !
Ron, this is all I can say. sux big time for sure. Hopefully to get the MRI done soon and find out this is in fact due to the fatty liver.
Meanwhile, glad to hear you are feeling better and able to workout. We are so used to the 'feeling' we get from exercises. It's important to our lives even though we may not be at the level we once were, or we want to. {{hugs}}
 
#22 ·
Thanks for indulging my questions. Ron, this just plain sucks hard. I know others can speak to thyroid better than I can, but slightly hypo on the scale can be a red flag, so can normal. Did they do T3, T4, TSH and antibodies? I'm not hypo at the moment, but when my numbers get just left of normal the fatigue is crushing (like lay on the couch and pass out for an hour while a kid is yelling at you). Something to keep in the back of your head, I suppose.

Big hugs.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top