TL;DR: Legs continually swollen and achy with weight gain, lots of blood tests and heart exams that have come back normal, doctors stumped and doesn't appear to be overtraining.
Not seeking medical advice, just wanted to see if anyone has had a similar experience. Several weeks ago, I had an odd virus where I had body aches, occasional fever and fatigue, but none of the symptoms I usually get when I'm sick (runny nose, congestion, coughing, sore throat). After 4 days of bed rest, I started feeling better and hopped back on the bike. I ride every day commuting to work during the week and then going on longer rides on the weekends. I noticed about a week after returning to cycling that my legs felt odd and more fatigued than normal but continued to train and won a crit via a solo break. Continued riding with odd weariness in the legs and began bonking on the short ride home from our local Thursday evening crits, which was very atypical as I usually have plenty of fuel to get me home and more. A few days after the second Thursday evening crit, my legs started feeling swollen all the time and I gained ~12 pounds over that weekend, which alarmed me. I've been racing at 157lbs all season and shot up to 169/170 from Friday evening to Sunday evening, and my legs felt from that point on have fel constantly fatigued, swollen, and weren't recovering per normal overnight. Went to the doc and got a few blood tests with everything coming back normal except for a high creatine kinase count (459), so the doc advised me to stay off the bike for a week. A teammate of mine who's a doc referred me to a sports medicine doc to rule out heart issues, and I got more blood tests that Friday and an EKG, all of which came back normal (including a CK test), so I hopped back on the bike. Got another blood test the following Monday and my CK count came back in the normal range after riding all weekend (203) and I was feeling better.
Tested the legs a bit the following Wednesday to see how they'd fare and how I'd recover overnight, and everything seemed fine again. Raced Thursday evening and finished 6th, then bonked again on the way home and the swelling, achiness, and lack of recovery has returned and remained ever since, regardless of how hard or long I ride (haven't trained with my usual intensity for weeks now). Went back to my doc and got a blood test for thyroid issues and the result came back normal (TSH was 0.779) Got an echo and the sonographer said that it was "beautiful", so I could rule out heart issues, but he recommended I check for autoimmune diseases.
Doc now wants to try a CPET/VO2 max test to ensure my engine is ok and look at my iliac arteries as well but is admittedly puzzled and said it doesn't appear to be overtraining given the leg swelling. One final odd symptom: went swimming with my kids in local rivers because it was hot. The first time I went up to my waist and once I got home, my legs were burning and it felt like I'd slathered them in Icy Hot. The second time I swam underwater and upon returning home, both my arms and legs were burning and stayed that way until I went to sleep. It seems the cold water "awakened" something up in my system to cause this...a different sensation from the fatigue I've had in my legs. Weight is now remaining around 167-169 when I've been racing at 157 all season and riding doesn't appear to help with weight loss even though I'm eating less as well.
Sorry for the long post - just checking to see if anyone's had something like this before.
Not seeking medical advice, just wanted to see if anyone has had a similar experience. Several weeks ago, I had an odd virus where I had body aches, occasional fever and fatigue, but none of the symptoms I usually get when I'm sick (runny nose, congestion, coughing, sore throat). After 4 days of bed rest, I started feeling better and hopped back on the bike. I ride every day commuting to work during the week and then going on longer rides on the weekends. I noticed about a week after returning to cycling that my legs felt odd and more fatigued than normal but continued to train and won a crit via a solo break. Continued riding with odd weariness in the legs and began bonking on the short ride home from our local Thursday evening crits, which was very atypical as I usually have plenty of fuel to get me home and more. A few days after the second Thursday evening crit, my legs started feeling swollen all the time and I gained ~12 pounds over that weekend, which alarmed me. I've been racing at 157lbs all season and shot up to 169/170 from Friday evening to Sunday evening, and my legs felt from that point on have fel constantly fatigued, swollen, and weren't recovering per normal overnight. Went to the doc and got a few blood tests with everything coming back normal except for a high creatine kinase count (459), so the doc advised me to stay off the bike for a week. A teammate of mine who's a doc referred me to a sports medicine doc to rule out heart issues, and I got more blood tests that Friday and an EKG, all of which came back normal (including a CK test), so I hopped back on the bike. Got another blood test the following Monday and my CK count came back in the normal range after riding all weekend (203) and I was feeling better.
Tested the legs a bit the following Wednesday to see how they'd fare and how I'd recover overnight, and everything seemed fine again. Raced Thursday evening and finished 6th, then bonked again on the way home and the swelling, achiness, and lack of recovery has returned and remained ever since, regardless of how hard or long I ride (haven't trained with my usual intensity for weeks now). Went back to my doc and got a blood test for thyroid issues and the result came back normal (TSH was 0.779) Got an echo and the sonographer said that it was "beautiful", so I could rule out heart issues, but he recommended I check for autoimmune diseases.
Doc now wants to try a CPET/VO2 max test to ensure my engine is ok and look at my iliac arteries as well but is admittedly puzzled and said it doesn't appear to be overtraining given the leg swelling. One final odd symptom: went swimming with my kids in local rivers because it was hot. The first time I went up to my waist and once I got home, my legs were burning and it felt like I'd slathered them in Icy Hot. The second time I swam underwater and upon returning home, both my arms and legs were burning and stayed that way until I went to sleep. It seems the cold water "awakened" something up in my system to cause this...a different sensation from the fatigue I've had in my legs. Weight is now remaining around 167-169 when I've been racing at 157 all season and riding doesn't appear to help with weight loss even though I'm eating less as well.
Sorry for the long post - just checking to see if anyone's had something like this before.