Was not expecting such well thought out answers (nothing against any of y'all!).
So let me expand upon a few of the questions.
My initial labs tested the following,
Iron and TIBC
Creatine Kinase,Total,Serum
Aldolase
Ferritin, Serum
CBC With Differential/Platelet
C-Reactive Protein, Quant
Comp. Metabolic Panel (14)
TSH reflex to T4F
Per my GP, the numbers for all of those came back good. Nothing in any of the tests were outside the normal ranges.
Starting from the first real episode of strong gasping during that 5k 23 days ago, the 11 miler two days later (21 days ago) was the worst thing to date workout wise. I felt like I just couldn't continue to breath while I ran. Beginning that night immediately following the run began the constant pressure on my chest and shortness of breath. It set in during the 11 miler and has not left since. It's been worse at times where I almost wanted to have panic attacks due to the SOB and then there have been days where it's been better and I will feel like I can breathe freely most of the day. When it does get bad I try hard to relax physically and mentally and assure myself I'm breathing fine (even if i'm not, telling myself i'm not would cause me to panic). I would like to add though that I do not recall swelling or pain in the lower extremities, symptoms i'm assuming would be linked to DVT. I just remember that I started the 11 mile run feeling good and fresh so I decided press the pace a bit given that it was supposed to be an easier day and I suddenly found myself awfully short of breath.
I have run twice during all of this and that was this past friday and Saturday. Friday's run was a 5.1 miler which I did around 6:45 pace. It left my calfs quite sore and I definitely felt tightness in the chest and SOB throughout the run.
Saturday I decided to run another 5 miler and this time fished out my HR monitor. I kept the run at an AHR of 160 and I was able to do 7:20 at that HR with 250' of total climbing. The run felt a bit better than the day before but to be fair, Saturday/Sunday were to of my best breathing days to date. They preceded today which was not my worst breathing day but not my best either.
The muscle soreness has just continued to be a problem and the fact that as I type this I can lock a handful of muscles in my legs into charlie horses is a huge problem. It's limiting my ability to really go hard.
My first EKG which was taken 18 days ago showed heart block while at rest. My EKG/Stress Test today showed no heart block while at elevated heart rates. But when I was resting and the doctor wasn't in the room I spotted two heart blocks within like 5 beats of one another on the machine (i'm not a doctor but I can definitely spot a heart block occur when there's a massive flat line from the time the upper chamber beats to the lower chamber beats or doesn't beat at all). I mentioned those to the EP and he wasn't overly concerned about them since I was very calm and resting. My resting heart rate at the time that occurred was 38. I assume it probably gets lower than that when I'm truly at rest and undisturbed and perhaps sleeping.
As I sit here and type this I have SOB and just yawned to increase the oxygen intake. It's one of the sure fire ways I can relax is to force a yawn. I've NEVER yawned this much in my entire life. Whether I sleep 4 hours or 10 hours, I will wake up and just begin to yawn.
As for family history, my father's ailments in life have only ever been the result of his athletic endeavours, my mother however has had numerous medical problems and has definitely had many blood clots although i'm unsure if they're byproducts of medicines she's been on for the numerous surgeries she's had. I can ask her tomorrow but I do believe a few of them have occurred on their own out of the blue.
For now...
I continue to eat like a normal human being and try to keep it well rounded, I take a multivitamin every day alongside a magnesium supplement and two iron pills which get me to about 130 mg of elemental iron per day in supplements. I sleep roughly 6.5-8 hours/night and work behind a desk mostly.
So as for what y'all have said, it seems like it might be good to press my GP to take another blood sample and to the D-Dimer test and possibly a few others?
Also, I will look into the Cardiologist in Downtown LA, seems like he's got a reputable clientele.
Thank you so much in advance, this has been extremely mentally tiring. We're all type A athletes and so to be sidelined for 3 weeks has crushed me. I had plans to travel to Oregon to break my 5000 PR in August and that's been nixed for now. Still have a half marathon planned in October but it's quickly becoming something I may just trot through and not race at this point.
Thanks again!
The Home of Advanced Running
Advanced Running Instagram Page
My narcisstic training log
So let me expand upon a few of the questions.
My initial labs tested the following,
Iron and TIBC
Creatine Kinase,Total,Serum
Aldolase
Ferritin, Serum
CBC With Differential/Platelet
C-Reactive Protein, Quant
Comp. Metabolic Panel (14)
TSH reflex to T4F
Per my GP, the numbers for all of those came back good. Nothing in any of the tests were outside the normal ranges.
Starting from the first real episode of strong gasping during that 5k 23 days ago, the 11 miler two days later (21 days ago) was the worst thing to date workout wise. I felt like I just couldn't continue to breath while I ran. Beginning that night immediately following the run began the constant pressure on my chest and shortness of breath. It set in during the 11 miler and has not left since. It's been worse at times where I almost wanted to have panic attacks due to the SOB and then there have been days where it's been better and I will feel like I can breathe freely most of the day. When it does get bad I try hard to relax physically and mentally and assure myself I'm breathing fine (even if i'm not, telling myself i'm not would cause me to panic). I would like to add though that I do not recall swelling or pain in the lower extremities, symptoms i'm assuming would be linked to DVT. I just remember that I started the 11 mile run feeling good and fresh so I decided press the pace a bit given that it was supposed to be an easier day and I suddenly found myself awfully short of breath.
I have run twice during all of this and that was this past friday and Saturday. Friday's run was a 5.1 miler which I did around 6:45 pace. It left my calfs quite sore and I definitely felt tightness in the chest and SOB throughout the run.
Saturday I decided to run another 5 miler and this time fished out my HR monitor. I kept the run at an AHR of 160 and I was able to do 7:20 at that HR with 250' of total climbing. The run felt a bit better than the day before but to be fair, Saturday/Sunday were to of my best breathing days to date. They preceded today which was not my worst breathing day but not my best either.
The muscle soreness has just continued to be a problem and the fact that as I type this I can lock a handful of muscles in my legs into charlie horses is a huge problem. It's limiting my ability to really go hard.
My first EKG which was taken 18 days ago showed heart block while at rest. My EKG/Stress Test today showed no heart block while at elevated heart rates. But when I was resting and the doctor wasn't in the room I spotted two heart blocks within like 5 beats of one another on the machine (i'm not a doctor but I can definitely spot a heart block occur when there's a massive flat line from the time the upper chamber beats to the lower chamber beats or doesn't beat at all). I mentioned those to the EP and he wasn't overly concerned about them since I was very calm and resting. My resting heart rate at the time that occurred was 38. I assume it probably gets lower than that when I'm truly at rest and undisturbed and perhaps sleeping.
As I sit here and type this I have SOB and just yawned to increase the oxygen intake. It's one of the sure fire ways I can relax is to force a yawn. I've NEVER yawned this much in my entire life. Whether I sleep 4 hours or 10 hours, I will wake up and just begin to yawn.
As for family history, my father's ailments in life have only ever been the result of his athletic endeavours, my mother however has had numerous medical problems and has definitely had many blood clots although i'm unsure if they're byproducts of medicines she's been on for the numerous surgeries she's had. I can ask her tomorrow but I do believe a few of them have occurred on their own out of the blue.
For now...
I continue to eat like a normal human being and try to keep it well rounded, I take a multivitamin every day alongside a magnesium supplement and two iron pills which get me to about 130 mg of elemental iron per day in supplements. I sleep roughly 6.5-8 hours/night and work behind a desk mostly.
So as for what y'all have said, it seems like it might be good to press my GP to take another blood sample and to the D-Dimer test and possibly a few others?
Also, I will look into the Cardiologist in Downtown LA, seems like he's got a reputable clientele.
Thank you so much in advance, this has been extremely mentally tiring. We're all type A athletes and so to be sidelined for 3 weeks has crushed me. I had plans to travel to Oregon to break my 5000 PR in August and that's been nixed for now. Still have a half marathon planned in October but it's quickly becoming something I may just trot through and not race at this point.
Thanks again!
The Home of Advanced Running
Advanced Running Instagram Page
My narcisstic training log
Last edited by:
justarunner: Jul 13, 15 23:44