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Overtraining with fluid retention
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I’m a triathlete turned ultra runner who is suffering from prolonged fatigue. This forum is a wealth of knowledge and I’m wondering if any athletes who have struggled with OTS have any advice. I’ve had bouts of overreaching before but never fatigue that has lasted this long.

I completed two long events within a few months and haven’t felt right since. It’s now been 2 months. The first event was mountainous and took several days to complete while the second was a hot 100 miler. I was very fatigued after the first event but was able to resume training within 3-4 weeks.

I had an pretty bad race at the hot 100 miler, I succumbed to the heat and suffered dearly the last half. My legs had an abnormal amount of pain that night and I didn’t sleep a wink.
Since the event I have had a lot of water retention, fatigue, and have had intense bouts of depression that are seemingly unrelated to life circumstances. The edema is rather pronounced, normal crew socks often leave large indents in my calves.

I got some basic blood work done and the only thing that registered was slightly abnormal kidney numbers and a high hematocrit, which could obviously signal dehydration.

I have not exercised much since the event (25-40% normal volume) but I did try to “snap my body out of it” by training hard on skis for a several day stretch, which produced more fatigue and general swelling.

Any advice is welcome. And yes, I know that more rest is likely the only answer.
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Re: Overtraining with fluid retention [Ultra-slow] [ In reply to ]
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Did they test your magnesium levels?

I'm guessing your normal volume was pretty high, so 25-40% might be too much right now. You might be better off not training at all for a few weeks or just doing a little bit of super easy exercise each week.
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Re: Overtraining with fluid retention [Ultra-slow] [ In reply to ]
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Fatigue + fluid retention is a warning bell. Many things contribute to peripheral edema, and none of them is “normal”, ie physiologic. Talk to your PCP, that constellation of symptoms may be indicative of heart failure, kidney issues, thyroid issues, liver issues, medication side effects, the list goes on. Be wary of chalking all this up to to overtraining that would be a diagnosis of exclusion, after the serious stuff has been ruled out.
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Re: Overtraining with fluid retention [Supersquid] [ In reply to ]
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I didn’t get my magnesium checked but have been supplementing with it a bit. I’m backing down the volume more now since I don’t seem to be getting better.
Thank you for your reply.
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Re: Overtraining with fluid retention [eblackadder] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for your response. I’m seeing my doc who is an endurance athlete next week, I previously saw a PA who isn’t as familiar with my history.
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Re: Overtraining with fluid retention [Ultra-slow] [ In reply to ]
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you probably had Rhabdo, dehydration, and acute renal failure after the 100 miler. that would explain your severe muscle pain after the event, and current abnormal kidney test and fluid problems. that's just a guess from what you've described but you should definitely see you GP and probably a nephrologist. if you a healthy person you shouldn't have abnormal creatinine test.
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Re: Overtraining with fluid retention [jflan] [ In reply to ]
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jflan wrote:
you probably had Rhabdo, dehydration, and acute renal failure after the 100 miler. that would explain your severe muscle pain after the event, and current abnormal kidney test and fluid problems. that's just a guess from what you've described but you should definitely see you GP and probably a nephrologist. if you a healthy person you shouldn't have abnormal creatinine test.

It does not actually sound like rhabdo, if it was he would have ended up in icu on dialysis for sure. Unless he reports that he was passing urine that looked like cola rhabdo is unlikely.

These endurance events cause a massive immune/inflammatory hit. Oedema like you describe can be cardiac in nature, which given your symptoms and the potential things that can happen in these big events, needs to be looked into. A echocardiogram is probably one of the initial investigations they would do. Liver and kidney issues can also cause this, but would be less likely. How soon after the event were your hematocrit and kidney function deranged for?
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Re: Overtraining with fluid retention [Amnesia] [ In reply to ]
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there are obviously different degrees of rhabdo and AKI, only 50% or so have dark urine. So to say it doesn't sound like rhabdo when the OP described a hot 100 mile race in which he felt terrible, followed by severe uncharacteristic muscle pains, and now 2 mos later has abnormal renal function, well it's just silly to say it doesn't sound like rhabdo. it sounds exactly like rhabdo. i wouldn't dismiss a cardiac cause by any means, and would agree with an echo, but i wouldn't put my money on it being the cause.
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Re: Overtraining with fluid retention [jflan] [ In reply to ]
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jflan wrote:
there are obviously different degrees of rhabdo and AKI, only 50% or so have dark urine. So to say it doesn't sound like rhabdo when the OP described a hot 100 mile race in which he felt terrible, followed by severe uncharacteristic muscle pains, and now 2 mos later has abnormal renal function, well it's just silly to say it doesn't sound like rhabdo. it sounds exactly like rhabdo. i wouldn't dismiss a cardiac cause by any means, and would agree with an echo, but i wouldn't put my money on it being the cause.

I won't get into a pissing competition over how many cases of rhabdo either of us have managed, but one would expect the OP would have been a lot sicker and needed bloods etc done if he had rhabdo so bad to cause issues 2 months down the track. Not saying it's not the case, but if his rhabdo was that bad he would have had other stuff going on at the time which should have necessitated bloods etc.
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Re: Overtraining with fluid retention [eblackadder] [ In reply to ]
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eblackadder wrote:
Fatigue + fluid retention is a warning bell. Many things contribute to peripheral edema, and none of them is “normal”, ie physiologic. Talk to your PCP, that constellation of symptoms may be indicative of heart failure, kidney issues, thyroid issues, liver issues, medication side effects, the list goes on. Be wary of chalking all this up to to overtraining that would be a diagnosis of exclusion, after the serious stuff has been ruled out.

About a dozen years ago, I had all those symptoms except for the leg pain, along with an elevated heart rate. This wasn't after a hard event, it just seemed to come out of nowhere. Turns out I was having a reaction to minoxidil, which I had started using a few weeks earlier. I immediately quit using it, but it took several weeks to get back to normal...

"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10, and I don't know why!"
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Re: Overtraining with fluid retention [Ultra-slow] [ In reply to ]
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Ultra-slow wrote:
I’m a triathlete turned ultra runner who is suffering from prolonged fatigue. This forum is a wealth of knowledge and I’m wondering if any athletes who have struggled with OTS have any advice. I’ve had bouts of overreaching before but never fatigue that has lasted this long.
I completed two long events within a few months and haven’t felt right since. It’s now been 2 months. The first event was mountainous and took several days to complete while the second was a hot 100 miler. I was very fatigued after the first event but was able to resume training within 3-4 weeks.
I had an pretty bad race at the hot 100 miler, I succumbed to the heat and suffered dearly the last half. My legs had an abnormal amount of pain that night and I didn’t sleep a wink.
Since the event I have had a lot of water retention, fatigue, and have had intense bouts of depression that are seemingly unrelated to life circumstances. The edema is rather pronounced, normal crew socks often leave large indents in my calves.
I got some basic blood work done and the only thing that registered was slightly abnormal kidney numbers and a high hematocrit, which could obviously signal dehydration.
I have not exercised much since the event (25-40% normal volume) but I did try to “snap my body out of it” by training hard on skis for a several day stretch, which produced more fatigue and general swelling.
Any advice is welcome. And yes, I know that more rest is likely the only answer.

JOOC, how much is your weight up now vs pre-race??? Has your post-race weight declined any since the 2nd race???


"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."
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Re: Overtraining with fluid retention [Ultra-slow] [ In reply to ]
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Have you had your cortisol hormone checked? Could be secondary adrenal insufficiency which is not uncommon in overtrained athletes. It mostly has to do with how your pituitary (brain) communicates with your adrenal glands (kidneys) via hormones, which controls cortisol release (response to stress). Among several other things, it can affect your mood/depression, and your body's ability to manage electrolyte levels where you can experience water retention.

I would say the only safe amount of training right now is 0% (no, not even 25-40%) training volume and for a good amount of time at this stage; You need to shed all fatigue and allow your hormones and systems to rebalance before returning to training. When you do start training again do it very gradually. Sometimes full recovery from training and subsequent events can take months, so don't rush things.

Alan Couzens has a good segment about the importance of recovery and the off season, as well as other bits on recovery. The main point is, athletes often do too much post season/race and don't fully recover.

Your edema sounds pretty concerning, definitely continue to look into more with your doc, and just stop training until you figure it out and/or start getting better. Training will not dig you out of this hole.

Best

Matt Leu, M.S. Kinesiology
San Pedro Fit Works, Los Angeles, CA
Endurance Athlete and Coach
Consistency/time=results
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