Amy has run marathons and ultramarathons but her prior exercise didn't protect her from getting rhabdomyolysis. In this interview, Amy describes the events that caused her 3 bouts with rhabdomyolysis. In addition, we also discuss what happened when she was in the hospital, post rhabdo depression, support groups, and a possible dietary link to rhabdo. This is episode 79 of the Joe Cannon Health podcast, available here and you can subscribe for free on Apple and Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, Alexa Echo, Radio Public, Gaana, and pretty much everywhere else.
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My weight lifting stayed the same, but my cardio went from 250 calories to 800 calories on the stairmaster. My caloric intake at the same time went from 1200 to 800 calories of food per day. So I would say it was a mixture.
I should probably take more time off and see another doctor about this.
Also, unfortunately the Military believes they have it all figured out and won’t out any more effort into the well being of their members. I say that because they may never reach back out unless you get into contact with the right people at lower level commands.
That’s quite a drop in calories down to 800. Was there a reason you went down to that low level of calories? I’ve heard the military was revamping their fitness program. I’ll keep trying and maybe they will see me eventually.
I dropped that low because that is what my coach told me to do. I had to trust he knew what he was doing.
was the coach trying to get you to lose weight? I know the military has weight requirements. Was your coach also in the military? 800 calories a day is very low. Done for too long could stop your menstrual cycle which can contribute to bone loss.
Yes. I was trying to compete in a body building competition, in the figure division. I was about 4 weeks out from my show.
It sounds like the coach was trying to get you to lean out. That’s still pretty low in calories. How are you feeling today?
I got rabdo, definitely from my caloric deficit and maintaining my workouts. I was prepping for a bodybuilding a show.
Christina, thank you for telling me this. I’ve heard from others since I did this podcast who have said they too were eating fewer calories/ low carb when they developed rhabdo. Are you all better now?
I wish I could say I was 100%. I took the recommended time off and started working out again, two weeks later it was back but nearly as bad. When I feel it I have learned to just take a few days off. Being in the military, I can’t take too much time off from working out.
Christina, I understand the unique position you are in being in the military. I normally suggest taking 4-6 weeks off when someone has rhabdo. I’m guessing that is not an option being in the military. What do the military docs say about what happened to you and how to recover?
They asked me to take a month off and gave me no further information. I am requesting more labs and to see someone who specializes in this area. My concern is, I felt better but it feels like it came back so quick once I started working out again.
My guess is a sports medicine doctor may know most about this as they have probably seen other cases in the past. From what you said I think maybe you did not take enough time off when you returned to exercise. It’s hard to know how long it takes to recover some people recover in a few weeks and some it takes longer. When you got rhabdo were you doing anything different – in terms of exercise- or were you just cutting your carbs?
As an aside, I’ve offered my services to the military to do educational seminars on rhabdo but have not heard back from them. my guess everything moves slowly in the government. 🙂