Son suddenly having health issues while running (Read 220 times)

Sure sounds like a classic case of over training and hitting his work outs too hard and cranking vs a steady progression. 

I agree with this.  True overtraining can take weeks or months of recovery. There is no cure but dialing it way back and taking it easy.

Has there been a change in waking heart rate?  How is his motivation? Did he run a lot over the summer?

It could be the stress of starting the school year combined with being already near the edge pushed him over the edge.  No need to answer publicly, but consider other stress as well, girlfriends, home life, applying to college, etc.

I would be very concerned about a BS value of 239 after any meal. !

First, I'd have him eat a normal meal, then repeat it 1 hr later to make sure it wasn't machine error.

If it was greater than 170, I'd be very concerned about diabetes and probably check HbA1C levels, fasting insulin levels.

If those were normal, I'd again consider overtraining, as this can raise cortisol which in turn can elevate blood glucose.

I'd definitely recommend against the glucose tablets until you know what you are dealing with.

650 you should have been in the hospital

300 is still high

Yeah, that's why he thought it was a mistake. I felt perfectly fine, although at the time I was probably only running 20 miles a week and cycling 50. EKG last year showed a dip that the Dr said "if you weren't right in front of me and talking with me, I'd say you were having a heart attack by looking at this". It just shows that medical measurements and testing can be incorrect. Multiple tests need to be done in order to establish a trend.

The problem with "normal ranges" assumes you are an average 150 lb person.  They aren't designed for athletes or people like me: female 4'9" and 95 lbs.  I'm nowhere near a normal adult size and these tests aren't designed for child sized adults. "Normal" creatine levels for the average adult make it look like I'm taking in excessive protein or a bodybuilder.  I run 18 to 20% body fat.  See if you can find a sports doc who knows runners. Overtraining is sneaky too so don't discount that.

Sorry for the long silence,  here is the latest update on Eli.

After about 3 Dr. visits and several different blood tests and a chest x-ray, still dont have a diagnosis.  Primary doctor is stumped.  Have more tests scheduled for next week.  That's all the bad news.  The good news is he does seem to be improving some.  Been running less this week but issues seem to be improved.  After our most recent Dr. visit yesterday we plan to increase his Iron intake as well as Glucose tablets before his workouts. 3 weeks ago he was having to stop running after only a few minutes (both in practices and competitions) due to both leg pain (almost exclusively his quads/thighs) as well as severe nausea.  Now it is typically one or the other and they seem to alternate now instead of having both.  They also dont hit him as quickly in his run.  He is now able to do about 2 miles before he has symptoms and a few times he has pushed thru and they have actually improved while running.

One of the oddest things is he recovers in literally 3-5 minutes and can immediately run another 2 miles as if he never ran at all.  In fact the other day, his 2nd 2 mile run was faster than his 1st 2 miles (before he had to stop due to the leg pain).  The 2nd run he stopped due to the nausea....no leg pain at all.

We dont believe its him over training.  Only 1-2 months ago he was running 7-9 miles consistently (and at a fairly fast pace) without any ill-effects.  In fact, many times after those runs he felt really good and told me he could have kept going. That indicates to us its not over-training since he is running much shorter distances this month and not working nearly as hard as he did in the preseason or during his recent track season.

No heart issues, pulse is ridiculously steady...even during/after workouts.  No dizziness, no numbness. Has never fainted or even felt light-headed.  In fact the ONLY time he has any symptoms is when he is actually running (thankfully). All the tests have come back negative on every test we have run so far.  Dr. admits he isnt a runner and (thanks to you guys) was fine with us increasing his Iron to see if the ferritin could be a factor as many have suggested.  We are all optimistic that will make a difference.  He is still keeping a detailed journal on meals, sleep, workouts and his daily blood tests.  With enough data we hope that might also shed some light on whats happening.

I want to thank each of you for your input and concern for my son.  Nice to see the internet also has a good side

 

We dont believe its him over training.  Only 1-2 months ago he was running 7-9 miles consistently (and at a fairly fast pace) without any ill-effects.  In fact, many times after those runs he felt really good and told me he could have kept going. That indicates to us its not over-training since he is running much shorter distances this month and not working nearly as hard as he did in the preseason or during his recent track season.

 

I wouldn't be so dismissive about the overtraining hypothesis. A body can only maintain peak fitness for so long before things start to break down, and it is entirely possible your son peaked 1-2 months ago.This is a vexing problem for cross-country runners, and often the runners who win meets at the beginning of the season are not the ones who go on to win conference and state.

So yeah, keep working with his doctor to rule out illness, but don't be surprise if they come up with no explanation.

Aside from the issues, does he still enjoy running and competition?  Speaking generally here, kids pressured into athletics can have all kinds of weird symptoms that come from the dissonance of wanting to please parents but not really wanting to do the activity.