Reply With QuoteWhat "medical circumstances" are you referring to? It's difficult to attribute a biomarker to training if you are suggesting medical condition is present.
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Anion Gap High - Over training or normal?
Robert,
I was looking at some recent blood work/tests of mine and noticed that my Anion Gap test was near the high mark of acceptable (everything else was in middle save the BUN, but I think the creatine is throwing that off). I assume this high Anion Gap is because I am still pushing myself fairly hard (given the current medical circumstances), but wanted to ask. Is a high Anion Gap a sign of over training, a dietary deficiency...or just normal for strength training athletes?
Appreciate any thoughts you might have on this...
Starting Strength Coach
What "medical circumstances" are you referring to? It's difficult to attribute a biomarker to training if you are suggesting medical condition is present.
Member
A glomus tumor (jugulare) that is constricting the right carotid. As I understand it, this can cause fatigue and sleep issues (both symptoms are present).
I guess what I'm asking is, assuming a normal healthy strength athlete, would a high Anion Gap be considered normal? I've seen it said "over training or intense exercise" can cause a high gap, but am curious if this applies to "most" barbell strength training individuals (as in, it's pretty common) or is it possible a sign of over training or dietary insufficiencies that would cause an increase in the acid levels within the blood (high ketones and lactic acid)?
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High anion gap alone means basically nothing. If you had an acidosis or electrolyte abnormality, the anion gap might tell you about possible causes.
So you should probably ignore this, if your doctor isn't concerned. It might be from a little extra lactate floating around from training, but that doesn’t mean overtraining.
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And now that I reread your question, your AG isn’t even high. It’s “high normal.” Which is higher than “low normal” but both are still “normal.” So, even less to worry about than I mentioned.
Starting Strength Coach
Lactate does not cause acidosis and a strength training does not alter resting pH. I can maybe see a case if you give yourself rhabdo. What was your level and do you have trends from previous blood samples?Originally Posted by MarinePMI
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No previous blood tests to establish trends (yet). And as Sully mentioned, it was "high normal" (a 14 IIRC).
Honestly, I was just curious if there was a correlation (which it does not seem there is).
My training level is fairly moderate at this point (running at 80% 5RM for 5, these days), due to recovery issues (mostly sleep related, but also due to limited swallowing ability (nerve damage from the tumor)...makes getting enough protein/carbs down a real challenge). So, while looking at my current numbers, it's historically "moderate", there are days now (at my current 80% level) that I feel like someone really knocked my d*** in the dirt. Hence my question about over training.
At this point, I'm just trying to preserve muscle mass, and add a little BF, since in all likelihood, I'll not be able to swallow at all for the first 2-3 days post surgery. Just trying to plan ahead a bit (and understand what is happening to me as all this goes down).
Thanks again to both of you for the responses; it is much appreciated.
Starting Strength Coach
Yep, I think we can all conclude that it's likely fine due to it being in the normal range and you probably just need to find any and every way you can shovel down calories to get yourself a weight buffer for this surgery. Then when that gets squared you should be on the road to some healing and eventually a path to getting stronger.
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