There are too many typos in this post to respond to. You do not have muscle "fascinations" and the doctor did not measure your "creatine" levels.
Member
Muscle fasciculations, fatigue and high creatine levels
Ripp (and anyone else)
I've been dealing with muscle fascinations since April. It started out in my adductor but now I have them in my calves. During this 3 month span I've started feeling fatigued and losing strength in the gym, and I've become intolerant to exercise. For a while, I thought that this was all in my head due to a lot of stress in my life, but I decided to go to the doctor last week since things aren't getting any better.
The doctor pulled blood and my results are normal except for my creatine levels which he said are nearly double that of normal and about half of that of someone who is hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis. He is referring me to a neurologist for additional testing. My question is this, is it that out of the ordinary to have elevated creatine levels for someone who engages in daily, strenuous activity such as weight lifting, and for someone who is constantly traversing difficult terrain as part of their profession? The big scary thing that I'm worried about is ALS or some time of motor neuron disease which I understand is exceptionally rare, particularly for someone in their late 30s.
Also are their any questions that I should ask the neurologist and is their anything I should, or shouldn't do while trying to continue on with my training?
TMPHBITEU
There are too many typos in this post to respond to. You do not have muscle "fascinations" and the doctor did not measure your "creatine" levels.
Member
There just happens to be a timely post in the articles section on Aches and Pains.
Member
Maybe you should check for a re-occurrence of Lyme Disease? Or maybe it has become chronic? I am not a doctor nor am I trying to play one but I did a search for this after I was diagnosed myself and wanted to see what advice was available. I came across this post.
http://startingstrength.com/resource...e-disease.html
I'm adding this so that in the future if anyone else searches for Lyme Disease that it might be of help to them.
My course of action was 21 day of meds, one additional week off (due to work demands)then back to lifting. I started on the meds two days prior to the rash showing. It was also recommended that I allow "full recovery efforts" go towards fighting the disease. While I wanted to lift, I figured a month off would be nothing compared to chronic Lyme Disease. For what it's worth, it appears to have worked as I started back this week in earnest with no joint ache or fatigue that I felt when I was first diagnosed. I lost a fair amount of strength but that will come back with work...
Member
Benign fasciculation syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia might prove somewhat informative; IANAD, but I'd be curious to know what your vitamin & mineral panel looks like.
Member
Admittedly, loss of strength, fasciculations, loss of muscle mass, and high creatinine levels are all symptoms of ALS. It is not a common occurrence, and even with these symptoms described the probability of the OP of having ALS is quite small.
I have a friend who had high *creatinine* levels when he was training heavy. I don't think that part is uncommon. Creatinine (not creatine, mind you) is a byproduct of muscle breakdown (among things) and the kidneys get rid of it, so an elevation may be indicative of kidney problems.
I'm not a (medical) doctor, so don't take my word for it but my money would be on overtraining. Are there any new supplements you've added lately? Huge amounts of caffeine? You're not trying to "cut" using ECA stacks or something silly like that?
Starting Strength Coach
ALS, or any other motor neuron disease, would not be on my differential at this point. There is a metric shit ton of information you would need to post to get any semblance of educated opinion on this. Are you on a statin?Originally Posted by VTHS
Member
OP, as someone with some experience in the neuromuscular disease field, this is not something to fuck around with on the internet. Could be nothing, legitimately - CK (what I assume you mean by creatine) can be elevated with intense activity like you describe, and fasciculations/weakness can be benign. However, a lot of these diseases (motor neuron, or primary muscle pathology a la myositis/myopathies) present with progressive weakness and an elevated CK. See your neurologist, and keep us posted with any further results (imaging, biopsies, labs etc).
Member
Sorry for the typos (that was an autocorrect error that I didn't catch) and getting creatine wrong. I called the doctor back, I thought he said creatine, but, as has been noted, he meant creatinine kinase (which was 505).
I'm hoping and thinking that all of this is related to anxiety and stress. But I am having physical symptoms, and I know stress and anxiety do create physical manifestations.
I'm not on a statin.
Most of my manifestations occur in my calves. My legs "feel" weak, and my balance is off, and it is as if my legs are rubbery. The calves have constant twitching and it has a sensation of something burrowing in side them. I've also developed a tremor in my left hand to the point that if I show someone a picture from off my cell phone, that they have a hard time focusing on it because of my shaking (this manifested itself about 6 weeks ago).
I've considered the Lyme Disease angle and I will ask the neurologist about it.
As for the CK number.....I'm guessing that a CK number of 505 is not extraordinary for someone who has work that is strenuous and after the strenuous work, weight trains in the evening. Is that a realistic rationalization?
TMPHBITEU
No, he didn't mean that either.
Not out of line at all. Here's an important question: how were the reference ranges for these values determined?As for the CK number.....I'm guessing that a CK number of 505 is not extraordinary for someone who has work that is strenuous and after the strenuous work, weight trains in the evening. Is that a realistic rationalization?
Posting Permissions