Scary Medical Experience

[legion]

Sunday and Monday I got hit by some virus. I basically had the worst diarrhea I've ever had in my life. I moved my infant son's wet wipes and butt paste into my bathroom it was so bad. I pretty much stopped drinking and eating, because 20 minutes later it would be coming out of me, and I could barely sit as it was. I dropped 7 pounds in two days. I think that I was pretty dehydrated.

Tuesday I go back to work and I hit the gym afterwards, running my usual 7 miles on treadmill.

Wednesday I take off from exercise.

Thursday I went to the gym again. I had an iced-tea at breakfast and another at lunch. I took a leak before running. I ran my 7 miles, grabbed a drink of water, and had to urinate again (which is strange after running). While doing the deed, I glanced down and see that I am peeing what appears to be straight blood. I was freaked out. I'd never had that happen. Five minutes later I had to pee again and the same thing happened. I was in no pain whatsoever, so there was no indication beforehand that something might be wrong.

I took a quick shower and went straight to the Prompt Care office near the gym. 45 minutes later I was providing a urine sample and it looked pretty normal (if not a little on the dark yellow side). The doctor told me that test strips indicate that there is blood in my urine, and I should see my doctor again the next day. She said that she thinks that either I have a kidney infection, or that my vigorous workout coupled with my apparent dehydration made the fluid from muscle breakdown that occurs during such workouts to go straight to my bladder, undiluted. I am prescribed and antibiotic, just in case.

After I get home, I drank what seems to be around a gallon of water. I urinated a little, but not as much as I took in. Everything looks normal.

I went back to see my doctor the next day provided yet another urine sample. My doctor thinks the issue is either the muscle fluid thing, or I have something like a leaky blood vessel on my bladder. He said that the test strips indicate blood in my urine, but 13 or so hours after the episode, that's to be expected. He will have the sample sent off for micro-analysis. If that comes back negative for blood, my problem was probably dehydration + excessive exercise. Apparently the test strips will be positive for blood if it is blood or muscle fluid.

I get a call back later in the day: urine normal, negative for blood. I guess the lesson here is to stay hydrated. I really feel like an idiot now.

[Chocaholic]

No diagnosis here regarding your condition but...after reading your description of Sunday and Monday, only to be followed by a 7 mile run on Tuesday...well, I won't tell you what I thought, because you wouldn't like it. Let's just say it has something to do with being dummer than dirt.

Next time you crap your brains out for two days straight....TAKE A DAY OFF!

Sheesh. A bit of common sense can go a long way.

[Targa Me]

I had a friend who died from dehydration. He was only 42, had a wife and 2 young boys.

Dehydration is nothing to mess with.

[Noah930]

I'm on an iPad, so it's a royal PITA to quote from your long OP, but it was a big mistake to not drink because it would just be coming out of you 20 min later. That's **especially** when you have to stay on top of your fluids, despite the social inconvenience. I've got lots of stories on how mostly older people do that, and it winds up as a death spiral.

What did your bloodwork say? It's great that your urine is clearing up, but what about your chemistries? And there are about 10 different things a urinalysis lists (even without the micro). Those other indicators will reflect whether or not you had protein in your urine, leukocyte esterase, bacteria, your specific gravity, etc.

[widgeon13]

I have a friend who put all four family members in emerg room after eating bad Omaha steaks. The wife damn near died from plummeting BP due to dehydration. She was vomiting and diarrhea shortly after eating. The father and kids were not that bad but she ended up I'm ICU. Dehydration is a killer if not addressed quickly.

[Tobra]

Pretty sure what you describe is the number one killer of little kids around the world.

Gatorade is maybe better than water, or dilute Gatorade. If you get dehydrated enough that you don't pee, you are in big trouble.

[fintstone]

I have been really ramping up my fitness regimen and had almost the exact same thing...gross hematuria (urine almost pure blood) recently (a few months back) immediately after a couple of really hard (fast) miles on the treadmill. Pretty scary, but not really all that unusual for distance runners or after exercise. Mine has not come back and my recent physical was almost perfect...blood pressure, cholesterol, etc (like I was 20 years younger. Could be something else, but suspect your's was the same as mine. Glad to hear you checked out ok.

[Embraer]

last month, something similar happened to me. hard work out routine, stomach bug....resulting in 2 litres of IV fluid at the urgent care. prior to the dehydration, it was coming out of both ends of me for 2 days straight.

nothing to be messed with

[legion]

I went back to my regular eating/fluid intake on Tuesday, but did nothing special to rehydrate. I've never ever had a stomach bug like this in my life, so I'm not well-versed on the conventional wisdom. Heck, I've only had diarhea once before, decades ago. I don't get sick often. Not even every year. I'm used to occassionally taking a day off of work for a headache or cough, and being perfectly fine the next day and getting right back into my routine. This is the first time I've had a multi-day illness in 16 years. I'm not used to being sick and consequently don't have a lot of knowledge about how to be sick.

I must have gone to the bathroom 30-40 times on Sunday and a quarter of that on Monday. I don't generally mind it coming out of me, but the frequency caused my rear to become quite swollen/sensitive/bleed. Also, when the urge hit, there was no stopping it, not even for 30 seconds to get from my bed to the bathroom. I didn't get warnings, I got notifications of what was already in progress. It was an excruciatingly painful experience and I didn't even sleep Sunday night because of it. Screw the "social inconvenience", I was already at home and I just wanted the pain to decrease for a little while and to be able to sleep.

As for the blood work, everything came back normal. Nothing out of whack. Everything well within accepted guidelines. My blood pressure was slightly elevated when I went to Prompt Care Thursday, but was back to normal the next day when I saw my doctor.

I did take Friday off from running. I'm going to go back today and run at a moderate pace. I'm blessed with the kind of metabolism that is a gift in an apocalypse, but a curse in modern society. I can pack on fat very quickly and have to eat small, controlled meals and exercise very frequently just to maintain myself at 20-30 lbs. overweight. I dropped 50 lbs. 1.5 years ago by completely revamping my diet (closely watching carbs, sodium, fat, and calories) I've plateaued since. I actually started to gain some weight back again when I started running in August. I'm very nervous about taking too much time off from exercise because I fear that I won't get around to taking it up again if I get too used to not doing it.

[craigster59]

Question for the Docs, I was at Mule Days in Bishop years ago, where one of the mules was almost ready to drop from the heat. They ran to the store and bought Pedialyte to mix with water. Gave it to the animal and it was good as new in 20 min.

Is it better to drink Pedialyte than Gatorade when you have the flu or dehydration? I know Gatorade is cheaper, but would think Pedialyte is quicker and may stay down better?

[Laneco]

The object is to get water and electrolytes back into your system. You can do that with either product. Gatorade (depending on which one) usually has more sugar and if your stomach is rebelling, that can be a deal breaker. Pedialyte has less sugar and usually easier to tolerate. Doesn't taste as good, but drink it with ICE and that helps the issue.

I use Hammer FIZZ tablets for electrolytes during bike rides. When I'm sick, I just drop half of one into a glass of water and drink that. Tastes better than pedialyte and its really easy for me to tolerate on an upset stomach. But...certainly not as readily available as either pedialyte or Gatorade.

angela

[Moses]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

No diagnosis here regarding your condition but...after reading your description of Sunday and Monday, only to be followed by a 7 mile run on Tuesday...well, I won't tell you what I thought, because you wouldn't like it. Let's just say it has something to do with being dummer than dirt.

Next time you crap your brains out for two days straight....TAKE A DAY OFF!

Sheesh. A bit of common sense can go a long way.

Those were my thoughts exactly...

Very similar story in our local emergency room recently. Dehydration, hypovolemia, vigorous exercise. That led to a fatal cardiac arrhythmia in a 45 year old guy who was in fantastic condition and his autopsy showed no underlying cardiac disease at all.

You got off with a little hematuria and dodged a Darwin Award.

[wildthing]

First sign of diarrhea for my kids, I give them Pedialyte. I would imagine there's an equivalent for adults... Maybe even just Gatorade but I could be wrong.

[Noah930]

Gatorade (and similar drinks) and Pedialyte are both good. It's not just the fluid loss that's the issue, but that we lose electrolytes (particularly potassium) during copious diarrhea. So ideally you're not just rehydrating with water, but water with electrolytes (such as is found in Gatorade and Pedialyte). Unless you've got a lab at home to run blood chemistries and titrate IV fluid replacement, I think both Gatorade and Pedialyte are good options.

The kidneys are the smartest organs in our bodies. When they start going, it's generally bad. That's not just reflected in volume of urine output, but also what kidney function markers (such as BUN & creatinine) in our blood chemistries say.

[Tobra]

It is easier to get a kid to drink watered down Gatorade than Pedialyte. There are Pedialyte pops too, like popsicles. Don't guzzle it down, or you will get a second look at it. After clear liquids are tolerated, I'll advance them to dry toast. Overcooked rice with a little cinnamon will stay down pretty easy too.

With a kid, 5 pounds of water weight is a lot more significant than in a 170 pound adult. Bad things can happen fast with little kids WRT hydration.

[john70t]

Other than H2O, what are the active 'electrolyte' ingredients in Gatorade/Pedialyte?
Salt and potassium?

Doesn't the military give soldiers salt tablets to retain water in the desert?
If so, a salt water enema might be the best temporary fix.

[nostatic]

Dilute grape juice can help, as can flat ginger ale. I've ended up in the emergency room twice with gastroenteritis - after vomiting pretty much non-stop for 12-14 hours. As others have said, going back to exercise the next day is in the "young and stupid" category of things to do. Even when I have a gastro bug I'm constantly sipping fluids or sucking on crushed ice. Hydration is everything, especially when you're sick.

[Tobra]

potassium and sodium in both, I don't think pedialyte has sucrose in it, Gatorade has dextrose and sucrose, or it used to, probably HFCS now.

[NY65912]

I had dehydration due to my Crohn's Disease. It was a very bad experience. I had to go to the ER as my muscles were cramping and I was going in and out of consciousness. I got pumped full of IV fluids and potassium, I hate getting hooked up to that pump, it is not pleasant.

Dehydration is not something to take lightly as is often the case.

[dewolf]

Originally Posted by Tobra

With a kid, 5 pounds of water weight is a lot more significant than in a 170 pound adult. Bad things can happen fast with little kids WRT hydration.

Almost lost my son when he was three to Rotavirus. Took him to the ER and they said it was just gastro(which it is, just aggresive). He kept vomiting and crapping clear vile smelling liquid for 12 hours. Took him to the ER again where the Dr done the pinch test and his skin stuck together. He had IV's in both arms to try and get fluids back. His pulse was down to 40 and he was barely conscious. Scary sh$$t. Touch and go for 24 hours.