Recovery from illness

Newbie

In Nov 2001 (aged 21), I had a bout of minimal change Glomerulo Nephritis ( a Renal condition). Prior to this I had done a lot of running and walking (Fells, Roads, Ultra). I was advised to stop after developing the condition, but want to start again. I am finding it difficult to train, finding I cannot keep the pace and distance up like I used to. I have also noticed joint pains. For my condition I was on Prednisilone (steroid commence on 25 mg dosage, reduced down until stopped totally) - now stopped, and am on Azothioprene (immuno suppressant 25mg daily).

I wanted to ask a number of questions:-

Should I be finding difficult to train? Is there anything I could do to make easing myself back into my old rythm any easier?

Will I pose any risks of complications to my condition if I begin running + Race walking again?

Any advice from knowledgable or experienced people would be greatly apprecited thanks.

PRESIDENT

I apologize, but I've never heard of this. Could you enlighten us about your condition?

Member

After almost 3 years of not running, you will notice a huge difference in pace and endurance. There is no quick way to resolve this that I know of besides just getting out there and training.

I looked at some websites regarding glomerulonephritis and they don't mention exercising on them. My guess is that you are ok as long as you don't push too hard. You probably shouldn't attempt anything that could cause dehydration. I'm not sure though.

I'm not a doctor, I do not play one on TV, and I did not sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night. So, take my words with a grain of salt. We can see what the "real" doctors say in the next few days.

Newbie

Minimal change means that the change is minimal.

Glomerulo nephritis basically means that there is inflammation in the Glomeruli, a membrame in your kidneys.

As a result of this, your kidneys don't function properly, so you get Haematuria, Proteinurea, Hyperlipidaemia, Odema + hyoertension. As a result of the loss of the protein Albumin in the urine, from the blood, therefore it uspsets your bloods water potential, and so you begin to lose fluid into the soft tissue (basically it builds up in your legs if you stand a lot, and in your back if you lie down a lot).

The steroids reduce the inflammation (so restoring renal function to normal). The Immuno suppressants reduce your immune system, so it is not attacking the body (which is what can cause GlomeruloNephritis) - this can be brought on by a relitively minor infection settling on a vunerable part of the body, and therefire causing complications.

I did run down my body a lot before I developed the condition, and I seem to remember developing a throat infection, but a throat swab brought no data to support this hypothesis. So it may be abuse and dehydration during an ultra that caused it?

Member

The Movie Geek

crazy cat lady

We can pretend to have answers but we're just a bunch of schmoes on the internet, without medical degrees or your complete history you'll get equally helpful of answers (ie, not helpful at all) by asking your magic 8 ball. You really need to see your doctor and be fully evaluated, especially since you were advised in 2001 to stop. Kidneys are pretty critical to life function, no sense in playing with fire.

The Pinball

Newbie

I have obviously talked to my Dr's about this, and have heard a variety of opinions. Obviously not everyone on here is a Dr, but I posted in the hope that there may be one on this site, who also knows about running. I need to find somone who knows both kidneys, and the sports.

As to which Ultra it was, it was a long distance race walk called the Parish which is 85 miles over hills, roads etc. Probably not heard of it, as it is the Isle of Man. Also done a fair few fell marathons, road marathons, and a lot of other races between 30- 40 miles length, both running and race walking.

Member

One of my neighbors is a a nephrologist??? (kidney doc). I "never" see her, but if I do maybe I can question her.

It seems like a long time since your incident, but I think kidneys are slow to recover. My husband would have "limited" knowledge. I do know that if I were to ask him, he would say that you should ask your doctor and he's not a specialist--but it's worth a shot. I'll try him tomorrow if he's not crabby (on call tonight).

I need to get my sorry butt to bed!

Newbie

Actually to correct you the kidneys are among the most resilient organs in the body, rather than being slow to recover. I regained 'normal' function relatively quickly (within a few days of drug treatment) and it was possible that they could have recovered without the drug therapy. It's just the weaning off process which is going on at the moment. However I need to know whether my return to running and racewalking would predjudice my health, and how to minimise the risks of this.

It would be useful if you could get the views of your neighbour, but I have spoken to Nephrologists in the past, and though many of them know kidneys, not many of them know running. What I was trying to do is to see if I could find a Dr who knew both, or any individual who has had similar problems to me, and find out how I could limit the risks to myself while continiuing to regain my former standards, and to exceed them (fingers crossed).

It would be appreciated if you could talk to them, as there are many different views, and it is useful to her them all.

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