Rhabdomyolysis, or rhabdo, is a rare but potentially deadly condition that most commonly occurs in athletes during or directly after a particularly intense workout session. The intensity of the exercise causes muscle tissue to break down, and the byproducts of this process are then released into the bloodstream. One of those byproducts is myoglobin, and our kidneys are unable effectively filter it out of the blood—they’re so bad at this task, in fact, that myoglobin can cause massive kidney failure. In addition to kidney troubles, rhabdo causes severe muscle swelling, seizures, joint pain, and in severe cases, death.
If you’re not sufficiently terrified of this condition yet, keep reading. Here are five reasons why you should be aware of rhabdo.
- You’ve probably had it before.
While the most highly publicized cases of rhabdomyolysis involve people being sent to the ER and coming close to death, athletes and exercises enthusiasts develop less sever versions of the condition on a regular basis. Have your muscles ever felt stiff or tender after working? Chances are you were experienced mild rhabdo.
- It’s not just an exercise thing.
While you’re probably most familiar with rhabdo in relation to exercise, there are other ways you can develop this condition. For example, SSRI antidepressants can cause users to have muscle spasms strong enough to induce rhabdomyolysis. What’s even scarier is that even just lying down for long enough can cause rhabdo—eventually the weight of your body will begin to crush your muscles, which will release myoglobin.
- It can kill you quickly.
One of the symptoms associated with rhabdo is disseminated intravascular coagulation, or DIC. This is a condition that paradoxically causes mass clotting of your blood while also promoting uncontrolled rectal and vaginal bleeding. DIC occurs quickly, and it’s estimated that only about 50% of patients survive it. Even if you do manage to beat it, DIC can leave you with permanent limb and organ damage.
- You won’t know you’ve got it until it’s too late.
Most people who develop rhabdo don’t feel any different than normal until they collapse. They may experience things like soreness, fatigue, and light-headedness, but those are all symptoms that are commonly experienced after an intense workout. Without being able to recognize the warning signs, athletes endanger themselves by continuing to work out—which has proven fatal in more than once.
- Recovery can take a long time.
While the risk of death from rhabdo peaks after about 24 hours from the incident, full recovery can take much longer than that. Many sufferers report feeling tingling and weakness in their affected muscles for months afterward. Rebuilding the strength and endurance lost can sometimes take years.
