Anyone care to take a stab at this?

[lookslikesausage]

One of my best friends has been suffering with some weird but disturbing symptoms. He has no idea what it could be but it has caused him to stop working out for two years and the condition doesn't seem to be improving much or at least not at a rate that would be expected from a formerly very healthy person. I told him I'd post here to see if anyone had some input. A very big thanks to anyone who does. It sucks being in the dark in regards to one's health.

- It started in Feb. of 2020 with difficulty breathing when he’d lay down to go to bed so he stopped taking all supps (MK677, 30mg/day of Tbol, & 50mg/day of Anavar) but symptoms continued regardless.

- He was working out 4-5 days a week. The acutely bad phase was over the course of about 2-3 months and it all happened right at beginning of Covid outbreak so he couldn’t get any doctor appointments scheduled. He says that he never tested positive for Covid so that was ruled out. Again, this started with difficulty breathing when he’d lay down to go to bed.

- One night while he was on vacation he hit the gym and when he got back to his room and laid down to go to bed he had shortness of breath. It felt like something popped and there was a balloon expanding inside his chest. He went to the ER and nothing abnormal was found. He waited a couple weeks and felt a bit better so he went back to the gym.

- He did a chest workout and sprint intervals for cardio and then things went south. Intense crushing pain in his chest muscles, muscle spasms, and twingey type pains going down from his back between the shoulder blades to his hips.


Other symptoms:


- constipation; needed laxatives for a month.

- lost appetite and basically ate nothing for 4-6 weeks. BW went from 250 to 205.

- abnormal amount of phlegm in throat and every night would wake up in the middle of the night feeling like he was drowning.

- has a pulse oximeter and a few nights he’d wake up and the reading and down in the mid 80s.

- tingling nerve pain in my feet and hands. For a few weeks had trouble focusing his eyes and a sensitivity to light.

- tingling in ears

- started having heart palpitations



Medical Diagnosis:

- meds that were given: muscle relaxers (tizanidine), nerve pain medication (gabapentin) and klonopin 2-3 times daily for the past 18 months.

- stress test, echo cardiogram and cardiac catheterization; all returned normal.

- slightly elevated Creatinine & liver enzymes

- nerve conduction study was done and showed that peripheral nerve response was slightly lower than should be

- Cardiologists; has seen numerous. He wore two halter monitors and they showed the palpitations but according to the cardiologists the frequency of irregular heartbeats he has is below the threshold that is considered treatable. Coming from having 0 irregular heartbeats for the past 38 years he finds any irregular heart beats to be worrisome.



- Currently still has minor tingling in hands & feet. Breathing is better though.

- Still has heart palpitations, ringing in ears, muscle spasms and twingey pains. Other symptoms have subsided. Breathing and sleeping is almost back to normal.

- has done very little strenuous activity for the better part of the last 2 years. Has done walks/hikes but feels general muscular weakness.

- Any sort of lifting or moderately strenuous activity around the house (like yard work or lugging boxes up from the basement) and he gets muscular tightness/burning sensations. Hot showers and products like Bio freeze on the chest and back seem to help.

- Generally speaking, feels like it’s improving but incredibly slowly. No gym in almost 2 years.

I know this is a very long post and so I appreciate anyone who has read it. My friend is my age and never used a lot of gear. He dabbled here and there. Never was on year round or anything. He's pretty nervous. Has a wife and four kids. No one has really been able to help him much. Thanks for any and all input.

 

[Nik777]

Probably ct chest and abdomen is needed after two years

 

[maldorf]

Sounds like his doctors ran all of the right tests. Glad he had the cath and it came back normal.

 

[Reload]

- It started in Feb. of 2020 with difficulty breathing when he’d lay down to go to bed

Again, this started with difficulty breathing when he’d lay down to go to bed.

- One night while he was on vacation he hit the gym and when he got back to his room and laid down to go to bed he had shortness of breath. It felt like something popped and there was a balloon expanding inside his chest.

Other symptoms:

- lost appetite and basically ate nothing for 4-6 weeks. BW went from 250 to 205.

- abnormal amount of phlegm in throat and every night would wake up in the middle of the night feeling like he was drowning.

These symptoms are eerily similar to having a Hiatal Hernia and GERD due to it. He might want to see a gastroenterologist since he's seen just about every other specialist. Google Hiatal Hernia symptoms.

 

[lookslikesausage]

Thank you guys so much. I will pass this onto my friend.

 

[Dugbet]

I don't know if it will be the same, but my sister got Lyme disease from a tick, and she has had weakness, nausea, and loss of appetite for many months. Forget about exercising or even getting out of bed.

She did tons of gut tests, and finally that bacteria turned up.

Your friend could have something similar.

 

[heavyhitter]

Does he get hiccups a lot? That’s one of the signs of a hiatal hernia

 

[tenny]

These symptoms are eerily similar to having a Hiatal Hernia and GERD due to it. He might want to see a gastroenterologist since he's seen just about every other specialist. Google Hiatal Hernia symptoms.

bingo!!!!

 

[pickapeck]

Seems like multiple systems are effected. It could be some kind of ongoing intoxication of some sort. Mltiple systems seem impacted at subclinical or otherwise low end levels. He had whatever infection before any PCR or antigen test was available so COVID cannot be ruled out. There is what is called long COVID. The jabs are also associated with multiple system issues. Asside from that I would say he should inspect his environment and food sources for possible toxicants.

 

[Cerberus777]

I don't know if it will be the same, but my sister got Lyme disease from a tick, and she has had weakness, nausea, and loss of appetite for many months. Forget about exercising or even getting out of bed.

She did tons of gut tests, and finally that bacteria turned up.

Your friend could have something similar.

I went through this. Took 3 years and a lot of doctors to figure out what was wrong.

 

[caps83]

Does any autoimmune stuff run in his family that he knows of?

 

[Doctordave42]

Does any autoimmune stuff run in his family that he knows of?

This is a good direction to pursue. Atypical autoimmune disorders can present with a myriad of clinical signs and symptoms.

 

[johnjuanb1]

I’m sure the cardiologist would check this but the two people I knew with congestive heart failure couldn’t lie down to sleep due to the issues you described. They had to sleep upright in a chair or they felt like they were drowning. Lasix was one prescribed drug along with dijoxin. My friend had an enlarged heart to the point it couldn’t fully contract which caused fluids to back up causing the drowning feeling.

 

[maldorf]

I’m sure the cardiologist would check this but the two people I knew with congestive heart failure couldn’t lie down to sleep due to the issues you described. They had to sleep upright in a chair or they felt like they were drowning. Lasix was one prescribed drug along with dijoxin. My friend had an enlarged heart to the point it couldn’t fully contract which caused fluids to back up causing the drowning feeling.

My thought too, but he had tests like an echo and all was normal. Surprise to me. Surely sounds like heart failure. Luckily I'm not having problems that bad. I do think need a diuretic.

When the fluid backs up real bad, it builds up in the lungs and then people can cough it up. Some call it "drowning in your own fluids".

 

[maldorf]

Mike Matarazzo had it bad and eventually died from it. I'm hoping to not end up like him.

 

[graybass]

I'm older, exact same condition. Immediately diagnosis was congestive heart failure. The fluid explains every thing. I have a long family history of heart disease. Tell your friend lifting weights is the best thing for him but, he must WO in milder manner. I still train all my major muscle groups on their own days. I just train a little slower with bigger rests between sets. Needs to calm his ass down. Sprints an shit? that's nuts.
My cardiologist told me a strong body will fight off this disease way better than a weak body. The key is strength training with moderation.
Feeling like you are drowning in your sleep is a nightmare! Get back in the gym, train with more rest, moderately heavy, get stronger.
Lasix is my best friend.
Just my .02

 

[maldorf]

I'm older, exact same condition. Immediately diagnosis was congestive heart failure. The fluid explains every thing. I have a long family history of heart disease. Tell your friend lifting weights is the best thing for him but, he must WO in milder manner. I still train all my major muscle groups on their own days. I just train a little slower with bigger rests between sets. Needs to calm his ass down. Sprints an shit? that's nuts.
My cardiologist told me a strong body will fight off this disease way better than a weak body. The key is strength training with moderation.
Feeling like you are drowning in your sleep is a nightmare! Get back in the gym, train with more rest, moderately heavy, get stronger.
Lasix is my best friend.
Just my .02

Same here with my training. Longer rests to keep down the heart rate. Another thing, I don't go to failure on most lifts.

 

[Dugbet]

I went through this. Took 3 years and a lot of doctors to figure out what was wrong.

I do not want to hijack this thread, so if I have any problems or doubt that my sister might need, I will contact you. Thanks.

 

[lookslikesausage]

Again, I'd like to thank everyone for commenting in this thread. It's greatly appreciated.

So...talked to my friend. He said he saw a Gastro and they did not find a hiatal hernia. He also had a CT scan w/contrast but they were looking for a pulmonary embolism, which was not found. Lymes Disease is something that was not looked at and he will be looking into it. Celiac & Crohns do run in his family.

My friend now thinks that all of these symptoms were related to the gear he was taking because as he says, "symptoms went from 0-100" without any progression or buildup. He took the same three supplements (30mg/day Tbol, 50mg/day Var, and MK677) 2-3 months prior and had a bad chest cold and developed difficulty breathing while laying down. He stopped the supplements and symptoms subsided pretty fast. A few months later he started up again with the same supplement regimen and the symptoms came right back but this time when he stopped the symptoms continued.

In terms of progressive heart failure, he said that his breathing while laying down has improved and he hasn't taken any diuretics nor has he had any water retention in his ankles. Not sure if that rules that out but that's what he said when I mentioned congestive heart failure.

Because of the timeline of the onset of symptoms in relation to the gear, he believes these symptoms were an adverse reaction to one, some, or all of the gear. This is his opinion, not mine, and not a doctors. Whether or not he shared with any of the doctors his usage, I do not know. I'm no expert on gear and haven't touched any for about 15 years but did dabble back in the day (I educated myself through the boards and was not some newbie blindly using or abusing) and certainly used some questionable bathtub brewed shit myself but I (and him) are at a loss in terms of how these reactions could occur from the gear he used, especially at the low doses. Like what kind of ingredient would cause such severe reactions? Even if the shit was dirty, the sides still don't add up. Systemic infection, Anaphylaxis...that's not what he had.

He's due for a physical soon and he said he'll receive every possible blood screening (his wife has excellent insurance).

Any more input again is greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

 

[Richiey12]

One of my best friends has been suffering with some weird but disturbing symptoms. He has no idea what it could be but it has caused him to stop working out for two years and the condition doesn't seem to be improving much or at least not at a rate that would be expected from a formerly very healthy person. I told him I'd post here to see if anyone had some input. A very big thanks to anyone who does. It sucks being in the dark in regards to one's health.

- It started in Feb. of 2020 with difficulty breathing when he’d lay down to go to bed so he stopped taking all supps (MK677, 30mg/day of Tbol, & 50mg/day of Anavar) but symptoms continued regardless.

- He was working out 4-5 days a week. The acutely bad phase was over the course of about 2-3 months and it all happened right at beginning of Covid outbreak so he couldn’t get any doctor appointments scheduled. He says that he never tested positive for Covid so that was ruled out. Again, this started with difficulty breathing when he’d lay down to go to bed.

- One night while he was on vacation he hit the gym and when he got back to his room and laid down to go to bed he had shortness of breath. It felt like something popped and there was a balloon expanding inside his chest. He went to the ER and nothing abnormal was found. He waited a couple weeks and felt a bit better so he went back to the gym.

- He did a chest workout and sprint intervals for cardio and then things went south. Intense crushing pain in his chest muscles, muscle spasms, and twingey type pains going down from his back between the shoulder blades to his hips.


Other symptoms:


- constipation; needed laxatives for a month.

- lost appetite and basically ate nothing for 4-6 weeks. BW went from 250 to 205.

- abnormal amount of phlegm in throat and every night would wake up in the middle of the night feeling like he was drowning.

- has a pulse oximeter and a few nights he’d wake up and the reading and down in the mid 80s.

- tingling nerve pain in my feet and hands. For a few weeks had trouble focusing his eyes and a sensitivity to light.

- tingling in ears

- started having heart palpitations



Medical Diagnosis:

- meds that were given: muscle relaxers (tizanidine), nerve pain medication (gabapentin) and klonopin 2-3 times daily for the past 18 months.

- stress test, echo cardiogram and cardiac catheterization; all returned normal.

- slightly elevated Creatinine & liver enzymes

- nerve conduction study was done and showed that peripheral nerve response was slightly lower than should be

- Cardiologists; has seen numerous. He wore two halter monitors and they showed the palpitations but according to the cardiologists the frequency of irregular heartbeats he has is below the threshold that is considered treatable. Coming from having 0 irregular heartbeats for the past 38 years he finds any irregular heart beats to be worrisome.



- Currently still has minor tingling in hands & feet. Breathing is better though.

- Still has heart palpitations, ringing in ears, muscle spasms and twingey pains. Other symptoms have subsided. Breathing and sleeping is almost back to normal.

- has done very little strenuous activity for the better part of the last 2 years. Has done walks/hikes but feels general muscular weakness.

- Any sort of lifting or moderately strenuous activity around the house (like yard work or lugging boxes up from the basement) and he gets muscular tightness/burning sensations. Hot showers and products like Bio freeze on the chest and back seem to help.

- Generally speaking, feels like it’s improving but incredibly slowly. No gym in almost 2 years.

I know this is a very long post and so I appreciate anyone who has read it. My friend is my age and never used a lot of gear. He dabbled here and there. Never was on year round or anything. He's pretty nervous. Has a wife and four kids. No one has really been able to help him much. Thanks for any and all input.

I would assume sleep apnea because if apnea goes untreated it damages the heart, which might cause some chest pain especially doing rigorous activities. (Student nurse)