[Injury] biceps

Long story short:
been working out about 2 months with a friend (has won 2 bodybuilder comps)
we change up our bicep/back routine on monday, which involved 12-15 sets of pullups
i feel fine during the session, and during the evening
i wake up tuesday and have ALOT of pain/soreness in my biceps/inner elbow, and cannot fully extend either arm without extreme pain
i ice it, stretch it, take ibuprofen, and go on with my day
wednesday i wake up and both biceps are swollen to where you can barely see the muscle... looked like a bad case of tendonitis so i ice it, elevate it, take meds, and just relax at work
woke up this morninng and the swelling is even worse, so i go to the doc, who then brings in 3-4 other docs who end up sending me for x-rays (wtf?), have blood drawn, and schedule physical therapy
i wait for the x-rays to come back, the docs say everything is fine (wtf again?) and send me back to work
after relaxing at work for 2 hours, i get a phone call saying i have abnormalities in my blood, and to come to the clinic
turns out i have excess "creatine kinase" in my blood, and mind you i dont take any supplements, not even protein
they then sent me to the downtown hospital for more thorough blood tests done, and because it is same-day results

so now im sitting here, waiting to find out when my arms are going to be chopped off :(

interesting. Ive had pain in my arms, like you describe after switching it up, but nowhere near that painful, and never swollen. You may have just really overworked your arms. It'll be interesting to hear the diagnosis.

yikes

stop posting all these injuries now im getting scared

required TW answer:
you sure your bodybuilder friend didn't slip anything into your water?

sounds bizarre, hopefully everything is fine.

I've over trained my biceps to where they have swollen like you explained. I also couldn't extend my arms straight without pain. I didn't work bi's for about a month and after that i made sure not to over train them again.

i had this thread in the back of my mind while doing pullups today

ive pulled my biceps before (which hurt like a bitch) but never experienced swelling like the OP is describing

good luck dude

this thread gives me the willies

Sounds like rhabdomyolysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhabdomyolysis) - very serious and potentially fatal condition. Don't take this lightly - follow your doctors' instructions.

Sounds like you're creatin a lot of phosphorylation lolollolool

Pussy

OP - how did this pan out?

Sounds like rhabdomyolysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhabdomyolysis) - very serious and potentially fatal condition. Don't take this lightly - follow your doctors' instructions.

This seems reasonable as an explanation.

turns out i had a bad case of tendonitis, possibly some torn parts of my muscle

i am in the military and the on-base clinic made me go to the ER at the local hospital
my blood tests came back with my Creatine Kinase level @ 61,000, the normal level is 35-235
i would have had kidney failure if i would have gone 2-3 more days without treatment

now i cant go back to work until wednesday, and im on a light-work profile for 3 weeks..

edit: i was kept in the hospital from thursday night around 9pm, until today (sunday) around 12pm
they always had a IV hooked up to me, pumping at the maximum amount, and i had to drink a shitload of water
they let me go with my CK level still at 25,000 but its because my arms are almost fully healed, and the swelling is almost completely gone

damn man.

im glad you're okay but what's the recovery time look like?

for the CK level to come back down to normal, i would say a full week with how bad i damaged my muscles.

but working out again? im going to wait a couple weeks

how did your CK levels get so high? To me that seems to be a big mystery, especially such a high level.

because i damaged my muscles really bad... idk, thats just what my charts said, im not a doctor

you're creatine levels will only go up if your kidneys can't clear it naturally. those levels are ridiculous. something really odd is going on there.

because i damaged my muscles really bad... idk, thats just what my charts said, im not a doctor

you're creatine levels will only go up if your kidneys can't clear it naturally. those levels are ridiculous. something really odd is going on there.

I don't know much about this. I'll ask around and find out more.

I agree with Rayn, those levels are outrageous. The fact that you did NOT experience kidney failure is a miracle.

i have been told i should have had kidney failure within 2-3 hours at creatine kinase levels that high by 4 doctors now.. i dont know what happened, maybe just the fact that im well hydrated is what helped

and i was also told i should have immediately been hooked up for dialysis