I am 27, male. Why do I get tired during anaerobic workouts?

Question

Hello doctor,

I am a 27-year-old man and a student of ecological solutions. I do a little bit of sport. I eat a balanced diet. I have fatigue and headaches when I do anaerobic exercise and when I read a book. According to my doctor, my average blood pressure is 12.8 or 12.7.

All my family members are in good health. My mother's sister has osteoporosis. Reading a book or something else gives me a headache and fatigue, so I need to rest after reading something. When I need to read something, I must drink a lot of water to be less tired, because if I do not drink a lot of water before reading, I need to rest five times more than usual.

Because of this, I have stopped my schooling. I got my standard blood test, TSH, and lipid test done. I used to run for one hour on the weekends. I want to do home bodybuilding like push-ups, but I cannot do it like I used to before. I do not know why my anaerobic capacity has decreased a lot in the last three years. When I do push-ups or other anaerobic exercises like 100 m speed running, I have really bad results; I take too much time to do this kind of exercise.

I am abnormally getting breathless, and my heart beats fast. I was not like that before six years, but my physical appearance has not changed. I must drink 2.12 pints of water 35 minutes before running; if I do not, then I cannot even stand for ten minutes. If I drink a lot of water, like 2.12 pints, 40 minutes before, I can do 70 push-ups in the first series, but if I drink only one or two glasses of water 10 minutes before, I cannot do 45 push-ups, and my heart begins to beat hard, and I am completely breathless and tired.

After a running session of 40 minutes to one hour, immediately when I begin to stretch my leg muscles, even if I am completely relaxed and feel good, without any breathlessness. When I do my stretching, my heart begins to beat very fast and hard, and I begin to be breathless. Then I had to wait, drink water, and stretch very slowly. I have never felt this before, and I used to work at school with pleasure, read some books, and do sports more easily. My sweater has a strange smell after sports. It smells something like a rotten wood plank. It is a smooth, bad odor, not too aggressive, but really unusual.

The few doctors I have seen do not know what the source of the problem is, but we found that I do not have good thermoregulation because I am cold and need a lot of clothes. It seems like I feel better when I am in a vasodilation period, like under the sun or in a hot place. So, I tried a supplement called Citrulline six months ago to have more arginine in the body and better vasodilation. Indeed, I feel really less tired since I take the Citrulline. I feel like my muscle cells and other tissues are more supplied with something that I need in these cells. Citrulline helped a bit, but it did not resolve the problem.

Hope you could help me.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

All your clinical problems appear to be related to anaerobic respiration. Based on your query, my opinion is as follows: Oxygen is most important for respiration. Anaerobic respiration mainly occurs because of reduced oxygen. You might require a lung function test to evaluate for adequate oxygenation.

If you are a smoker or exposed to pollution, dust, or industrial exposure, your anemia can be affected. Anemia requires evaluation. Hope your hemoglobin level is within normal limits. Get a hemogram done.

Anaerobic respiration leads to lactic acid production. This lactic acid accumulation causes muscle pain and tiredness. Get your lactic acid accumulation level in your blood evaluated before and after exercise. Lactic acid level requires correlation with possible muscle storage disorders or dystrophies compared to exercise; there may be increased lactic acid production. Hydration would wash away this lactic acid, possibly making you feel better.

Meet a biochemist to get yourself tested for lactic acid increase and possible causes. Sweat glands can produce an abnormal smell depending on diet. Look into your diet closely. Citrulline produces nitric oxide, leading to vasodilatation. It could be removing some amount of lactic acid or increasing oxygenation, but overall, the main cause from lungs to blood and blood to muscle requires identification. Get the tests for hemoglobin level, lung function tests, along with oxygen saturation and serum lactic acid. If all are normal, then muscle glycogen storage disorders or a muscle biopsy for any pathology may be necessary.

I hope this has helped you.

Please feel free to reach out to me again for further queries.

Thank you.

Answer 2

Hello,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

Thanks for reverting.

I am not sure how the adrenal function evaluation is going to help you. However, as you have asked, I am providing you with the same. Measurement of Metanephrine and VMA (vanillylmandelic acid) in urine specimens to evaluate for increased catecholamine. Measurement of serum concentration of aldosterone and renin by radioimmunoassay. For evaluation of abnormal cortisol metabolism, check for serum cortisol at 8 AM and 4 PM, Urine free cortisol, 17-hydroxycorticosteroids, 17-ketosteroids, 17-ketogenic steroids, and Plasma ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone).

For borderline cases of hypocorticism, check for Metyrapone (Metapirone) inhibition, hypoglycemic stimulation, and the ACTH stimulation test. For hypercorticism, get a low-dose dexamethasone test and a high-dose dexamethasone suppression test.

For enzymes evaluation in congenital adrenal hyperplasia, check for 21-hydroxylase, 11-hydroxylase and 17-hydroxylase. Further ultrasound abdomen, CT (computerized tomography) scan, FNAC (fine needle aspiration cytology) and biopsy (examination of tissue) along with immunohistochemistry (to check certain antigens) can also be done for structural evaluation and confirmation.

Thank you and take care.

Regards.