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Professional athlete with kidney problem

Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2016 2:34 am
by Rjf5840
Hi there, I am a 28 year old professional athlete and I have recently been suffering with kidney problems.

Dehydration and illness caused my gfr to reduce to 46 and this effected my physical performance and causing fatigue much quicker than usual.

The doctors have told me not to train for a month while my kidney function increases.

Has anyone had problems while exercising?

Re: Professional athlete with kidney problem

Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 3:04 pm
by Thumps
Hi there

Certainly I found that when I had severe kidney failure I tired much more easily, had a longer recovery time and had to do less/shorter sessions when I was able to exercise. I also lost muscle mass and stamina. You need time to have your body recover before you push it too hard. Sounds like your doctor is giving you reasonable advice. It may not be that you need to stop working out entirely, but dropping the number and intensity of sessions would seem sensible, while still doing enough to avoid losing too much fitness. If you're a professional presumably you have a coach? Do they agree with your doctor's assessment?

Re: Professional athlete with kidney problem

Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2016 9:47 am
by rheaybou
It's a strange situation with kidney failure.

Before knowing I had any problems I was in my early 30's and noticing that my ability to recover after two games of amateur football on a Saturday and Sunday was reducing and my times for 10k and half marathons were slowly increasing, this I put down to aging. Even on the day of my diagnosis I was playing in a competitive five a side game, without ever knowing I had just 8% function.

However my ability to function better in life and to recover from surgery was helped by my fitness, this was evident as I left hospital less in just under 96 hours after my living donor transplant just 18 months after initial diagnosis.

It sounds like your Dr is doing the right thing, give your body time to recover and see if the issue was caused with dehydration. As a professional athlete you should know the benefit of feeding your body correctly so I hope that all goes well for you.


Unlike john, I know that once the kidney is damaged there is no way that it will repair itself IF you are diagnosed correctly with CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE/FAILURE. Now with ACUTE KIDNEY FAILURE/INJURY it is possible to regain function, this is what it seems your Dr is pushing towards.

Re: Professional athlete with kidney problem

Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2016 1:31 am
by Rjf5840
Thanks very much for your replays.

I am taking the doctors advice, I am a combats sport athlete and a big part is making weight for a fight where you dehydrate yourself for 24 hours before the weigh in which has contributed to my low kidney function. Plus 10 years of my weight fluctuating up and down due to competitions hasn't helped at all.

I have had previous kidney infections last year which I don't know contributed towards my low function.

I haven't been diagnosed with CKD, how is it diagnosed?

Also if I do have it will my fighting days be over?

Thanks for the information.

Re: Professional athlete with kidney problem

Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2016 2:50 pm
by wagolynn
Hi Rjf5840,

This website will help you sort a few things out. http://www.kidneypatientguide.org.uk/contents.php

This one is more technical. http://www.edren.org/ click on the Hand Book.