Die, You Retic!

   Okay, that was really bad. The title of this post, I mean.
   Because I have absolutely NO running lately to blog about and yet still have this weird desire to call myself a Canuck Running Blogger, I offer up this short little effort about a subject I don't think I've actually seen addressed anywhere in regards to running.
   I take a diuretic on a regular basis (okay, does the post title make sense now?) as a component of another medication I take regularly which helps keep my blood pressure in check. Chances are I'll be taking this med long-term and it's already been several years with no real detrimental side effects I've been able to ascertain.
   It does, however, affect my running.
   Because I am a man and men are (occasionally) stupid, it has happened that I've forgotten to take this particular med from time to time. It's also happened that I've run out of it and time has elapsed before I've acquired more.
   Two years ago, shortly after I'd begun participating in the Running Room Learn-to-Run classes, I was running along a sidestreet in downtown London with the other members of the class and found I could barely breathe. We'd travelled all of half a block and I had the very real fear that I wasn't going to be able to complete the run. I couldn't remember ever feeling quite this way!
   I recall one of the co-leaders of the group realizing I was having difficulties and pulling up along side of me to offer support and advice. Nothing much she had to offer, though, did any good. I finally was able to complete the run but just barely.
   I am fairly self-analytical when it comes to most things sports- and health-related and found myself scratching my head about it all the way back in the car.
   When I got home, it dawned on me.
   About four days earlier, I had run out of meds. I'd called and re-ordered them but then life happened and I never managed to get back in and pick up my prescription. Essentially, the lack of diuretic in my system had filled me up with fluid to the point where my lungs were acting at much less than capacity.
   I might not have made that connection, however, had it not been for my experience with my Dad several months earlier.
   I had received a call from his pharmacy saying that my Dad was there to pick up his meds and that he was having a very difficult time catching his breath. I immediately went to investigate and discovered that he basically was unable to take any more than about ten halting steps before needing to rest and let his breathing catch up. I managed to get him to the nearest emergency department and they immediately began testing and bloodwork. To make a long story somewhat shorter, they discovered he was suffering from congestive heart failure and that his system was no longer able to properly handle the fluids in it. They pumped him full of heavy-duty diuretics and he immediately felt better and could breathe much more easily. Ever since then, I've been much more aware of the fluid levels in my system.
   Once I got "caught up" with my diuretic, life returned to normal, I've not had the same probs anymore (which is not to say that haven't been out of breath while running) and I pay much more attention to taking my meds appropriately.
   Having said that, I did just miss two days of the diuretic again (I'm a man...) and although I didn't experience any breathing difficulties (when you don't actually run, breathing's pretty easy) what I did notice is that I gained a couple of unexplained pounds. I do a pretty good job of explaining away weight losses and gains given how much food and/or exercise I've had so when a couple of pounds appear mysteriously I can usually blame forgetting my meds.
   To be clear here, I am in no way a medical person and I do not endorse diuretics as part of a weight-loss strategy! So far from it! I did want to offer just a little bit of my own insight into a possibly running-related health issue I've never heard anyone else bring up anywhere, so that if perhaps you were already on some kind of health regimen involving a diuretic and a similar situation as what I described above occurred, you might be able to put the pieces together a little more quickly! (whew, breathing hard after a long run-on sentence now!)
   So in the meantime, happy and healthy running to you all and I've gotta go pee now....