Tendon Rupture!?!

This past summer, I went to see my local Family Practitioner.  It was a first time visit to this guy so we spent some time chatting about my activities and upcoming races.  I had gone to him because I was switching Doctors and I had a small infection that need to be treated.

The new Doctor knew my weekly mileage.  We talked about my training.  He. Knew.

He prescribed me, Fluoroquinolone.

Being the trusting person that I am, I filled the prescription and took it twice.  Two pills!

My next run was the day I had taken that second pill.  While I was running, I felt a niggle in my Achilles Tendon.  I thought that was strange because I had never had any problems with my Achilles in the past.  I shrugged it off and kept running.

The niggle kept raising it’s head  and got a bit more nigglish.  I was concerned.  I headed back to the house.  I had some compression sleeves and my “Stick” at the house.  I rolled out my calf, pulled on my compression sleeve and went out for a few more miles.

Hmmm….my Achilles was talking to me louder and louder.

Now, I may be a little slow on the uptake sometimes but I knew this wasn’t good.  I pulled the plug on the run and headed back to the house.

The rest of the day I had to walk carefully.  VERY carefully!  Any little step and my Achilles let me know it was unhappy. I couldn’t figure out what could have caused it!

The next day I was chatting with my Mother In Law.  She mentioned to me that _____ at their church had the exact same problem after taking antibiotics.

What!?!

MFH (My Favorite Husband) likes to tell me that “Google is my friend” so I ran over to my best friend and Googled that antibiotic.  I had just taken pill #3.

Fluoroquinolone: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4080593/

  • Symptoms of fluoroquinolone-related tendinopathy can present within hours of starting treatment or up to 6 months after ceasing treatment, and recovery can be slower and require a less aggressive approach early in rehabilitation than for other types of tendinopathy.
  • Treatment with fluoroquinolones should be discontinued and treatment with a nonquinolone antibiotic should be considered in patients who present with tendinopathy.
  • Clinicians, athletes, athletic trainers, and medical support teams should be aware of and alert to the potential adverse effects of fluoroquinolones.

Just. Lovely.

I called my new Doctor back and tried to politely ask, “You knew my training schedule!  Why in the world did you put me on this stuff!?!”  I really did try to be polite.  He told me to discontinue the antibiotic and he would phone in a different one.  He also said to take 5 days off from running to let the other antibiotic get out of my system.

First things first, I never did fill that second antibiotic.  I was gun shy now and wasn’t going to risk it.

From my research on Dr. Google, I had learned that the Achilles takes FOREVER to heal.  Oh Noooo!!!

The next thing I did on Dr. Google, was to research what I could do so I could continue training with an unhappy Achilles.  That’s where I learned about Rock Tape and/or KT Tape.  I watched Youtube videos on how to tape up your Achilles so as to be able to continue to train.

I drove to Dick Sportings Good to purchase some Rock Tape.  They didn’t carry the Rock Tape but they did have the KT Tape. I bought a roll.  The first day I was able to run, MFH taped me up and I carefully went out for some miles.

The KT Tape helped but it didn’t stick well.  We tried everything to get that stuff to stick.  It was a no go.  I finally ordered some Rock Tape online.  It stuck TONS better.  MFH  continued to tape me up and I continued to train.  This is the taping technique I used on my Achilles:

All of this to say, for the better part of 6 months, I’ve been running with Rock Tape to hold my Achilles together.  Today, for the first time since that disastrous morning, I ran 6 miles sans tape.

No Tape!!!

Granted it was a small 6 miler.  I kept the elevation as flat as I could but I wanted to test it out and see if I still had any niggles.  *view on today’s run*

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The Achilles was quiet!

YAY!!!

Bear in mind, for my 100 Miler in 18 days, I’m taping up.  This kid isn’t going to take any chances but this was super, super encouraging!!!

#AchillesDrama

#IRun4Aiden

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#teamZensah

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#AbbottWMM

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#ChafeX

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#AltraRunning #embracethespace #zerodrop

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#IRun4Ultra

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2 thoughts on “Tendon Rupture!?!

  1. MCM Mama Runs

    I’ve never had that issue, but I’ve never taken that antibiotic.

    I have had achilles issues and while I’m healed now, I find that if I’m feeling tweaky, wearing compression socks helps provide a little extra ankle support.

    Good luck on the 100 miler!

    1. the only one Post author

      Thank you! This was a first for me with Achilles problems. I’ve been living taped up and in my Zensah Compression Sleeves. I love Zensah products but over the past 6mo, it’s been a lifesaver!

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