gforeman 

I'm a big guy, pretty strong. Biked 4500 miles last year. Age 57. I had knee surgery in April and have been riding since 3 weeks after. Only some pain at night, but doing pretty good...until a few weeks ago. Lower back and at the top of my thighs hurting. I sneeze and feel like I am going to my knees.

I went back to my rehab center. They did some work on me, gave me some PT routines. Then my calves started hurting. It got worse. They have done message work on both calves the last two weeks.

Now I feel I have no muscle in my calves. I bike, but I feel I am at the end of a 100 mile marathon before I even start. Did 20 miles today. A few hours later while at the grocery store with the wife, I almost could not walk. I feel again like I ran a marathon. I could not raise up on my toes if my life depended on it. I can't figure this out. I feel strong from the waist up, but like an invalid from the waist down. Walking up stairs takes all my strength.

Any one EVER experience this?

Frizlefrak

Any numbness in the legs? It sounds like a nerve is inflamed or pinched. I had a similar thing happen early in the year....my legs felt like I had run a marathon even if I was sedentary. I had pain from my lower back extending down the left buttock and into the leg. Seemed like sciatic nerve pain. My doctor actually recommended acupuncture. After about 4 sessions, the pain and numbness are gone most of the time. They come back on occasion, but don't last but a couple of days....mostly happens when I'm under stressful conditions, like when we're shorthanded at work.

Surgery notwithstanding, any unusual stress in your life? It's amazing what symptoms stress can cause.

gforeman 

No numbness at all. Just weak. Stress? Always

And both legs.

10 Wheels

Stick with 5 miles rides until you get better.

gforeman 

That will cause me stress! At the beach for my favorite riding of the year. I am going to lower my speed and take it easy. I planned to do 30+ today, but thought that was not a good idea. Not sure if I should ice the calves or apply heat after the ride. Maybe the pool

Frizlefrak

The stress may be causing the problem. Stuff that I could handle with my eyes closed 20 years ago now bogs me down....We were missing a guy at work for 3 months, so I was doing two jobs. Not my first rodeo, so I didn't think too much about it....until the physical problems started. 2 months and every test under the sun yielded nothing physically wrong with me, but the pain was intense and frequent, I was badly fatigued like I'd had the flu for 2 months (including nausea, aches, etc). It started around January, and finally went away around May. We finally got a guy hired, I started getting the acupuncture treatments, and slowly the symptoms went away.

Point is, once you hit 50, the daily stresses that didn't faze you when you were young start to add up and cause physical symptoms. Have you doctor rule out anything wrong from a physical standpoint....and if you come up empty there, you may have to look at dialing back the stress.

Louis Le Tour

Get your buns to your doctor ASAP, those kinds of symptoms are nothing to play around with. If he can't figure out what's going on ask for a referral to a neurologist. Don't take that sort of thing lightly, especially since you're past 50.

RonH

What type of knee surgery?

DnvrFox

+1

Stop trying to diagnose yourself and getting advice from folks who don't really know.

I had something like this about 2 years ago. In certain sitting situations, could hardly stand after sitting for a bit. I did go to the doc, only to be told that my back was not in great shape, and likely a nerve. Anyway it went away, but at least I had confirmation of what it was.

Miami Biker

Hi Gary. +2 on seeing a doc, although suggest rheumatologist may be the one to see.

Also, given your knee work and quick return to biking, you may well be favoring the hurt knee and that is throwing your body out of alignment and causing the nerve or whatever the cause is. Or could be entirely unrelated to knee or biking.

Either way well intentioned forum folks are not capable of diagnosing your root cause. A rheumatologist deals with all back and joint issues and does not operate. S/he can recommend whatever type of doc is most appropriate for you if treatments are called for.

Let us know what you decide and do.

GeneO 

You should get to the doctor.

Are you on any kind of medication? Could be a side effect.

curbtender

I've gone through an operation and an accident recently, feel the same way. What kind of pain killers did they give you?

dbg

Doctor is still best strategy, but I will observe that injuries and surgery to one spot on the body often reverberates through other areas. You favor the injured/recovering spot and it creates unusual stress on other spots. Young bodies absorb those stresses pretty easily but older bodies often don't.

gforeman 

Mt PT is with a Dr. Not trying to self diagnose. Just seeing if any one else has a similar situation. I was given Oxi, but I have not taken anything bot over the counter pain killers.

JTGraphics

I'm no doctor but I have had issues like yours for years, first off the the pain is a sharp pain when you fill it not like a muscle or anything like that. (Pinched Nerves)
I get those in my lower back, neck and shoulder blade sometimes.
Most doctors like want to give you pain medication right off.
I have a great doctor and personal friend for this he's a D.O worked with the Kansas City Chiefs as their sports medicine doctor they are like chiropractor's but do things a little differently, before him I was going to other chiropractor's they helped but not a good.
Good luck finding a good doctor to help you out that pain is not something I like to deal with.

berner

Your problem sounds exactly like Lyme Disease. Some MDs are not experienced with diagnosing this and the common blood test is not always accurate. The author Amy Tan has a chapter in one of her non-fiction books about contracting Lyme and then being misdiagnosed for months while continuing feeling worst. Eventually she found a Lyme Disease support web site with a list of MDs who knew what to do. good luck with fixing the problem.

mapeiboy

Where were you in May of this year when I had the back nerve pinch. My FP finally referred me to a sports doctor few months ago and I am having a MRI schedule this Friday to see what is going on with my back . I feel really tired these days even though I have not done any cycling since June .

curbtender

Advil?

gforeman 

Yes, Aleve

RISKDR1

The inability to do a calf raise sounds an awful lot like disk involvement. I would see an orthopedic guy or neurologist An MRI of the lower back may tell a lot.

gforeman 

Update,

Calf muscles seem back to normal as of last Thursday. Still fighting the Flexor muscle pain at the top of my legs. Doesn't really bother me riding, but a killer when I get out of bed in the mornings. Rehab Dr. looked at me and said maybe I should stop biking. Hell no, it's all I have left. Can't run anymore, can't really do walks. This is my cardio, and I need it.

Fact is they still have NO idea what my problem is. Can't get an MRI until at least six weeks of PT has been tried. I love todays insurance.

mcmoose

Like RonH, I'm wondering what kind of knee surgery you had. Once you sort things out with the docs, you might consider having a bike fitter check whether you've modified anything in your posture or stroke that might merit a fit adjustment.

Just a thought. I truly hope you're able to resolve things. The thought of having to give up cycling is, well, unthinkable. Good luck!

gforeman 

I had a re-fit just a couple of weeks ago, not much change there. The knee surgery was just a meniscectomy where they trimmed the meniscus on my left knee.

linnefaulk

I would see a chiropractor.
A couple of years ago, I started losing strength in my left knee. At once point, it just gave out. I have no idea what caused this. When I mentioned it my chiropractor, he diagnosed a pinched iliac nerve. He did some adjustments. Within a couple weeks, the strength was back.

See a professional.

bruce19

+1