INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – When the Indiana Fever’s Kelsey Mitchell went down in the third quarter of the team’s Game 5 loss to Las Vegas that knocked them out of the playoffs, the initial fear from some was that the all-WNBA guard had suffered the latest in a long line of Fever knee injuries. It turns out Mitchell suffered from the effects of a rare muscle condition, one that put the star shooter in the hospital, and one that doctors say can be deadly in some cases.

“I suffered from something called Rhabdomyolysis last night. my muscles stopped producing and reached it’s maximum capacity,” Mitchell said in a post to her X account on Wednesday.

“I went into a sense of numbness/paralyzing feeling with no movement from my lower extremities for up to 5 to 7 seconds. because my muscles stopped producing positive blood to my bloodstream, my body locked up from a physical standpoint and from there fatigue and cramping settled in. It sucked. I panicked because i began to think the worse when I felt like I couldn’t move my legs,”

Medics took Mitchell to a hospital, but the hospital released her Tuesday night, and she says she will make a full recovery. “It was an out of body experience for me and I think God (SIC) for covering me at a time like that. so today on Oct. 1, I am walking and moving at a slow pace, but i will be fine very soon. I want to tank the Fever medical team, Vegas medical team, and the staff at the local hospital for keeping me safe,” Mitchell said in her post.

Doctors say rhabdomyolysis has become more common in recent years as more people exercise to boost their fitness levels. A 2021 study found that injuries from rhabdomyolysis increased 10-fold from 2010 to 2019.

At the gym, experts say you’re supposed to increase your difficulty only a little every time. If you go too hard too fast, you may put yourself at risk of rhabdomyolysis.

Symptoms include muscle pain, swelling of limbs, dark urine, exhaustion, irregular heart rate, and brain fog.

Treatment involves rest, an IV fluid, and electrolytes. Once protein levels are back to normal and symptoms are gone, you can discuss with your doctor starting light activity for two weeks, and from there work your way back up to your normal level of activity.

About The Author

See author's posts