I have gotten some good insights from this group a while back and figured I’d go back to the well again, as I have not had much luck figuring out what is going on, despite visiting some doctors. I seem to be having asthma or similar breathing issues that are maybe associated with cold air or seasonal allergies or both.
Today was typical, 35 degrees at the start of a MTB race with a 10 minute dirt road climb at the start. I warmed up a bit and had a couple puffs of Dulera. I get maybe 5 minutes into the climb and my chest gets tight and breathing rate goes up, while at the same time my HR drops maybe 10 beats lower than it should be and I feel some pain in my arms and legs like I don’t get enough 02 to my muscles. I have to go slow for maybe 10 minutes until it recovers, then on the next lap, (maybe 20 mins into the race) I feel as though this grip loosens in my chest, I’m riding and breathing ok and my HR is climbing back up where it should. I end up with a soggy cough for the rest of the day after an incident.
I have seen a pulminologist and been tested, I’m OK in the office, it seems to be an exercise related thing only.
I started on allergy shots a few weeks ago, so too early for them to matter.
I have fiddled with a bunch of different medications and get only so-so control, but some side effects that I’d like to avoid. Mostly have been using the Advair type stuff with the two ingredients. My allergist suggested just using it pre race as the steroids were not what I needed, just the long lasting broncio (sp) dilator
Anything I should be trying or following up on with this? I have been looking for a medical cure fo ra few years with only moderate success.
Vocal cord dysfunction? It’s often confused for exercise-induced asthma, but when the meds don’t work, it’s a possibility. It’s also possible to have both VCD and asthma.
i’m thinking you may be onto something. my allergist suggested this and i did not follow up. I have post nasal drip from allergies in the spring and fall and I always assumed that it was an asthma trigger, but the medications don’t help. Maybe i can learn the exercises and control it myself.
I’m trying to follow up on this and not finding a lot of specialists who have experience with this condition. I read what I could find and it makes sense, I have seasonal allergies and always assumed the cold with the trigger for asthma, but maybe it’s a vocal cord issue. I get more stressed that I’ll have another attack, so maybe that feeds into it.
How is this addressed by a therapist? It seems like what I read suggests belly breathing, emphasizing the exhale and pursing the lips on exhale. I suspect I need to keep my head up a little more when I’m climbing.
You are using the Dulera like a rescue inhaler. It doesn’t work that way. You need to use that as a daily maintenance therapy and a true rescue for short term effects. If I did what you are doing, I would be a heaving, wheezing lump of flesh the moment my heart rate got out of zone one. Cold and damp will always trigger mine and I use a rescue along with the dulera. Allergies are also a trigger for me, as is GERD. I have to warm up longer than most and even longer than usual during certain times of the year. If I have any one part of the puzzle out of place, I pay for it. I also can’t talk during the first 10 minutes or so without causing issues and have to kind of have a mini attack and recover to be functional. I do all of that in my warm up. If I don’t, I WILL have an attack. Even if I don’t have a full attack, my performance will be shit and I will have a cough and painful breathing for hours or days afterwards.