Lately I have been getting a bit short of breath after I finish a ride or run and never during. I don’t get it when I play soccer or touch football. As well as shortness of breath I have mild wheezing and it peaks in severity about 5 minutes after stopping exercise and is totally gone 20 minutes after I have finished. This has happened about 5 times all up. I have done a bit of google research and most signs point to exercise induced asthma. Does anyone here suffer this?
I went to the doctor about it yesterday and voiced my concerns about exercise induced asthma and he said that exercise induced asthma began during exercise not after. He said to keep an eye on it and come back if it continues and he’ll send me to a specialist. That said he appeard to be the most incompetent doctor I have ever met and I’m going to get a second opinion but I was wondering if anyone here has had experiences with exercise induced asthma or thought they may have had it but it turned out to be something else?
I have it. Mine is triggered by certain levels of exertion and enhanced by things like cold air and allergens. When i first started running, just running itself was enough to set it off and it wasn’t just shortness of breath. It was ‘can barely breathe at all’. Since training on meds, it’s to the point where I only get it when pushing really hard. The way it was explained to me, there are two components to asthma. The first is the spasm, which is where the bronchials squeeze shut. This is a full blown attack. The second is general inflammation, which causes general constriction of the airways. Even though I’m currently controlling the spasms, I still have a small amount of constriction. When I’m running, especially as I push closer to tempo pace, I can start to feel that constriction kicking in. It seems that if i hold that pace for a while, it really aggravates my lungs and they hurt by the time I finish.
Actually… last week I was doing a 1 mile TT and had a pretty good attack. I felt it coming on during the run, but it didn’t peak until a few minutes after I had stopped and was walking around. That was a strong one, and I’m used to the feeling, so if you don’t know what to feel for while running and if the attack isn’t all that strong, I could see your situation as plausible.
I would stringly suggest you get tested before making the jump to asthma. recent studies have shown approximately 30% of people on asthma medication do not actually have asthma. It is always good to nail the diagnosis before starting treatment.
Pulmonary function testing should be done although that maynot confrim or rule out asthma. A methylcholine challenge test would be useful. I low tech way would be to get a peak flow meter at the pharmacy and chart your peak flow in the morning and night for 4 weeks. Connect the dots, if it is fairly straight it is probably not asthma. If it is a jagged line with about 20% variance a therapeutic trial of asthma mediation would be good.
Is there a family history of asthma? Do you have allergies? Eczema?
before your doctor says yay or nay, he should do pulmonary function tests (if he does not have the equipment then he should refer you to someone who does). Baseline test then have you go run around the block for 10 minutes or so and recheck - easy way to see if EIA is there. and then whether easily reversible with beta agonist inhaler.
it is also fair to give you a trial of inhaler prior to exercise to see if it stops your symptoms.
the fact that you do not get it playing soccer is a bit odd…and the feeling it post exercise could just be the level of severity you are feeling -
Dan and I both got what they called adult onset asthma, and it began as exercised induced. It started for me when I was about 31, and got worse over the years. For both of us, we had to go on several medications, plus the rescue one for bad attacks. Turns out it was ENTIRELY enviormental. WHere I lived in the south bay in LA, there is a big mold problem, and I lived near the airport and the CHevron plant. For Dan it was the foggy air that was around a lot where he lived in SD. Once we both moved to the high desert here, it went away immedietly, and both of us have thrown away the medications for almost 7 years now, and no attacks. It was getting so bad for me, that I could not sleep at night from weezing, and had to take the resuce stuff sometimes twice a night. I always thought that it might have been the enviorment because when I went away to some races in nice areas, I would begin to feel better after a few days. Just never really connected the dots until I made this move. I believe that a lot of people with breathing problems have them because of the enviorment. Houses with carpets, areas that have a lot of mold, bad city air, ect. My neighbor who lived across the street from me, who was a great swimmer and lifeguard, was almost on his death bed from allergies and asthma, moved, and almost instantly he snapped out of it…
Hate to say it, but you may have to move. If not, the air cleaners are good to have, especially the Ionic breeze ones. Before I moved, I got a couple of them, and put one near my desk, and the other near the bed, and they helped. But the only cure was moving to the desert…Perhaps try a vacation to a hot dry climate, and try and see if things change for you. If so, you have your answer…Good luck, it sucks to not be able to breath normal…
For a long time I’ve been dealing with asthma-like symptoms, but it never felt like it was in my lungs really. Well, as it turns out, it probably isn’t asthma at all. I’m still awaiting the test results, but we’re almost certain that it’s actually related to my vocal cords - and when I think about it, it does feel more like the issue is coming from my throat area than my lungs. Definitely get tested because there’s no point on being on meds if it’s something completely different. Unfortunately for me, there’s nothing I can do about my issue but just deal.
I’ve been lucky enough to discuss this with two respiratory experts (one is on the WADA committee for EIA). There are a few recognized tests for EIA and your doctor was wrong EIA is most evident AFTER exercise. Strangely running round the block seems like the most specific test but is the least reliable. If your lungs/airways are restricted after exercising in polluted environments high pollen or very cold dry conditions you could need meds. If you’re not an international athlete most doctors will prescribe salbutamol as an inhaler is cheaper than a test. be aware using athsma meds chronically without being ill can be a cause of…you guessed it athsma.
Good luck and get it checked out by someone that knows what they’re talking about.
You likely have EIA. It classically begins after exercise but can occur during as well. Often more evident when workng out in high pollution environments and coldler air. Usually not evident after swimming b/c the humidity helps. You can dx it as others as described also its easy enough to treat. Cromolyn Sodium is cheap and effective, other options exist.
I had EIA for a while then symptoms subsided after i moved out of Wash DC.
For a very long time I had shortness of breath and coughing after exercising, especially after a hard effort. I never worried about it because I was done exercising and it never really impacted anything. It was particularly bad if I ran in cold weather. Last year I had an asthma attack on a bike ride, but I had no idea what was wrong. Someone on the ride gave me an inhaler and I watched my heart rate average go from 168 before the inhaler to an average of 145 after the inhaler…but more importantly I could take a deep breath again. It was a day when the VOG was particularly bad here. I went to the doctor and they did all the tests and sure enough I had asthma. Mostly brought on by the VOG, but also Exercise Induced (which they diagnosed because of all the years of the attacks immediatly after exercising). A year later, I’m having major breathing issues and there’s no VOG in the air. I went to my general practice doc last week who said it’s most likely my asthma now has other triggers (one being the cooller weather…it’s been getting down to 55 at night in my house-and I don’t have a heater). Today it was particularly cold and I ran/swam/ran. After the swim I was shivering and then started the second run, which was with a group, so I didn’t get a good warm up. 50 minutes into the second run, the air was still very cold (for Hawaii), I had an asthma attack.
The interesting thing is that for years I’ve battled bronchitis 2-3 times a year. I’ve never had a cold just go away. It always turns in to bronchitis. After my asthma was in control, I wasn’t sick for a year. Then I started having small asthma issues and the next cold I caught turned into bronchitis almost overnight.
When you say immediately, what do you mean? I had every allergy test done last year and they said I had no allergies, yet, when I moved out of a really old/moldy/right across the street from the ocean house, my asthma got a little better. The VOG was still really bad here though. Now, I’m considering buying a house I’m living in, but it’s old and I suspect might be the cause of some of the issues creeping back up. I’ve got a trip to the high desert planned this summer and am really wondering if I’ll be able to tell the difference w/in a day or two, or a week. Last summer I was seriously thinking that if the VOG stayed bad for another year I’d have to bail on Hawaii because I had so many asthma problems (not being able to sleep through the night, using the ‘rescue’ inhaler before exercising wasn’t really working well enough). I hate taking daily medications and after the asthma attack I had today, with all the daily meds and the inhaler before I started I decided I really needed to figure out what’s the problem.
You sound like you were right where Dan and I were before we moved. And it is pretty immediate the relief that you get. Hawaii has got to be the worst too, humid all the time. A petri dish for molds…As for whatever allergy tests you had, those are not always reliable. The real test is just how an enviorment makes you feel. I was just back in Hawaii a couple weeks ago, and after just 3 days, I felt it coming back on. A musty old hotel room with the worst carpets was the main factor I’m sure. Felt ok outside though, good air quality on the beach all day…You really have to listen to your body on this one, it will tell you what is healthy, and what is not. I advise to not try and tough it out, just because of a great house/deal/place…It is your health after all, and it will only get worse…