Sports induced asthma

[TopFuel]

Indeed - they are actually harder to use properly than it looks - takes a bit of practice....

 

I've been asthmatic for many years, and I only truly learnt to use them properly at medical school, after being thoroughly embarrassed by Prof. Ainslie.

[Yusran]

The guys above all have this covered really well, top advice as expected of the cycling community.

 

 

In my case, I was diagnosed with asthma as a child at about a 1yr old or so. Started on medication and swimming at 2yrs old and haven't had a problem since exercise-wise until recently. Still can't handle dust and hay etc. etc. though.

 

I weight in at 90kg and am a pretty much average rider, I find that I am not short of breath during rides, but as soon as I finish a ride where I squeeze out every last drop of energy have - afterwards when I relax I get tightness in the chest. Never during a ride though. Nonetheless I ride with an Asthavent inhaler (it's a 200 metered dose inhaler, available over the counter) in my jersey pocket no matter what, whether I use it or not.

 

My 2c is go see your doctor if you have a chance, ride with an inhaler on you at all times and use it when you need it, not when it's too late as it may be too late to provide any relief by that stage.

 

And happy riding!

[Zatek]

I was diagnosed as a child. I am using foxair and Ventolin but still have to use mine during training. As soon as my hr drops below 140 and there is a hill, asthma. Also if you are in a peleton\group and get an attack during a hill its bye bye. The ventolin is an enmergency but bwfore I can breath again gone is the group.

 

Wish I had normal lungs. Going to go to the doc to find a better solution. Foxair is R400 pm so thats R4800 just to be able to breath. Without foxair i get about 7 attacks per day and wake yp in yhe middle of the night franticly searching for my inhaler.

Edited January 12, 2014 by Zatek

[TopFuel]

I was diagnosed as a child. I am using foxair and Ventolin but still have to use mine during training. As soon as my hr drops below 140 and there is a hill, asthma. Also if you are in a peleton\group and get an attack during a hill its bye bye. The ventolin is an enmergency but bwfore I can breath again gone is the group.

 

Wish I had normal lungs. Going to go to the doc to find a better solution. Foxair is R400 pm so thats R4800 just to be able to breath. Without foxair i get about 7 attacks per day and wake yp in yhe middle of the night franticly searching for my inhaler.

 

Unfortunately, the mainstay of treatment in asthma is an inhaled corticosteroid (at least at your level on the stepladder), combined with a bronchodilator. You should not have any symptoms during the day (well controlled is <2 symptoms per week), so you should chat to your doctor about shifting you to a higher dose of the Foxair possibly.

 

I'm in the same boat as you, and have my asthma well controlled on a higher dose of the ICS. Go to your doctor and have a chat, and perhaps ask for a referral to a pulmonologist.

[Francois Smith]

Good morning - I'm also 97kgs and a MTB'er. Also with exercised induced asthma. Been having it since I was 4. Should not be an issue

 

I ride with a inhaler - various brands: ventolin, asthavent, venteze - latter 2 is about R25 each and can be bought over the counter. I use it before I go on a ride as prevention and then its in my backpack for an emergency. I do find that my asthma is less of an issue the fitter I get.

 

At the age of 41 i discovered a chronic pill called Singulair. You buy then on prescription in packs of 28. You take 1 pill in the evening and it virtually eliminates any asthma related symptons for 24hrs - I experienced the effects in 2 days! I know people who use it very successfully for sinus as well. The generic versions of Sigulair is Tropaz (Dr Reddys) and then there is another one. They are about R280 for a 28 pill dosage. It drasitically changed my approach to managing asthma and it feels wonderfull.

[manbearpig]

I get it in winter mornings, I use over the counter astavent and it helps.

[Agteros]

Good morning - I'm also 97kgs and a MTB'er. Also with exercised induced asthma. Been having it since I was 4. Should not be an issue

 

I ride with a inhaler - various brands: ventolin, asthavent, venteze - latter 2 is about R25 each and can be bought over the counter. I use it before I go on a ride as prevention and then its in my backpack for an emergency. I do find that my asthma is less of an issue the fitter I get.

 

At the age of 41 i discovered a chronic pill called Singulair. You buy then on prescription in packs of 28. You take 1 pill in the evening and it virtually eliminates any asthma related symptons for 24hrs - I experienced the effects in 2 days! I know people who use it very successfully for sinus as well. The generic versions of Sigulair is Tropaz (Dr Reddys) and then there is another one. They are about R280 for a 28 pill dosage. It drasitically changed my approach to managing asthma and it feels wonderfull.

My son (12 now) is on a Singulair generic for the last ~3 years. It was like a miracle drug for him! We've got him to the stage where he skips every 3rd day

 

Normal asthma medications interfered with his growth but no such problems now. He suffers from some of the side effects, but those are not that bad that he complains about it. He recognised the side effects from reading the pamphlet.

[Dubber]

So I'm hoping someone here can help me...

 

 

You got to love TheHub!

 

I was in very much the same situation a couple years back as the OP and a few others that have posted here. Long history of asthma as a kid, struggling up hills with breathing (not legs) and any sort of 5 out 5 effort closed up my lungs.

 

Did a search on TheHub and came across a very similar thread. There were a couple recommendations in terms medication to take. But most importantly the advice was to speak to either a GP that knows a lot about asthma or see a Pulmonologist. (if your medical aid will cover it go with the Pulmonologist).

 

Long story short, I'm now on 'long term' medication together with short term inhalers. (Foxair/seritide if you want to know). All I can say is: life changing! (Basically I take the long term meds in the morning and evening and don't touch the pumps - regardless of whether I'm riding 100km or just chilling.

 

Thank you TheHUB!

 

.

[Meentb]

I think my ex girlfriend suffered from sport induced asthma. Everytime I bought something cycling related she had an attack.

[MartinSpangenberg]

I've had asthma from a very young age, and still suffer from it. I use Venteze which has the most immediateband strongest effect on my lungs. Salbutamol increases your heartrate, so use a max of 2 puffs every 3 hours. I do two puffs about 15mins before a ride and by doing so I hardly ever need to take a puff during a ride.

 

 

[Gen]

 

My son (12 now) is on a Singulair generic for the last ~3 years. It was like a miracle drug for him! We've got him to the stage where he skips every 3rd day

 

Normal asthma medications interfered with his growth but no such problems now. He suffers from some of the side effects, but those are not that bad that he complains about it. He recognised the side effects from reading the pamphlet.

 

Fantastic that he is getting better, my eldest son is 12 and was diagnosed with (bronchial) asthma at 8. He is on foxair and them the pump. He now only needs the foxair during winter and he has had one incident in the last 2yrs.

 

We do however keep a very close eye on him. And always have the meds for the nebulizer in the house for in case.

 

It can be very frightening when a snot nose becomes pneumonia in 1 day.

 

 

[Edition 507]

I have heard that people of very high intelligence commonly suffer from asthma, eczema and allergies. Having suffered from all three I now consider myself to be a rocket scientist bordering on pure genius. The daily puff of my Symbicord keeps the asthma at bay, however, if you want to race and you don't want your next urine sample to be an embarrassment to you, I suggest you get a TUE to cover your ass.

[TopFuel]

I have heard that people of very high intelligence commonly suffer from asthma, eczema and allergies. Having suffered from all three I now consider myself to be a rocket scientist bordering on pure genius. The daily puff of my Symbicord keeps the asthma at bay, however, if you want to race and you don't want your next urine sample to be an embarrassment to you, I suggest you get a TUE to cover your ass.

 

Tends to occur as part of a whole atopic syndrome. Not uncommon to see people with hayfever, red eyes, sniffles and asthma.

[Sweiss]

I am 105kg but since I was diagnosed with exercise induced ashtma in my matric year when I only weighed 65kg I am pretty sure your weight has nothing to do it.

 

Best advice is to see a doctor for a proper diagnose to check your lung capacity etc.

 

I use a Berotec inhaler (2 pufffs about 30 before I ride) and I've never had any issues.

 

Berotec used to be a subscription inhaler but over the last couple of years I buy it over the counter without prescription.

 

Rather speak to a doctor and get an inhaler just to be on the safe side. I went on holiday once, forgot inhaler at home and went dancing one evening when I got sort of an asthma attack. There were no doctors, pharmacies, hospitals or anybody that could help and I suffered a pretty uncomfortable night. I was lucky that evening but rather be safe than sorry.

 

I have never needed my inhaler on a ride but you will never catch me on a ride without it.

 

Good luck!

[Topwine]

My son was suspected to have this so called EIA as well. A prescribed dose of cortisol just made it a lot worse. A terrible period of hell followed for 3 months where the best lung specialists and doctors could not find help him get better with all tests you can think of, including Xrays and CT scans. He tried about all the pumps and names mentioned in this thread. At one stage we had about 5 or 6 pumps, plus nebulizer,, supplements, etc , etc . In the end the specialist gave up and said he had to have pshycological problems causing anxiety and that causes his lungs to close. They wanted to put him on axiety meds. We refused and I started my own research and manged to find out what was wrong with him. Anyway, long story short, below is an interesting article that many of you might find interesting. It certainly helped my son.

 

http://forums.realthyroidhelp.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6184

 

At minimum, if your doctor isn’t aware that too little thyroid hormone regulation can cause breathing problems, share this special report with him or her. The doctor may use the information not only to relieve your breathing problem, but to help other patients, too.

 

Asthma.

 

Some inhalants patients use to relieve their asthmatic symptoms work by stimulating beta2-adrenergic receptors in the bronchial tubes.[28] Stimulating the receptors dilates the tubes and constricts blood vessels in their lining, which dries mucous secretions. These effects of the inhalants relieve shortness of breath, coughing, and wheezing respiration.[25,p.207]

 

An alternative to using the inhalers is to increase the number of beta2-adrenergic receptors in the bronchial tubes by taking an effective daily dose of thyroid hormone.[33] T3 is especially useful for this purpose.

 

In 1991, Egyptian researchers treated 23 asthmatic children with T3.[29] The children weren't hypothyroid. During the 30 days of treatment, they continued to use their usual anti-asthma drugs as needed, but they reduced their doses as low as they could.

 

The researchers wrote, "They [the children] all reported at the end of the 30 days an obvious subjective improvement of their asthmatic conditions with a decrease in the number of exacerbations. Seven patients stopped their usual anti-asthmatic medicines, being maintained on T3 only and 3 have decreased the amount of bronchodilators needed. A significant improvement of pulmonary function tests was noted in all patients."

 

According to the researchers, "All patients tolerated well the T3 regimen without any adverse effect." They concluded that T3 induced beneficial effects: T3 "proves to be a useful adjuvant to classic anti-asthma therapy, and may reduce the amount of bronchodilators needed."

 

Other researchers reported that patients with asthma became hypothyroid from using iodine-containing expectorants. After becoming hypothyroid, their asthma worsened. The worsening of the asthma was relieved, however, when the patients stopped using the expectorants and their thyroid function became normal again.[27]

 

Another group of researchers took hypothyroid children off thyroid hormone for a month. By the end of the month, the children's bronchial tubes became more reactive to antigens. (Heightened reactivity of the bronchial tubes to antigens, of course, is the basis of allergy-induced asthma.) The children then resumed their thyroid hormone therapy. Their bronchial tubes, however, remained more reactive to antigens for two more months. Finally, after twenty more days, their bronchial tubes became normally reactive to antigens.[26]

[johannrissik]

I think my ex girlfriend suffered from sport induced asthma. Everytime I bought something cycling related she had an attack.

I was going to say something about a pump, but then I remembered that I could get whacked for my indiscretion....