Hey all,
So I was wondering if anyone here has experienced EILO (Exercise induced laryngeal obstruction) and if you had any tips on how to make cycling with it feasible and somewhat comfortable. I'm 20, had asthma issues ever since I was born and my asthma doctor recently suspected this could be the cause for my continued breathing difficulties (especially in headwinds) due to the fact the pain is mostly in my throat and vocal chords rather than my chest. To describe how it feels when I am breathing, if you've ever stood next to a campfire and breathed the smoke in. That incredibly dry and harsh feeling smoke is what breathing fresh air feels like to me when I'm anything above 50-60% intensity at the moment. Obviously this has impacted on my training significantly, as I can't exert myself hard for long, my average speeds are falling and I've lost a lot of confidence to push myself. The worst thing about EILO? It's incurable, so I might have to come to terms with the fact I'm always going to be disadvantaged, I'm on good asthma meds now which have helped my lungs massively, but getting the air in and out with my throat constricting by as much as 70%, it's damn scary when attacks happen and take 30 minutes sitting at the side of the road to recover, looking like the least fit person in the world questioning their life choices when in reality, my legs are begging me to go faster but my throat is burning. There are hills where on a good day, I'm able to sit quite happily at 10-11mph on a 5-6% gradient for a long while. Whereas some days, I can't even spin my granny gear (30/32) because of how much pain my throat is in.
I know it's a long shot but I'm wondering if anyone else has found things that help with this, I'd never even heard of this condition until my asthma doctor mentioned it to me.
Not to sound dramatic here, but my mental health is very dependent on cycling so I can't quit, I've got to keep fighting this.
Thanks
So I was wondering if anyone here has experienced EILO (Exercise induced laryngeal obstruction) and if you had any tips on how to make cycling with it feasible and somewhat comfortable. I'm 20, had asthma issues ever since I was born and my asthma doctor recently suspected this could be the cause for my continued breathing difficulties (especially in headwinds) due to the fact the pain is mostly in my throat and vocal chords rather than my chest. To describe how it feels when I am breathing, if you've ever stood next to a campfire and breathed the smoke in. That incredibly dry and harsh feeling smoke is what breathing fresh air feels like to me when I'm anything above 50-60% intensity at the moment. Obviously this has impacted on my training significantly, as I can't exert myself hard for long, my average speeds are falling and I've lost a lot of confidence to push myself. The worst thing about EILO? It's incurable, so I might have to come to terms with the fact I'm always going to be disadvantaged, I'm on good asthma meds now which have helped my lungs massively, but getting the air in and out with my throat constricting by as much as 70%, it's damn scary when attacks happen and take 30 minutes sitting at the side of the road to recover, looking like the least fit person in the world questioning their life choices when in reality, my legs are begging me to go faster but my throat is burning. There are hills where on a good day, I'm able to sit quite happily at 10-11mph on a 5-6% gradient for a long while. Whereas some days, I can't even spin my granny gear (30/32) because of how much pain my throat is in.
I know it's a long shot but I'm wondering if anyone else has found things that help with this, I'd never even heard of this condition until my asthma doctor mentioned it to me.
Not to sound dramatic here, but my mental health is very dependent on cycling so I can't quit, I've got to keep fighting this.
Thanks
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