chest pains

[mr Mag00]

Hi I am not looking med advice, yet! Don't know how that is viewed on this site. over the past few months i have been suffering from a mild but acute chest pain,when i sneeze and sometimes stretch, which i think and the doc, is down to muscular pain.

This came to a head a few weeks a go i did a 4 hour mtb over the purbecks with some guys i used to ride with. i was hanging despite a few months now of riding and no ability to change pace which was something i had noticed during my rides, the guys said when i used to ride with them i was quick and had good recovery, i know i am not where i was then.

So i went to the docs a week ago have had plenty of bloods including a fasting glucose test, my god that almost killed me and a chest xray all good fun, lovely bruises on the inside of my elbows, plus the near fainting!!

well bloods back all clear! chest xray all clear, nice big lungs, good veins, excellent dissolved O2, well what can i say, excellent peak flow too

I managed to get a run in this morning before going to the doc and i was wheezy and struggling i would say due to having done nothing for 3 weeks due to this niggling chest. he had a listen and could hear a few thing so he thinks it may be exercise induced asthma. the asthma nurse came and we all agreed its likely. so now i have to compete a 3 week diary of peak flow before during and after exercise. my question to the esteemed audience, are there any sufferers out there too, i really want to get back into competitive cycling and maybe triathlon and i'm a little concerned that this maybe a hindrance to me.

sorry its so long but wanted to get in as much detail as possible.

 

[Crackle]

Put's hand up.

Recently diagnosed in my mid 40's. Mine is not excercise induced but excercise certainly makes it worse.

I therefore have a preventer and a reliever. The latter is a Salbutamol easi-breathe, which the doc recommends I take pre-excercise to open my airways.

I've done the chart bit. I added an extra reading, 3 minutes after excercise and from that, especially pre-medication, you could really see how much my peak flow dropped after excercise.

Have you done a sporometry? Mine showed my small airways were obstructed but my lung volumes were higher than expected.

So, in practice. I get puffed out on a sprint of any type and I gasp for breath a bit more than others when doing stuff but the medication keeps it under control and I've only just started using the reliever so that might improve things as well.

Bottom line it's manageable but you will need to adjust.

 

[mr Mag00]

i have a spirometry tomorrow should i go in cold without exercise in the morning and no inhaler, i assume so.

 

[doily]

I had exercise-induced asthma for 20-odd years, started when I was about 12 then disappeared a few years ago. I used to have a puff on my salbutamol inhaler (Ventolin) before exercise and it was usually OK. Used to cough a lot after though. Swimming seemed to be good for it.

 

[sticky sherbert]

I have the same and have had it for 27 years, it's loads better than it used to be and I can mannage it easily with a couple of bursts on the inhaler before any exersise. I only seem to get it this time of year so its probably hayfever related. I get itchy ear canalls with mine and sometimes an itch on my right hand side that you can't scratch as its internall, bloody annoying but the doc says nowt to worry about.

 

[rich p]

I had a running mate who was diagnosed with it and really struggled for the beast part of a year. It cleared up and they thought it maybe had been viral after all. He's back to normal now.

 

[AdamBlade]

I'm asthmatic and have been since I was 4. Exercise doesn't really effect me that much unless I am a little under the weather before I start. In this case I would have a couple of bursts on my inhaler before starting.

As long as you are aware of the signs then you should be ok.