Exercise induced asthma

[louise]

Just came across this thread

I am a severe asthmatic and on a long list of medication and am "nebuliser dependent"

Ventolin can give you the shakes even on a low dose for the first few weeks (I often need 5-10 doses at a time) do not do this without G.P say so. On a really bad day I am like a jelly baby on Vodka!

My best piece of advice is make sure you go back to the docs as he requested and take 2 doses of ventolin before getting on the bike. Also find out if GPs has an asthma clinic.

On a cold day give your lungs chance to adjust to the colder weather, no belting down the road at 20 for the first mile or two.

 

[louise]

I also suffer in the cold and damp and have very low peak flow (in the 300s). Exercise leaves me struggling significantly, so I prefer to cycle alone at my own pace. I also get tight chested in the summer and reckon it is an allergy to some type of pollen. These have been my symptoms all my life. At present I can't find my inhaler.... The environmentally friendly ones don't work so well, so I resort to holding hot-water bottles or their equivalent on my chest. The tightness and difficulty breathing take longer to disappear but it does work.

Certainly not something I recommend, asthma can be fatal so always make sure you know where your inhaler is and don't ignore worsening asthma. A few years ago I had a severe attack and it took 20 mins for the ambo to arrive if I hadn't had my meds with me it is doubtful that I would of survived that attack.

 

[Kestevan]

I've had Asthma for years. It mainly rears it's head in Summer and is triggered by my hayfever (I love Summer).

In winter however the cold/damp can make breathing difficult without actually triggering an asthma attack.... just a baby elephant sitting on your chest, rather than the whole herd..

I've found I must take the preventer 2x a day, and hit the ventolin just before I head into the cold. Just one squirt about 10 mins before I leave seems to allow me to acclimatise and prevents onset of major symptoms.

Oh, and you do get used to the stuff, the shakes and headaches will go away eventually..... unless you OD on the stuff

 

[louise]

Oh, and you do get used to the stuff, the shakes and headaches will go away eventually..... unless you OD on the stuff

Which in my experience is pretty impossible to do, I have taken the equivelent of 125 puffs via my neb while awaiting the arrival of an NHS taxi!

I am allowed to take upto the equivelelnt of 100 puffs via my neb before I make the descision to dial 999, I also have atrovent at the same time which does the same thing as the ventolin.

Please do not attempt to do this though if your inhaler is not working get help.

 

[ASC1951]

Hi all,
I've just been diagnosed with asthma - exercise induced apparently.
I'm currently feeling a bit crap about it.

Yes, me too - both the diagnosis and the feeling crap about it. For the first time in my life I'm told that there is something wrong with me which I can treat but which no amount of 'lifestyle changes' are going to make disappear.

I took my prescription along and bought the peakflow meter (which I have used) and the blue ventilator (which I still haven't unpacked). The Practice Nurse measured me a week later and told me that my measurements were perfectly normal for my large years and small height, but there is no ignoring that, with hindsight, I have been coughing for two or three years and have been wheezy for at least one. For the last couple of months I have had the tight chest and the day after my December 100 miler I felt 'very average'.

I'm still in denial about it all. I live in a damp draughty house and am 15% overweight (which seems to be a factor in everything up to ingrowing toenails), so I'm still kidding myself that returning to 11st and investing in a damp course and some double glazing will sort it all out. Given that I have been on the finger-wagging end of the BMI scale for most of my adult life, that's a lot of kidding.

My asthma is obviously very mild, since I can still run, swim and cycle at reasonable intensity, so my first thought has been to ignore it.
"Won't it just be uncomfortable?" I asked a GP friend.
"No. If you don't treat asthma you will progressively lose lung function. If you don't think you are going to live a lot longer, fine, ignore it".

All you other posters are obviously thinking, "Idiot. What's the big deal?" Maybe it's just having to face for the first time that, no, I'm not going to live forever and from now on bits are going to start dropping off.

 

[pubrunner]

Hi there,

I've had exercise induced asthma for over 20 years. The Doc prescribed Ventolin to be taken about 20 minutes before exercise - if I don't exercise, I don't use it. He also prescribed Becotide - to be used 3 times a day.

I also use a PowerBreathe about 5 minutes before exercise and it helps a great deal - it really seems to open the airways. Apparently, quite a few full-time athletes use such devices.

See : http://www.powerbreathe.com/expert.html

Finally, I also have a Salt Pipe - see

http://www.livingiseasy.co.uk/help/Press_Releases/Breathe_Easy_Salt_Pipe_160105/

It certainly helps me.

All the Best

 

[pedaling]

I would let your friends, family, work colleagues etc know about this so that they are aware of what to do. My asthma isn't generally bad, only when I was very young, but a couple of years ago I had an attack and my friends were with me - thankfully they knew what to do, as it progressed so quickly I couldn't have explained really. I began shaking and temporarily lost the feeling in my legs and arms so it definitely is something that can surprise you, because I hadn't had an attack for years (and haven't had since.) My friends helped me immensely to steady my breathing and I managed to get it under control, but I do think that them being aware of it made a big difference. (Wasn't used to keeping my inhaler with me - now I almost always do!)

 

[summerdays]

I would let your friends, family, work colleagues etc know about this so that they are aware of what to do. My asthma isn't generally bad, only when I was very young, but a couple of years ago I had an attack and my friends were with me - thankfully they knew what to do

I have a friend with asthma and I wouldn't know exactly what to do exactly apart from get help and look for their inhaler. What else can you do?

 

[meenaghman]

I contracted asthma after getting severe bronchitis - couldn't shift it for 4 months..after a rugby training session. .. usual story I kept training with result that for a while I would have to stop just walking 100 yards or so. A couple of things advised by a work colleague who was also asthmatic and a keen runner.
I lived in Southampton and there was a clinic there. I agreed to do some trials. (had to have 2 lung biopsys as part of it) but they did so much monitoring and I learned so much about various parts of research and Asthma etc.. that it was worthwhile (don't recommend biopsies - uncomfortable !)
They also did loads of allergy tests. found out that it was basically house dust mild, and cats extreme reaction - I was renting a room in a house with cats - I moved out and conditions improved dramatically in about 2 weeks. Current house has no carpets and also has a steam room and an integrated house hoover which helps keep dust down.
I am ventolin only and it only improves my breathing by about 7-10 percent but my peak flow is above average for someone my height. I use a pwr breathe to help with cold air days.. 20-30 blows before going out in the air.. then taking it easy just to start. I only take ventolin just before exercise. When I was doing the trials I was on a preventer and I think it helped although biggest thing was getting out of the house I was in and away from the cats.
Be prepared to use Ventolin after rides also to help with a warmdown.. sometimes if I push hard (early season 10s) then I feel v wheezy and lungs have fluid which its best to cough up / relax airways otherwise risk of infection. There are some breathing techniques which I haven't tried. I don't know if anyone on here has tried this. It was popular a few years ago.
http://www.buteykoselfteach.com/?gclid=CM2CpdKjwpcCFUse3god5lfYSA
and has apparently been seen to work.
Other things I found useful - non duck down quilts / pillows helped me. and staying off the booze (in terms of dehydration) helps too. Don't get too down about it... I remember when I was first diagnosed and struggling to walk 100 yds getting very down about it, but I've found exercise and the bike in particular very good therapy.

 

[Kirstie]

Thanks for the advice everyone - it's all extremely helpful. I like the sound of the powerbreathe and the salt pipe so I'll look into those more. My experience is nowhere near as bad as others' on here either. At the moment my peak flow is back to normal for someone my height (490), but I imagine my norm is a bit higher because of my fitness.

I am still taking ventolin as prescribed (3 times a day), rather than when I need it, but I'm finding that I need it pretty much around those same times anyway. Because of the cold air I'm finding that I am reluctant to go outside (what's that about?!) and things do get worse if I breathe in cold air, even if I have my mouth and nose covered. I really like going outside too! It's all a bit weird.

Apparently there's a new preventer on the market which is amazing - it's purple - and to get it you have to ask for it by name. Does anyone know the name of it?

 

[Crackle]

Kirstie, I think you'll see from the posts that everyone's asthma, whilst still being asthma, presents in a slightly different way. It's a case of getting to know yours and learning to manage it. Hopefully that will happen quickly but be prepared for it to take a bit of time to figure out.

 

[Crackle]

Apparently there's a new preventer on the market which is amazing - it's purple - and to get it you have to ask for it by name. Does anyone know the name of it?

Sounds like Seretide. We might have one at home, so I'll check. If you are only on a reliever at the moment then your asthma is not yet controlled, hence the cold air reaction maybe. Presumably there's an asthma clinic appointment in the offing?

 

[Kirstie]

Sounds like Seretide. We might have one at home, so I'll check. If you are only on a reliever at the moment then your asthma is not yet controlled, hence the cold air reaction maybe. Presumably there's an asthma clinic appointment in the offing?

Thanks Crackle. Yes I am just on a reliever at the moment. I am going back to the docs next week to get fixed up with a preventer - we don't have an asthma clinic as such, but I do have an extremely good GP.

 

[louise]

Yep its seretide, been around a while its a combination of flixotide (a steroid) and salmetoral (a long lasting version of salbutamol) their is also symbicort which is a combo of pulmicort (streroid) and femetoral (a long acting reliever). The difference between the two is that you can increas/decrease the dose of sybicort depending how your athma is where as seretide you can't.

 

[Danny]

I've has asthma since I was very young, but in my case the severity of it has changed a lot over time. When I was young it used to suffer throughout the year, but as I have grown older it now just tends to occur from mid July to end August. Presumably I'm allergic to something at that time of year, though it is definitely exacerbated by the damp summers we have had for the last few years.

Bad chesty colds can also set it off, as can the cold damp conditions we had when you were first affected.

So you may well find that your asthma is seasonal and/or triggered by certain allergies or other illness. In any case most asthma sufferers do not become permanently invalided or incapacitated so there is every chance that you'll be able to go on cycling and drinking pints as normal.

You may just have to watch out for the warning signs of an attack and be prepared to take it a bit easier when you have bad days.