Exercise induced asthma?

[Ravenbait]

OK, so, let me explain.

No. That would take too long. Let me sum up:

Last May I injured my plantar fascia in a race (triathlon). I was off for the rest of the season, as the damage to my foot resulted in osteoarthritis in the metatarsals. I was about to start training again at the start of October when I got the flu. Proper flu, with a secondary bronchial infection that took two courses of antibiotics to sort out. I was out of action for 6 weeks, and have only just started feeling up to getting back into training during the last couple of weeks.

My first run last week was painful in all sorts of ways, mostly in my calves. Fine, I can cope with that. The swimming was okay, at least. I was on the turbo yesterday for 30 minutes and running again today (20 minutes) and I noticed afterwards that I was wheezing a bit. I've not had that before.

Is this likely to be a combination of the cold weather and lack of fitness? Is it a hangover from the flu? Will it go away? Am I destined for the scrap heap already?

I'm not ready for the scrap heap!

Sam

 

[Zoiders]

The deepest darkest nooks and crannies of your lungs will be filled with gunge still, I wouldnt be surprised if you wheeze a bit firing the last of it back out again, cold air can make your lungs have a bit of a spaz as well.

Be carefull with the word asthma, every bugger and his dog thinks they have it when in a lot of cases it's lack of fitness and panic attacks - of which I suspect you suffer from neither.

 

[Ravenbait]

Oh, I get occasional panic attacks. I know all about those. It's not that. Not when running. I usually get those at about 4am.

I should possibly have been a bit more careful about my use of the word asthma -- my other half was diagnosed with it recently.

I did get a chest x-ray in November, which was clear, so I'm hoping this is just my body saying "What the hell? I haven't had to do this in AGES."

Thanks, Zoiders.

Sam

 

[Crackle]

You probably don't have it but you may need some inhalors for a period, that's happened to me before. Your GP should be able to hear any crackling or wheezing, worth a visit to explain what's occuring, otherwise it could be months clearing up.

Like me now, I had a minor chest/throat infection but my airways are still a bit blocked or feel as though they are. I can see my HR is normal but I'm stuggling harder to breathe but then again I do have asthma which developed as an adult and if you have it, there's no mistaking it, you will struggle hard to get your breath, it won't just be a wheeze.

 

[Ravenbait]

Last couple of times I went she couldn't hear anything, and most of the time I'm fine. It's only after training.

I know I'm out of shape, my Suunto tells me so. Maybe once the warmer weather kicks in I'll have upped my base fitness to approaching what it was and it will have cleared up. Shame there's nothing that can be done for the foot, though!

Thanks.

Sam

 

[ttcycle]

Sorry to hear about the health issues Sam

It may be the case that you have exercise induced asthma but it'll be hard to determine this unless you remove the other variables. Once your base fitness improves and once your lungs have normalised from all the stress and infection- see how you go in a few months time and if it still happens and you find you're short of breath/wheezing then it may be useful to get an inhaler of sorts.

Good luck

 

[GrumpyGregry]

The deepest darkest nooks and crannies of your lungs will be filled with gunge still, I wouldnt be surprised if you wheeze a bit firing the last of it back out again, cold air can make your lungs have a bit of a spaz as well.

Be carefull with the word asthma, every bugger and his dog thinks they have it when in a lot of cases it's lack of fitness and panic attacks - of which I suspect you suffer from neither.

and quite a few buggers and their canine's labour for years under the misaprehension that it is their lack of fitness causing them problems until asthma is diagnosed. Lack of fitness probably won't kill someone on its own. An asthma attack can.

Sam, get down the quacks....

 

[Zoiders]

It's not as common as you think.

If you keep pestering a doc for that kind of diagnosis they cave in the end and tell you what you want to hear.

Mentioning fatal asthma attacks doesn't help matters for Sam either.

 

[Ravenbait]

and quite a few buggers and their canine's labour for years under the misaprehension that it is their lack of fitness causing them problems until asthma is diagnosed. Lack of fitness probably won't kill someone on its own. An asthma attack can.

Sam, get down the quacks....

Been down the quacks, Greg! Got a chest x-ray and everything!

They were pretty sharp at diagnosing my other half's asthma, so I'm confident they'd have caught it if I'd developed it.

Nah. It's probably just a combination of being off training for 8 months and the cold weather. Up until the foot I was used to 16 -20 hours of training a week and went from that to practically zero. And it was cold enough last night on the turbo for me to need a jacket for 15 minutes, plus I was running in a blizzard today, after all...

Thanks for the concern, folks, it's sweet. I feel all warm and cherished, now .

Sam

 

[ventoux50]

Most likely not to be exercise induced asthma - you would no doubt have exhibited symptoms previously if that were the case.

What is more probable is that following your recent lung infection, even though it has now cleared up, the mucosal lining of the lungs can be left 'thinner' than normal, and is more prone to spasm.
Spasm is readily elicited by inhaling cold air, and if you train (i.e. increase respiration rate and depth through exercising ) in cold conditions - you run the risk of inducing spasm . . . . . this feels like a tightness of the chest, and an inability to fully fill the lungs and breathe deeply.

After a long lay off, start from scratch again, build up gradually and I'd recommend running on grass for a few months to get the leg muscles and foot mechanics 'bedded in' before you start on proper roadwork.

A good method of reducing lung spasm problems is to inhale steam (head over a bowl of hot water covered over with a towel)


Hope this is useful (and reassuring !)

Good luck with the comeback.

 

[I like Skol]

Be carefull with the word asthma, every bugger and his dog thinks they have it when in a lot of cases it's lack of fitness and panic attacks - of which I suspect you suffer from neither.

Yep, agree completely with this. My 8 year old son was diagnosed as a toddler following some nasty episodes and I have no doubt he has/had it and especially bad during colds with him ending up in hospital on a few occasions with a nebuliser etc which was nerve wracking and distressing for us at times (poor guy really suffered even at the age of 1-2 yrs old when he would really struggle to get his breath when it was at it's worst).

Now he is older he has one puff of his daily inhalor (purple one) and it controls his asthma so well you would think he doesn't have it anymore, even when he has a bad cold. The problem is that now he is 8 he may be growing out of it or maybe it is just the preventative treatment but, when he does PE at school he always claims to suffer from asthma! I know exercise doesn't affect him, he can ride his bike and play football with me no problem but when he runs around at school and gets out of breath he thinks he is having an asthma attack. It probably doesn't help that he sees a few of his classmates using their inhalors.

I always tell him that even my chest hurts if I go for a run, that's nothing to do with asthma.

Like the OP, I had some colds during Nov and Dec and I would say the last residues have only just cleared in the last week or two so a more serious case like they suffered may take a good while longer to recover from. It could well be summer time before you realise it has been a while since you last felt any after effects.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

It's not as common as you think.

If you keep pestering a doc for that kind of diagnosis they cave in the end and tell you what you want to hear.

Mentioning fatal asthma attacks doesn't help matters for Sam either.

maybe your doc is that kind of waster. mine isn't. most aren't.

 

[slowmotion]

What is more probable is that following your recent lung infection, even though it has now cleared up, the mucosal lining of the lungs can be left 'thinner' than normal, and is more prone to spasm.
Spasm is readily elicited by inhaling cold air, and if you train (i.e. increase respiration rate and depth through exercising ) in cold conditions - you run the risk of inducing spasm . . . . . this feels like a tightness of the chest, and an inability to fully fill the lungs and breathe deeply.

Thanks ventoux.
That perfectly describes what seemed to happen to me last November. It took a while to shake it off, and the prolonged cold weather was no help at all.

Good luck Ravenbait.

 

[Crackle]

You probably don't have it but you may need some inhalors for a period,

See when I said that, what Ireally meant was that

Most likely not to be exercise induced asthma - you would no doubt have exhibited symptoms previously if that were the case.

What is more probable is that following your recent lung infection, even though it has now cleared up, the mucosal lining of the lungs can be left 'thinner' than normal, and is more prone to spasm.
Spasm is readily elicited by inhaling cold air, and if you train (i.e. increase respiration rate and depth through exercising ) in cold conditions - you run the risk of inducing spasm . . . . . this feels like a tightness of the chest, and an inability to fully fill the lungs and breathe deeply.

After a long lay off, start from scratch again, build up gradually and I'd recommend running on grass for a few months to get the leg muscles and foot mechanics 'bedded in' before you start on proper roadwork.

A good method of reducing lung spasm problems is to inhale steam (head over a bowl of hot water covered over with a towel)


Hope this is useful (and reassuring !)

Good luck with the comeback.

 

[accountantpete]

Hopefully it's just the bronchial tubes full of gunge - I'd wait for some better weather and then book an appointment with the nurse for a spirometer test. You blow into a tube connected up to a computer and it prints out the results - mine usually says I have the lungs of a 74 year old!!!