Originally Posted by Jashue
How long have you had this issue? I'm 39 having been diagnosed with allergy induced asthma a year and a half ago (go figure-- I've been an endurance athlete for 20 years without incident). Initially, I was put on just albuterol to contain the condition when necessary, then later both Advair and Singulair. These drugs kept me from having severe attacks, living what to anyone but a hardcore cyclist (or runner, or swimmer) a perfectly normal life. Later still, I began to treat my allergies with sublingual drops of concentrated allergens once a day.
Now this is the kicker: over the winter, I decided to experiment by weaning myself off the meds one by one. First the Advair... a few weeks later the Singulair... and finally the drops. I haven't had an attack in months. Keep in mind: I haven't put my cardio-pulminary system through the ringer either, and for all I know my clubs first time trial in a couple weeks could tell a different tale. I guess we'll see. I can only hope at this point.
Have you been tested for allergies? My theory here is that the treatment kick started my body into producing the antibodies necessary to deal with the allergens.
I had adult onset asthma diagnosed as allergy and exercise induced. I have had allergies forever but now have to take meds daily to treat them or if not I would have attacks. The exercise induced part is normally controlled by a pre-event inhalation, yesterday is as bad as I've ever had. It was my first ever race though so the nervousness probably amped up the reaction to the cold.
I also take Advair daily and carry an Albuterol around with me everywhere, but of course since I was in a race I didn't have my bag attached which contained it. It didn't help much when I took it anyway after the race. I'm even still a bit wheezy this morning. I recently enrolled myself in an asthma study and it turns out I have large lung capacity and moderate asthma. In the study they think that rhinovirus stays in the lungs after you are exposed to it and causes irritations such as asthma. Was interesting.