kmsoars

I am having a horrible asthma season thanks to heavy tree and grass pollens. It is literally sucking the life out of my cycling and ruining all the hard effort I put in over the winter to be ready. I am curious to know if anyone else is suffering this much and if so what is in your arsenal to combat it. The inhalers I'm using are not cutting it. Also is it worth bringing along oxygen inhalers if I have an attack? Really miserable! Breathing and doing hills is kind of important.

berner

Mr too. Even when I was a young man, I was never a "contendah". Now, in my later years asthma has come back. Mostly it is in check, sort of, but hard efforts, even the efforts of short duration have me gasping for air. It is always worst during cold months but this year asthmatic reactions, though mild, seem worst than usual. As long as I'm able to ride I'm happy.

Machka 

If you do a search in the Training and Nutrition forum, you'll find a few threads about cycling and asthma ...
Training & Nutrition

kmsoars

Lately Spring has been the worst for me. Tree and grass pollens and they are extremely high here thanks to having actual winters past few seasons. When it was mild it wasn't as bad. I am on several inhalers, but none seem to cut it and looking at holistic approaches as well. Just hoping someone out there has something I haven't tried. The asthma is in full swing even before considering attempting to ride and while it could be EIA I think it goes beyond that as well.

kmsoars

Thanks will check it out. I did a preliminary search earlier but nothing turned up. Probably wasn't specific enough.

Machka 

Try this ...

Go into the Training and Nutrition forum

In the upper, right corner of that forum there is a small Search Forum link (see Search1 image attached). Click on it and select Advanced Search.

Advanced Search brings up the Search2 image. Type asthma into the keywords, select Titles Only. Click Search Now ...

kmsoars

Yes I was just doing that so many thanks. Not sure why I missed it before. I need to get this under control before TOMRV next month. There are some cat 4 hills on that ride.

Machka 

And I understand about the asthma ... I have EIA which gets really bad sometimes, and then other times it eases off. I'm not sure what makes the difference, but I use both a preventer and ventilin when it is bad, and just ventilin when it is better.

SpeshulEd 

I had a really bad asthma attack this winter and had to go to the doctor, they hooked me up to a fancy machine for about 15 minutes and gave me some steroids...it was very helpful. If you're asthma is really that bad, it might be worth visiting the doctor to see what they can do. It helped me tremendously.

Darth Lefty 

As a child I had terrible seasonal and hayfever and dust and cat allergies. I got shots for years, which are a terrible thing to make a kid do. I'd get a big swollen lump on my arm that lasted days and when it subsided it was time for another shot. It doesn't bother me much now except for the local pollen season which happens in March-April. I don't know if the shots worked or if it's the arrival of God-sent Claritin and then even better Zyrtec.

This was what I blamed for my lack of athleticism. But it turns out I also didn't know then that I have a hereditary heart problem that, in hindsight, held me back a lot. It just didn't cause me pain until my thirties.

kmsoars

Funny you say that Darth Lefty (and I'm a lefty too) about heart. Both my parents died young from heart issues. My mother was in the hosptial for severe asthma and was treated for respiratory when in reality it was masking congestive heart problems which didn't surface till it was too late. I have made the doctor aware of that, but after all the tests there isn't anything conclusive to say I am having heart problems. As a cyclist my heart is conditioned for that type of stress so it comes up negative. I am concerned I am following her path. She had extrem hypertension at my age which I have so far avoided. I have not ruled this out and will keep hounding the doctor to keep it in check. Meantime I still suffer from the asthma as I sit here and write this. Doesnt' seemed to be EIA as its either on or off. Sometimes the ride will induce it, but not sure what the trigger is. I am interested in making dietary adjustments to see if I have some success there. I am wearing a filter mask right now in my house and struggling so it's an ongoing dilemma. I am running a house filter and run heppa filters as well. I haven't put any miles in since a week ago - very discouraging!

kmsoars

I have a toolbox of several medications the doctor has me on but none of them seem to really help not even temporarily. I guess I have to look at it if I didn't have them I'd be a lot worse.

gpburdell

Just my opinion, but I wouldn't mess around with asthma. If what your doc has you on isn't working, either work with the doc to find something that does work or find a different doc that will work with you. Not that researching here isn't a fine idea, but keep at it with the doc.


I've been fortunate since my childhood asthma resurfaced as EIA a couple years ago. Found a good doc, he put me on a daily medication plus inhaler to use before workouts and I've been doing very well.


What struck a real chord at my first meeting with my doc was his comment that most of his new patients are fresh from the ER.

berner

I've noticed that when I wash the car, the next day there is a film of something as well as particles to be seen on the surface. Some years ago I lived downwind from a coal fired power plant. Even though no noxious smoke was seen rising from the stacks, and even though by then, power plants had installed scrubbers, some sort or oily residue was being sent out. We were also all breathing in whatever was and is in the air. Asthma has been coming back for many people and the state of the air we breath has to be a contributor.

Rich Gibson 

I've had a tough spring this year. I went to an allergist who determined I had allergies to tree pollen, dust mites and mold. The irony was on the spirometer test despite having symptoms I was able to max it out. I also do not wheeze or have what Asthma sufferers describe as trying to breathe through a straw. I expect I suffer from is Exercise Induced Bronchospasm (EIB). Some research yielded several interesting articles about athletes who do endurance exercises in what can be described as city-like environments. While I'm in no way an athlete I do 500 miles a month and have done so for several years.

The allergist prescribed Dulera for long term allergies and Xopenex for when I get the pain/tightness in my chest. Being in my seventies of course I worry about heart problems but for all I can find having the irritation in the top of the middle of my chest and being to ride indoors without the problem it's respiratory. Anyway the allergist mentioned that when I start having the tightness in my bronchial region to stop for a while and it would subside; then I could continue. Huh?

A bit more reading yielded EIB with exactly those symptoms. It also mentioned strategies for athletes involving a warm up at 50%-60% with a sprint or two at the end, inhaling the Xopenex (or similar), waiting 15 min to half an hour and then working out. I tried it yesterday and they were right; I was able to increase and hold my 10% increased AHR for almost two hours. However about an hour after the workout, sure enough the tightness came back.

As for the long term inhaler it only helps reduce the persistent minor tightness in my chest but it doesn't address the hard tightness when I ride (without a warmup). The penalty is constant hoarseness. The articles mention things like Fishoil and Vitamin C studies which are promising. I'll try them along with taking local honey daily; the idea is desensitizing over a long time. This was recommended by several friends with pollen related allergies.

I'm not self-diagnosing and treating in a vacuun. I have a followup with the allergist in June and an annual physical in July. I just want to be able to ride in the spring and fall along with the summer. If anything proves helpful I'll report back.

Rich