asthma and cycling
 

I was just wondering since my asthma is starting to get annoying,

how many you all have asthma, and how much does it affect your cycling/fitness?

Some pros have asthma just in case, I got 2 years ago like five kind'a asthma attachs due to polen in the area (DC metro area), used an asthma inhalator with steroids (i believe the product is for people with asthma and emphysema) and no problems since. But in my case was due to a seasonal allergies, I would say that as long as you have your medicine around you shouldn't have problems, i race back in the day with two kids that had asthma also and so far they used the medicine thingy and never got problems, in a matter of fact now that i think it better probable one of them didnt even have asthma but a bad case of allergies that gets so bad that he was getting asthma symptoms as i got a couple of years ago. Wonder if pollen is pretty bad down there where u are.

http://www.qualityhealth.com/asthma-...affeine-asthma

Interesting article I read yesterday.

I'm asthmatic. I have two inhalers - one for daily use to manage my asthma and one for emergencies. I usually carry my emergency inhaler with me. Before races, I'll take a quick puff of the emergency inhaler to ward off any unwanted attacks. I've had no problems at all riding or racing.

As for the pollen, the best thing for that is a Neil Med sinus wash. I do that twice a day too to manage my allergies. It's a little weird at first, but works great. I also keep a bottle of Afrin in my cycling bag. A shot of that before the races helps keep my sinuses open to improve my breathing.

albuterol is PED. just saying!

I'm also asthmatic. Exercise does not trigger my asthma fortunately. But certain times of year, pollen triggers it and I have issues in the early spring with all of the salt dust off the roads in the air. Breathing frozen air for long periods of time can't help either. I usually carry my emergency inhaler with me on long or out of town trips.

I have exercise induced asthma and allergen caused asthma.
My inhaler is a life saver. I tend to forget it occasionally.

i have cystic fibrosis- my inhalers are my life when i'm cycling and i NEVER leave home without
them. depending on conditions outside i can go off on a coughing jag at anytime otherwise riding helps keep my lungs clear.

Great topic.

While I don't suffer from asthma, I have noticed a difficulty in breathing from the pollen lately. It's been real bad in my area and I had a post-ride cough the other day from it. My nose is also always stuffy lately, so when I ride it's constant snot rockets. Will the Afrin help with that? Been thinking about getting an inhaler from the doc to help with the allergies.

If abused, I don't know how cycling is, but i had a swimming coach who was part of a coaching staff that reported one of their own athletes because they thought she was abusing it, nothing came of it. Purely anecdotal and in an entirely different sport, but leads me to believe the standard for abuse where someone will do something about it is pretty high.

Not really. If you don't have asthma, it doesn't do anything significant for you. One standard test to see if you have EIA is to have the subject exercise and then have their breathing capacity measured. Then the test is done again with Albuterol. If the second one shows significant improvement, you have asthma. If it doesn't, you don't.

I have (or had; it's pretty much gone away as mysteriously as it appeared) exercise-induced asthma. The test (I used a bike and trainer since I can't run) showed a noticeable difference even though it was dry and hot in the lab and I didn't get any symptoms.

It's not hard to get a medical exemption (TUE) for most asthma drugs if you are racing nationals or internationally. If you're slow like me then it's not worth the trouble as there's no testing at local events. There is a limit that WADA publishes for how much of some asthma meds you can have in your system (with a TUE). It's different for different meds but it's generally pretty high even for the steroid based ones.

I have excersise induced and allergy. I use an inhaler but if you race MAKE SURE YOU FILLED OUT THE FORMS that allow you to use your inhaler without getting you disqualified.

Sorry didn't answer the main question. My asthma only affects me after a ride. Uncontrollable coughing to the point where if i try to stand i just fall over.

I was just about to post this question myself. I have pretty bad asthma and take advair twice daily, even with that i still need to take albuterol every once in a while. I have found that on long rides my chest is tight for the first 5-10 miles, then after i start breathing regularly everything relaxes. I did my first half century today and had no troubles from about mile 5 on. For me temperature and humidity are the real big factors. Cycling regularly seems to really help keep my asthma in check though.

that's the same way for me. especially after running, though. I'll do fine on the ride/run, and then once I start to cool down i'll start wheezing.

I take Singulair and also have an inhaler, I tend to forget it on some rides. I have both exercise and allergen-induced, and i've found a chilly spring day to be about the worst so far.

I struggled with my Asthma for years using albuterol etc. When Advair came out I tried that and have had zero problems with Asthma. YMMV. I know others on here have had mixed results but for me it was literally a life saver.

I have both exercise induced and cold induced asthma. Fortunately, the attacks are uncommon and generally mild. I generally get relief with slow, calm breathing.

I have allergy-induced asthma, well-controlled with Advair and Zyrtec. The only times I get bad off cycling are during the peak of pollen season, and when then temperature is just so. I can ride without issues with temps in the 40's, but for some reason early-spring riding with temperatures in the 50-60 range make me pack it in. I don't have to get out the rescue inhaler, but my lungs burn like crazy.

I'm 21 and have actually grown out of my asthma fortunately. I have however noticed that pollen is really gumming up my breathing lately.

Have you been riding long? I feel like I lost my asthma once I started exercising regularly.

I'm only 18, so I could still grow out of it. I've had a good aerobic base for a about 2 years now, but there's always room for improvement, so maybe just more exercise will lessen the asthma symptoms. that's be cool.

Go talk to your doctor. You probably want some kind of steroid inhaler and albuterol. Also try to understand what your asthma is and why you have it. If there is an allergy trigger, taking a benedryl (sp?) before bed can work wonders.

I also would recommend getting a heart rate monitor. Learn what it means to be warmed up and pay attention to how your lungs feel/respond and different heart rates. For example, "warmed up" for means a heart rate of 160. I need to ride slowly until I get to 140 and pick up just a little until I get to 160. If I start out slowly sometimes I'm fine even without albuterol. If I start out quickly, I get swelling in my lungs and it can take hours to recover.

interesting find ..

The effects of albuterol on power output in non-asthmatic athletes
http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=3540648

wonder how many athletes have tried this

If you can't cycle well, your asthma is not under optimal control. See you doctor. In most patients, asthmsa is relatively easy to control if they are compliant with the proper treatment regimen. Many patients need combination treatment. Often the treatment includes the use of a home peak flow meter to help carefully measure the status of the disease and the responce to treatment (a peak flow meter is much more sensitive than just going by how you feel). For what it is worth, I am an Internal Medicine physician and treat lots of asthmatic patients many of which are athletes that are performing at high levels.

I don't believe that albuterol is a PED in a non asthmatic. The article above supports this.

When it comes to performance, the limiting factor is generally your cardiac output....a "normal" person's lungs have redundancy....therefore even if albuterol increases pulmonary function (ie ventilation and possibly gas exchange) it is not going to help in a non asthmatic.

If you use inhalers for asthma and do race, make sure you get the appropriate medical exemption, as suggested above. The paperwork is very simple and easy to do. I have done it on more than one occasion.

Singulair (an oral asthma medicine) does not require an exemption, I believe.

my asthma seems to have gotten better since i started cycling. I've lost almost 40 lbs. which no doubt has some affect on the situation. I also have allergies. I use a symbacort inhaler morning and evening. Albuterol as an emergency inhaler. I don't know what PED means, but I'm assuming that it's some kind of doping that is tested for. As I'm no where near being a competitive racer, I find that breathing is much more important.

Poll: who here would try parasite/worm therapy to treat their asthma? =D http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/ma...n-essay-t.html