As I mentioned way back in the thread I was on Pulmicort (a cortisteroid) and it was enough to keep my EIA in check without any Albuterol (Ventolin) before riding. Was that way for over 10 years. Once that became ineffective I tried the Albuterol before riding. While there was a definite improvement I was not where I should be. So the doctor prescribed Advair thinking/hoping that alone would be enough. Again eventhough there was improvement I still didn't feel as strong as I did 6 months ago when the troubles started. (I have a 53 mile set route with some tough hills, so I can compare how I'm doing) As mentioned I tried the Albuterol on my own before riding and with the daily Advair I have felt pretty good on 3 rides now. In fact maybe even better than I have felt in a few years. However all of this about the Advair being dangerous and probably since I have introduced a short acting broncho dialator scares the sh*t out of me.

I wouldn't worry about it. Just follow your prescription and when you use short term stuff, space the usage apart. I don't believe the Advair/Serevent is any more dangerous than the Albuterol. I do know that they were all looked at recently by the FDA for removal from the market place.

I've been using this stuff from their inception and have had no problems.

To me the biggest issue is to track your dosage. For example, should you forget you used Advair in the morning and double dose then use Albuterol or equivalent and space the doses too closely together, that might be dangerous. If you can't remember if you took your Advair, err on the safe side and skip that dose.

I suspect that the deaths are of those who have severe chronic Asthma and just keep dosing on the stuff in a desperate attempt to get relief. I had a case that before I knew that aspirin aggravated my Asthma, I got into a situation where I could barely breath and the Albuterol had zero affect. This was before Serevent. Had I not known about the danger of the Beta -Agonists, I might have kept puffing away on the stuff. That was in the early days of the trend to take an Aspirin a day for cardio health. It took 10-days of Aspirins before the serious Asthma started.

Al

Have you tried other options, like Singulair, etc.?

Look, lots of opinions, but in medical matters, ultimately, you know how your body responds. You might also want to think about some medical evaluation outside the sphere of asthma. It could be a red herring that both you and your doctor latches onto. You always have to make sure it's not a heart problem.

If you need more regular inhaled steroid, and you have reached the dose limit, sometimes they might let you try a short course of oral steroids to more rapidly resolve some inflammation. You can't be on them too long, though.

Personally, when I was on Advair, I did not worry about the supposed increased risk of death. For me, it eventually caused severe bronchospasm rather than resolved it - like I'm breathing fine, then I take it, and I can't breathe. So my doctor stopped it.

I just want to follow up. I have been on the Advair 250/50 2X a day now for about 4 months. I take two puffs of Albuterol about 20 minutes before riding and the regimen seems to be working well. As long as I don't push too hard in the first 15-20 minutes I am OK. Sometimes I have to fall a little behind when the group starts out fast. Still not thrilled with the long lasting broncho component but I guess I shouldn't complain if it is working with no side affects.

I was wondering how I missed this thread, but I see it was started when I was in Europe and away from a computer.

I was diagnosed with EIA a few years ago, and I use Serevent for my long distance rides. It seems to work quite well for me. The one thing I do need to remember to do is to clean the container. When I don't clean it, I get half a puff, and then I'm puffing down the road.

I tried all the drugs you guys mentioned and I just got a new one last month. New to me anyhow and it works better than all the others I tried over 15 years, Combivent. If I don't take it, or I forget to take it, any medicine before I take off, in cold and windy conditions, forget it. Anyhow, I take the Combivent and once a night Asmanex and I'm pretty much set.

my question is this, are you allowed to use an inhaler if you race? like I carry an albuterol inhaler in my seat bag just in case i get an asthma attack.

Here is a resource for information on asthma, the different drugs available, the proper techniques to administer them and their delivery systems. Contact Sharon at the American Lung Association 661-847-4700, asthma counseling is her main job there. All the information from the ALA is free. The ALA has a fund raiser bike ride in May called "The Lung Ride". Please check "The Lung Ride" website and I'm raising money also for the ALA, check my personal ride page, Dan's page. Thanks, remember then you can't breathe nothing else matters.

My wife's been using Advair 250/50 2X/day for years now. Oddly enough her asthma has gradually gotten much better so that now she almost never uses albuterol - and that's what you want. I use Flovent 220 1X/day, daily, plus Serevent 1X only before a hard ride. Sometimes I'll take an albuterol puff at the top of a pass, but usually never need it.

That's great news to hear. If you're using albuteral more than twice a week, not counting taking it before exercise, then your asthma is out of control. If you're having trouble with asthma check with a pulmonologist and use the resources of the American Lung Association.

My exercise induced asthma is acting up again. I had a pretty bad ride today. On the way back to the lot, on a 60 mile group ride I had trouble catching my breath. Not real bad but I was breathing heavily for about 25 minutes during a stop for someone to fix a tire. I eventually caught my breath but was very weak after that. The past few weeks I haven't had trouble breathing but have not been riding that well, especially breathing heavily on hills and lagging behind.

I have been taking Advair 250/50 twice a day for about 8 or 9 months. I take two puffs of Albuterol about 20 minutes before riding. On a hard ride I might take one or two puffs more which is 3 to 4 hours after the initial puffs during a lunch stop. Assuming I didn't start my rides real hard it was working pretty well. Today and the last few rides haven't been quite as good. I have not been thrilled with Advair because, one I'm not sure my lungs need to be dilated 24/7 and two I think it makes me antsy. I sometimes have trouble sitting still and don't sleep as well as I used to. I would like a few suggestions for a replacement before I speak to my pulminologist tomorrow. Thanks

Without having read the entire thread (only read the first three or four posts), if you are mostly riding two times a week for about 75- 100 miles, plus you have EIA, I think you are probably doing way too high intensity riding. Riding twice a week is not going to help you much here.

What I would recommend is doing the group rides once per week and doing your own rides where you can so you can build a better base- and I would recommend no less than 6 weeks of riding 4- 5 days a week for an hour minimum, and then one long day where you ride 2- 3 hours- on your own.

Once you pass that base building, start working on your interval training. You've got to work on those hard efforts where you can manipulate heart rate for a quick recovery. You should still be doing that one day of long rides on your own, but change around about three of your other hour workouts to 45- 60 minute interval rides (aerobic intervals and anaerobic intervals). Give the fourth day a tempo training ride day for an hour, and give that last day a recovery ride day. If you can do this for another 6- 8 weeks, then you'll be ready for riding with the group. In those last few weeks, give yourself a day of hill riding in all that, and subtract out one of your interval rides. This is kind of a "last minute training ride" guide, but unfortunately, it's summer now, and the training started late.

I know this may seem like a long time... I'm asking you to take 12- 16 weeks away from group rides, but a big part of your problem may simply be that you need to train yourself a bit better. Two days a week of riding in a group ride is not going to help you any better. Taking time for yourself to get into better shape so you can ride with the fast groups will make all the difference in the world, I think.

koffee

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