Exercise Induced Asthma - Struggled since diagnosis

Hi,

I was diagnosed with Exercise Induced Asthma in early May, and towards the end of the summer this was re-evaluated by my doctor who thinks that I have other triggers as well such as pollen (I have other allergies to seafood and tomoatoes for which I carry an epi-pen) and possibly more.

I've been very active / sports oriented my whole life and have been training with my local Boxing Club for the last couple of years. At the time of diagnosis I was also training for a sprint distance triathlon, which I completed June 3rd without too many problems. Since then however I seem to have deteriorated rapidly. I cannot seem to run for more than about 5 minutes and punching seems to force all the air out of my lungs whilst I also get pain in my head when punching too hard.

Last night after a boxing / circuit training session I returned home and about 30 minutes after finishing the session became very light headed and physically couldn't stop shaking for about another 2 hours. Is that something that anyone else has experienced?

I'm going to book in with my doctor for another review but though I'd get some opinions from others who deal with this on a daily basis. I need to get on top of this as I want to do the triathlon again in 2012 but at the moment it just doesn't seem possible.

Thanks,

Heidi

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I haven't experienced the sort of symptoms you described after exercising - the shaking and light headedness - unless I've been running or something on really not enough food. I am sure you know to take care of your nutrition as an athlete so I'd advise you to go back and discuss this with your GP.

The other thing is that I can really relate to your frustration/worry about asthma limiting your activity levels - before I had a recent flare up, I would run regularly (not at the same level as you however!) and had completed a couple of 10k races. Now I can't even run for five minutes and my symptoms last into the next day afterwards. I think you just need to take the time to get good control of things as you're quite newly diagnosed, and make sure you're on the correct meds to control things, before going back to vigorous exercise. Could you do something less strenuous like swimming or even cycling, to keep a degree of fitness but place less strain on your lungs?

People do get there and regain their ability to exercise at the level they used to so don't give up hope. Getting proper care and advice is really important to do this though. Take care

[yaf_user681_2735]

Hi

All i can do is to offer you hope and peace of mind , I was diagnose to he same as you 7 years ago, since then I have completed ultra races and mountain marathons. yes i take medication and I have to declare this for the races but I am not ever going to win one, I just finish in the middle of the pack.

You will only find out what you need to do with experimentation , a good slow warm up is the best , or two puffs on the ventoline before the start will also put it at bay , on the real long races (6 to 45hrs) I find I take a my symbicort when i start to feel my chest contract . If I do a massive training session i get the shakes and feel really cold , I have just put this down to a hard session and wrap up warm and go to bed , that life, it always gets better in the morning.

The one thing I do not do is train if I can feel a cold on my chest as I know I will trigger a chest infection.

Don't worry to much as a fit asthmatic is better than a unfit one. If you really struggle with high intensity training like the boxing then go back down the training intensity and build up you CV until you can cope at the higher level. hope this help

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Thanks it helps to know that it's something other people experience. Hopefully I can get it under control and start building back up fairly soon.

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Might be good ask the doc about Montelucast singulair.its a tablet for exercise induced asthma xxx

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I had EIA for a number of years and to be honest I dont know too much about it. I get the shakes regular which I put down to not eating probably or the weather. I do go to the Gym and swim for exercise and feel better for it but need to know not to go when I got a cold as the previous poster said.

In Gerenal I still do most of the things I have always done so just take care of yourself and hopefully EIA shouldnt change your life too much but I have found that Montelucast singulair has really helped