Just a quick random question. Does anyones lung condition symptoms improve after exercise? Im still undiagnosed and have daily mild symptoms but everytime i do cardio exercise such as 5 and 10km runs, i notice my symptoms improve for the rest of the day.
I also have a methacholine challenge test tomorrow (26/08) and have been told to stop inhalers (symbicort) for 48 hours (started yesterday) and i feel a bit better without them....
Thanks in advance.
If your symptoms include productivity (coughing stuff up), then exercise and activity will help sputum shift, and that can result in an improvement in symptoms post exercise. In conditions where patients are productive, exercise is now generally considered as important as chest physio for clearance and maintaining respiratory function. If your issue is breathlessness/dry cough/tightness, then I suspect exercise relieving it would probably not be the norm. I could be wrong, though.
Hi Charlie, thanks for that info. I dont have a cough, strangely, as that tends to be the number 1 symptom accross all lung conditions. Phlegm is hit and miss. Anything i do get up is tiny (about half a teaspoon), after forcefully coughing. I kinda think im making myself produce that though as after an infection in april i became overly aware of it, even after infection cleared. The last month or so any mild (forced) coughing is dry as a bone unless i cough to the point my nose also runs.
My symptoms were very mild breathlessness on casual exertion (walking), pressure and wheeze, that goes with ventolin. I also sometimes have a sensation that my chest is full of mucus but like i said, nothing really comes up. I also seem to get a wheezy sensation only when i recline; im fine when sat/stood upright and im fine lying on back and side.
When i run, i dont produce any phlegm, at least nothing noticeable that im aware of.
Hi Lee
Have you considered dysfunctional breathing patterns? E.g. wsh.nhs.uk/CMS-Documents/Pa...
I have similar symptoms to you (though I’m nowhere near as fit!) and have found breathing exercises seem to be really helping. Was very sceptical at first. Exercise can also trigger your ‘body memory’ of a more functional breathing pattern. Especially if you’re used to exercising.
Hi Calmcat, I hope you're well. Yes im definitely going to consider this. I dont believe its the complete reason for my symptoms as i still have a wheeze now and then, but could be why i still have an uncomfortable feeling in my chest even though my actually breathing is ok. I definitely notice i raise my shoulders a lot when im sat down, i will mention this to my consultant tomorrow.
Have you managed to get to the bottom of your issue?
Hi Lee
Like you I’m still a bit of a mystery 😕. It’s early days for me with the DB and like you I don’t think it’s the whole story but it does seem to be reducing my symptoms. My next step is exercise stress tests (sadly I won’t manage 5-10k tho 😭🤣). I hope all goes well for methacholine test. Let me know what the consultant says.
Good luck x
I’d cautiously echo Calmcat’s reply with at least considering DB as a possibility, or an additional factor in the big picture. In all honesty, better after a 5 to 10km run (there aren’t many people on this forum who’d be capable of completing 5km even at their very best) and feeling worse on inhalers does make me a little bit suspect of underlying respiratory issues the more I’ve thought about it. It is possible to have sticky sputum obstructing airways and causing some of the symptoms you’re describing, but if you aren’t clearing much, I’m confident in saying your exercise tolerance and lung function would be noticeably deteriorating due to the build up.
Have you had spirometry testing? Do you have a reliever like salbutamol and does it help? My other question would be how long have you been on the symbicort and have you seen any improvement in your symptoms in that time? DB is a very real thing and can have a significant effect. My daughter has a respiratory disease but kept complaining of shortness of breath and breathlessness that just didn’t match up to the overall clinical picture. Very experienced doctors and physios said her breathing pattern looked fine, only to run a CPET test to try and get to the root of what was going on and discover her sats were dropping below 90% (normally 98% when well) purely due to her breathing. It was most prominent during exercise and if she was feeling stressed, but she was habitually using her accessory muscles over her diaphragm. That triggers fight or flight - because accessory breathing is ‘normal’ under certain circumstances, adrenaline release being one of them - which then triggered further accessory breathing and heightened stress and/or anxiety for her, leaving her persistently and quite strangely breathless and tight.
Hi charlie, yes ive had spirometry and was told there was mild obstruction (ratio 69%) and my fev1 was 93% with very slight raised RV 127% so there must be something up with my lungs. Unless those are my norms that just add to the weirdness of me, i am tall and was told i have long lungs but not hyperinflated lungs. I take ventolin as and when and i do find it helps, when i take it i can breath completely fine but i do still have that sensation something is stuck in my chest. Ive been taking symbicort for 8 month now which was changed to Fostair aerosol and then the powder version and then to another brand i cant remember but eventually back to symbicort. I find i only benefit from the bronchodilator part of it and to be honest ive been on it so long, i cant remember if ive improved, gotten worse or stayed the same. Ive been off it for 48 hours now and i feel like just using my ventolin alone as helped me more that the symbicort. But maybe it's not completely out of my system yet?
Ive also had 4 normal chest xrays, a HRCT (inspiratory and expiratory) that was normal, full blood count normal, ecg normal, RASTs for allergies normal. 2 weeks ago i had a echocardiogram and today i have a methocholine challange test, which i get the results tomorrow for both.
I was told my reversibility was on the fence, as the guidelines say 12% and 200ml, however i had gotten 9% but 405ml. My cons said the 405ml was highly suggestive of asthma but my asthma nurse said that i have large lungs so 400ml is probably not that big of a number for me.
I assume the CPET is cardiopulmonary fitness test? If so, i am in the process of being booked in for one of those but it was dependant on my echocardiogram. I was also told i was going to be referred to an ENT surgeon so i cant fault my respiratory consultant so far, she really is going all out.
I just had a little look through some of your posts and is it CF your daughter has? Ive read quite a bit on that qnd follow a few people on youtube with CF. Its amazing to see that there should be a new drug coming to the UK that, is giving people with CF their life back. Trikafta? People calling it a miracle drug.
Ill definitely make myself aware of my breathing paterns, ive not considered how i breath before. I do notice i breath with my shoulders up a lot, when im sat down
So, here’s your official welcome to the puzzle club! 😂 Normal ct would certainly lend itself more to asthma than most other things, as would the fact that ventolin helps you. Clearly you do have some kind of respiratory issue from your test results and response, but the fact that your fev1 is still normal is a good thing with an obstructive profile. It just is a bit strange for you to feel better after exercise if you’re prone to tightness and breathlessness and you’re not particularly productive. In terms of reversibility, the team we’re under take the percentage and ignore the absolute volume: if you are a tall person and have appropriately larger lungs, basic maths means it stands to reason that the relative volume will be larger. The child was on a steroid/LABA inhaler for years (symbicort initially, then relvar for 6 months prior to moving U.K. countries and teams last summer), but it transpires she doesn’t actually need one and her BDR 6 months after stopping remains steadily at 6%. Instead we just use regular salbutamol as an adjunct to chest physio and exercise, as well as on the relatively rare occasions she gets tight, alongside a daily dose of montelukast. It does sound like you have an excellent, incredibly thorough consultant, though, so that’s a real positive and hopefully gives you confidence in the care you’re receiving. Just a thought, but have they considered reflux? I have mostly silent reflux and can get a lumpy, sort of stuck feeling at the back of my throat when it’s particularly bad. You can also aspirate with reflux, which can add to lung issues, although I would hope they’d have already picked that up if it was a factor.
High shoulders can be fairly classic of accessory breathing, but doesn’t necessarily mean you are (or that you’re not, either - on the surface of it, Bod’s breathing looked fine, it was only via the CPET we picked it up). Even if it turns out not to be an issue For you, I personally think everyone could do with being more conscious of their breathing and how to breathe ‘properly’, respiratory condition or no.
Unfortunately, there’s a small subset of cf patients that aren’t eligible for Trikafta (called Kaftrio in Europe), and the child is one of them. You have to have the ‘right’ genetics for all of the precision meds such as Kaftrio, Orkambi and Symdeko to work, and she falls into the 10% for whom there is currently nothing available. It’s the equivalent of roughly 1000 patients in the UK, about 300 of whom are children. The range of effect actually varies dramatically with all the drugs available, with some people seeing very little improvement on Kaftrio and others seeing gains of more than 40% fev1, but it’s by far the most effective drug to date with a mean average improvement of 14% predicted. I had a chat with her consultant over the weekend as we’re in for IVs and she reckons it’ll be at least another 6 years before we see something similar to help Bod and those like her, so whilst the licence being granted is good news, it’s actually very bittersweet for us. She’s 12, and her fev1 when completely well is about 75% having had an 8% decline in the last couple of years, so a 6 year wait is a little bit of a daunting prospect. Having had issues with her care under her old team, a ct after we moved revealed diffuse small airway disease and bronchiectasis, and she’s classed as being at the more severe end of the cf spectrum, but we’re hoping the rate of decline may stabilise now that she’s receiving decent treatment in London.
I'm a little confused you are undiagnosed but are taking symbicort?
No trouble running 6-10km feel better after, that's great.
Good luck with your tests tomorrow.
Hi Bkin, yes it was suggested i had adult asthma even though my consultant said i dont present typically as an asthmatic patient. But when diagnosing asthma they follow a next step guide and one of those steps is trial and treatment so i was put on Symbicort 100/6. I have probably took it longer than what my cons wanted, due to the delays with Covid but seeing as all appts were cancelled i was told to keep taking it until our next appt, which is actually tomorrow (been on it for 8 month now).
Running is one of the only things that makes me feel better, and ventolin. I baffle my consultant as well. 😅
??? acid reflux, the silent variety, just the fumes, try taking Peptac Liquid, just see if it makes a difference.
Can't hurt to try. I don't really have any reflux symptoms but might as well as ive tried everything else. Thank you
Hi Lee. I'm not even going to attempt to diagnose you because i can't. But I will say I am a lung transplant patient. I have one transplanted lung. And my lung function at best is at FEV1 68% ISH. Not normal but I can live very well with it.
I can't run since I have Rhuematoid arthritis and running would hurt my joints too much. So I walk briskly. Walking helps my lung function. In general, aerobic exercises does utilities our large muscles. So basically it works our lungs and hearts helping us to use oxygen more effectively. Which can help improve breathing.
Before my transplant I walked too with my oxygen tank. I strapped it on my back and walked my dog. It definitely kept me going. If I was ill and missed my exercise for a week or so , there was a noticeable difference. I am now in hospital and unable to walk as I usually do and I feel the difference.
Wishing you well.
Cas 👋😊
Hi Caspiana, i hope you're recovering well in hospital, i was following your progress from your previous post. A rare bug from your new lung? Glad to see you're on the mend.
Oh im not here for a diagnosis, i know thats only something my medical team can do, but im just curious if anyone else had thier breathing issue resolved after exercise.
Yes, i can run well for 5-10km, my breathlessness is around the same as anyone my age with 'normal' lungs as i run a lot in groups i.e local park runs. When my run is over, i go through a 20 minute phase or so huffing and puffing, get a tiny bit tight chested, then i breath my best after that for the rest of the day. I try running every day but with work and children, its not easy to get out.
Breathlessness is so subjective and mine doesnt feel the typical description. I can breath completely fine, i can talk, run and talk (as long as its not to high paced) but i get more of an uncomfortable breathlessness like the feeling of pressure at the top of my chest and the sensation im wheezy, even when i dont wheeze. But ive never actually struggled to actually breath. Sometimes i feel like im not satisfying my lungs with a breath but i don't know if that is psychological because now, im so overaware of my lungs.
Hello Lee. Yes, I have a virus but it's not rare. Most of us are carriers by the time we are forty. My donor was, but I didn't carry it. So I had no antibodies. Made things worse.
I agree once we get an inclined there's something up we do tend to focus a bit more on the "problem". I don't know your age and I hope I don't sound impertinent, but could it be age related? (Tin hat on ⛑️).
Take care.
Cas xx 👋😄
Just a bit of light reading for you maybe not useful. 👋😊
Yes mine did until it has deteriorated . With 20% lung function I’m finding it difficult to carry out any form of exercise. I’m fully aware that exercise can improve ones lung function and less need for O2 to be sent round the body. Good luck with your travels
I exercise regularly but have noticed any improvement. My only symptom is breathlessness, I wish I could run but if I try to run for a bus which I dont attempt any more I feel like my whole body goes into shut down and its really scary. I can't even walk fast.
Hi , im a bit late to this conversation I’ve only just joined but wanted to say I’m an asthmatic & get slight hay fever , I use running as a tool for lung expansion and even if I just do a 2 mile jog it improves my breathing to the point I do not need medication. When I had an injury and couldn’t run my breathing went downhill, I was out of action for a while and I dreaded the thought of running as my fitness levels had gone down hill too . But I’m back on the horse so to speak and running again I’m a month in and run 3 times a week and I’m not using inhalers. I downloaded a free app couch to 5k and it’s got me back on track it’s great for beginners, so if you are able to run ; jog, fast walk even give it a go. So yes I do find exercise defiantly helps with the lungs , breathing easily, sleeping better and a lack of wheezing hope this help any fellow sufferers.
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