Exercise-Induced Asthma: PSA

PatchFan

Hey everyone. I've just begun my latest journey to drop about 50lbs. I was an active user of this site last summer, but I think I pushed myself too hard, and I felt put off when I went two weeks without losing, so I gained back all the weight that I'd lost and more.

I recently made an important discovery about myself, and I figured I'd share it here in case it applies to anyone. I recently came to the realization that I suffer with exercise-induced asthma. I was recently running around with my dog in my backyard, and I noticed that I was wheezing and coughing. This has always happened to me when I ran, but for some reason, something clicked in my mind that these symptoms seemed asthmatic. So, I did a Google search, and I discovered that exercise-induced asthma exists. It is a form of asthma that only becomes symptomatic during exercise. I also read that a lot of people who suffer with it simply attribute wheezing and coughing to being out of shape. I can definitely relate to this.

So, I got a prescription for Albuterol (bronchodilator), and I've taken it a few minutes before my last three gym visits. I'm amazed to say that I've seen massive improvement in my running ability. The coughing and wheezing is totally gone. What's more, I'm finding it much easier to catch my breath. In the later part of my run today, I noticed that while I was out of breath, it didn't really stop me from continuing to run. I found that I just had to focus on my breathing and take long, drawn out breaths. In the past, once I reached that point, it was impossible for me to keep going. I'd have to slow down for a long time before I could finally catch my breath. The other amazing thing I noticed is that of the two times that I slowed down during today's run, they were both short-lived. I quickly caught my breath and gained speed again without even thinking about it.

I guess that the point of all of this is to say that if any of you out there notice that you're wheezing and coughing during exercise, don't just assume that it's because you're out of shape. These symptoms are strong indicators that you may suffer with exercise-induced asthma. I'm not going to lie and say that medication makes exercising easy, but it makes for a very noticeable improvement. For the very first time in my life, I don't dread going to the gym anymore. I wish I'd discovered this years ago. It would have saved me a lot of time and effort.

Moxie42

I have that as well. I've had it my whole life, even before I killed my lungs by smoking for years (yes, I'm an asthmatic who smoked...and yes, I realize how dumb that is).

Swimming is a GREAT exercise for people with asthma if you have access to a pool. Having to time your breathing, and holding your breath, helps exercise the lungs themselves. Plus it's low-impact. In high school, I couldn't run 1/4 mile without wheezing but I was able to swim over a mile fairly easily. Not sure how/if exercise being low-impact affects asthma but that was my experience.