The only real way to find out if chlorine will have an effect is for the person to go to the pool & see how it feels. I would recommend having their inhaler handy &to start slowly while staying aware of any reactions. I was diagnosed with asthma, although it's very mild & swimming doesn't affect it at all - the only time I need to do anything is to use my inhaler before I walk outdoors if the temperature is in the 40's or lower. My lung function in & of itself is really good due to being a non-smoker & all the swimming I do, I recently had a pulmonary function test & my #'s were of the charts good, so I would say swimming definitely has a positive effect. It would just depend on how severe this person's asthma is & what types of things trigger reactions.....

PattiBE wrote: »

It's certainly better for my asthma than running outside during allergy season or on humid days. I would make sure your friend check with his/her doctor to ensure that the meds are of the proper dosage.

Ditto.
I can't run anyway. But about 4 years ago I had the worst allergy response I have ever experience for outdoor allergies. It induced asthma like symptoms that required the same inhaled steroid used for asthma.
Now it is mostly just in my sinuses so I can just use a spray. But some mornings this season I wake up coughing chunks of gunk. Must be a new pollen I haven't been exposed to much.
I find swimming is great for my breathing and lung capacity. But I'm at every 3rd. Don't think I'll ever get to every 5th.

PattiBE wrote: »

My first post in the swimmers thread but I've been lurking a long time. I'm a moderate asthmatic and swimming can be an issue. The chlorine is definitely a problem (i sneeze for an hour afterwards but the high from swimming is worth it) but if asthma is well-controlled it shouldn't be a deal breaker. Bilateral breathing or breathing every 5+ strokes is a problem for me but is getting better as I become more used to it and increase lung capacity. But with good technique, asthmatics can definitely swim. It's certainly better for my asthma than running outside during allergy season or on humid days. I would make sure your friend check with his/her doctor to ensure that the meds are of the proper dosage.

Another thing to think about with respect to sneezing (and other cold symptoms) after swimming, especially after very intense work-outs, ie, the kind that give you an endorphin high is vasomotor rhinitis, in this context also called exercise-induced rhinitis. There's a couple of different theories about what causes it. The main theory is that it is basically your immune system responding to a high level of physical stress and perhaps some environmental irritants. Chlorine and other organics can be such irritants. In very high chlorine environments (eg, an indoor waterpark), I have experienced shortness of breath that can last a couple of days.

Exercise-induced rhinitis can also be worse in people who have allergic rhinitis or asthma, where your body's immune system is basically doing the same thing.

Basically, you just treat the symptoms, the same as you would allergic rhinitis. One of my pharmacist friends recommends two over-the-counter allergy medicines, specifically loratadine and pseudoephedrine. Loratadine (brand name Claritin®, but also available as a generic) used to be a prescription only anti-histamine, which was formulated with a lower dose to reduce drowsiness. Pseudoephedrine (brand name Sudafed®, but also available as a generic), is a decongestant. Claritan-D is a combination of these two drugs (the D stands for decongestant), which you can get in 12-hour and 24-hour sustained-release formulations. The 24-hour formulation contains 10 mg loratadine and 240 mg pseudoephedrine. The 12-hour formulation contains half of that, 5 mg loratadine and 120 mg pseudoephedrine. My pharmacist friend recommends buying the two generics separately because it is cheaper and you may want to adjust the dose of one or the other. For example, I sometimes only take a 4-6 hour or 12-hour dose of pseudoephedrine because it can raise your blood pressure and you can become tolerant to the effects, requiring progressively higher doses to produce the same effect, which I do not want to do. Because these are only used to treat symptoms, I only take it when I have symptoms, ie, after an intense work-out. Some people also take it before working out, but I don't. I've also read that a various nasal sprays, eg, ipratroprium bromide, can help but I have not tried this.

It is not safe to combine some allergy and cold drugs so do not just take a combination without knowing how they may interact. Claritan-D (loratadine plus pseudoephedrine) has been studied in clinical trials and is generally considered a safe combination, which is why the FDA allows it to be marketed as a single product. Always talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking medications, even over-the-counter medications.

The good news is that exercise-induced rhinitis usually improves over time as you get in better condition. When I first started swimming 3 miles, I used to get it really bad and it would last for days. After a while, I would only get it if I swam 3 miles two days in a row and the symptoms became progressively less severe over time. I'm now up to 5 miles without symptoms.

Exercise-induced rhinitis is also related to exercise-induced asthma, which is a restriction of air passages, causing a cough and shortness of breath. An albuterol asthma inhaler can be prescribed for this. I used to have this in high school, and it would occur while I was swimming so in this case I would use the inhaler prior to working out. A friend had a more severe form, exercise-induced anaphylaxis, which included hives and can be life-threatening. His doctor first tried subcutaneous injections of epinephrine, which did not help, and then IV diphenhydramine (Benadryl), which worked for him.

The other thing to keep in mind is that since some people only get this after more intense work-outs or the symptoms may be more severe after especially intense work-outs, you can use this as a sign of overtraining and make sure you get sufficient rest between your most intense work-outs.

Wondering if those folks who react badly to chlorine would do better in a saline pool (which has lower levels of chlorine). I've noticed it's much less irritating to my eyes and skin.