do you have exercise-induced asthma?

This may seem a little harsh but in all honesty "exercise induced asthma" is over played. I "used" to have but I grew out of it. Basically for me it was a mental thing. I realize that now and it doesn't effect me.

I am not saying that is your case but are your wheezes more of a high pitched readily audible noise from your throat?

When do your attacks happen?

I do I hit my albuterhol when I get to the gym and go for a great work out.

I think it's a real thing, certainly. I'm a smoker however (I know, gross) and when I first started trying to jog, do cardio, or go biking for long periods of time I couldn't. I'd feel like I was going to die, like I was suffocating, and my lungs burned like hell. It still sucks trying to do those things, but it's much easier for me now and I can breathe a lot more easily even after doing 15 minutes straight of Fire 45 (Turbo Fire). I still have to use an inhaler sometimes, but at least things have improved some.

Edit: I wanted to add, I also have had lung problems even before I started smoking. I could never do the "mile run" in school without going bright red in the face and panting like I was going to die, my lungs burned even then. And it wasn't that I was unhealthy, my legs and body felt fine, just not my lungs. When I was born, the mucus plugs came out of my nose before I came out of the womb, and my lungs filled with amniotic fluid. They had to pump my lungs as soon as I came into the world. Sometimes I wonder if this could have attributed to my weak lungs. But who really knows?

I disagree it's overplayed. When I first started running, I certainly had it. The coughing would not stop. When I used the inhaler 20 minutes prior to my runs, I never coughed at all.

(I'm 41 now and the coughing after running has been going on since I was 14)

Now that my body is more accustomed to running, I don't need the inhaler. That does not mean that the condition did not exist.

I know what you are saying and I some what agree. It's just been my personal experience that a lot of people have unreal expectations of their fitness levels and when they start to get tired the fall in to a self induced stridor. Were you an experience runner when you had it?

I disagree it's overplayed. When I first started running, I certainly had it. The coughing would not stop. When I used the inhaler 20 minutes prior to my runs, I never coughed at all.

(I'm 41 now and the coughing after running has been going on since I was 14)

Now that my body is more accustomed to running, I don't need the inhaler. That does not mean that the condition did not exist.

I know what you are saying and I some what agree. It's just been my personal experience that a lot of people have unreal expectations of their fitness levels and when they start to get tired the fall in to a self induced stridor. Were you an experience runner when you had it?

No, I was not. Running a mile would send me into a 2 hour coughing fit. Now that I'm experienced, I know when I will need to use it and when I won't. Generally, if I am running during peak pollen or traffic (smog) times, I know I will need to use the inhaler. Other than that, I don't need it at all anymore.

Swimming is considered the best exercise for Asthma suffers - the moist air around the surface of the water is meant to be easier to breath, and the controlling of breathing in and out is also good. Make sure your breath out ( blow bubbles under water ) you'll get more tired if you don't breath out enough.

Swimming is a great exercise, it is low impact, it burns calories like crazy, it uses many muscle groups including core muscles. Of course you will need to do some other exercise to prevent osteoporosis but that can just be walking.

If you aren't a confident swimmer then enquire about lessons at your local swimming pool. If they don't have an adult group. I'm sure they can find somebody to help you, if it's too expensive see if any of your friends also want to improve their swimming and share the cost.

Is it not acceptable to go to your local public pool?

I've had asthma my entire life . I've been on and off of steroids.It can be induced during a highly aerobic activity or I could be sleeping. I feel I have it best under control the more I expose myself to elements. Allergy season is terrible, but there are things like singulair and zyrtec that help prevent. As far as exercise, I run intervally. I do 2 minutes at a moderate pace , 1 minute at a high, 2 moderate, etc. It helps. HOWEVER, no matter how much experience I have with this illness it can be bad at unexpected times. I accidentally overdosed on my albuterol inhaler last week because I was running when the pollen count was high.

I agree about getting an asthma management plan if possible, as you have medication for it already you have presumably been given some advice on how to manage it successfully. If it is any help, I'll give you my experience.

I have had asthma all my life, it was at its worst when I was a child (pre-teen/teen years) when I was on a portable ventilator machine three times a day to keep it under control. My asthma has subsided with age (I'm now 32), but I also find the times I am fitter the asthma has a lot less impact. I also find it is worse in Spring when the pollen is everywhere.

At first I had to find low impact exercise that could be done at a steadier pace to avoid triggering an attack, walking was about all I could do at some points, then moved on to swimming. This was great, I could go at a steady pace for ages (once my fitness levels were up a bit) and never have an attack. Funny thing is if I went for a jog I'd be wheezing before I got to the end of the block.

Now, after several years I still keep my medication on hand (only Ventolin now), but rarely need it, even in spring. I can do an hour of cardio and weights at a pretty high intensity and be ok - still cant run more than 5k without a rest though

That may have been completely useless, but I would just say to find an excersise your comfortable doing at a steady pace (may be swimming, cycling, or just walking), and use that to build up your fitness. Then throw in some moderate intensity exercises when youre ready to build up your CV fitness.

Good luck and happy exercising!