Running with asthma

If you have a known problem with asthma, you should maybe get your lung function reassessed. You may better off on a longer acting product or you may not be using your product correctly. For all of these possibilities you should go and see your doctor.

Absolutely see your doctor. I'm not sure but I think albuterol is a reliever not a preventative.

Also slow down. I mean really, really slow down. Barely faster than walking. A speed you don't breathe hard. Get the time running first, speed will come later.

Once you're properly medicated, do stick with it. I hardly ever get asthma now :flowerforyou:

I've had asthama all my life. Really the best treatment for it has been...running. Like others have said, slow down. Run the 90 seconds as if you were running a 5K, not sprinting.

I some times use albuteral as a preventative before running. Specificly if it's stupid cold, or I have had some reduced lung capacity from a cold I have.

(Sorry for bad english) :
When I started hiking, i had to change my medication. I did a lung fonction test, and the doctor changed my medication based on my needs. I take Symbicort now, and it changed my astma managing a lot. It treat the inflamation and can be a reliever if needs be.

One thing when i run also: try to avoid allergies, pollution (running in downtown not a good idea for us !!) and cold. It all trigger asthma crisis, if you combine it with effort it's really hard for you!

Personnaly when I'm at the gym and a women with a strong perfume is comming close to me I havce to stop my cardio and get away from her in order to prevent a allergic asthma crisis...

Another runner with Asthma...

I also pre-treat with xopenex about 15 min prior to my run. (I am training for 1/2 marathon now).

I was previously on Asmanex which helped but switched to Advair b/c it is a steriod with a long term bronchial med as well. It took about 6 wks to kick in.

Things I have learned:

Go slow! I run about an 11 min mile and I worked "down" to that over several months. Get on a treadmill and put it at maybe a 12 min mile so you know what the pace feels like.

Don't get discouraged! As you run more your diaphram and chest muscles get stronger. I think a lot of people confuse asthma symptoms with out of shape symptoms.

Talk to your Doc about what is causing the asthma. Mine is allergies...I check the pollen count each day and if it is high, I know I might have crappy run and so I go out there and take it easy. There are some days when my lungs just BURN! You can try an OTC allergy pill to see if that helps. I take Singular (an asthma allergy med ) in the morning and zyrtec (OTC) at night. Even if you aren't feeling any allergy symptoms...take it anyway. A real pain but you gotta do what you gotta do.

I also looked at some homeopathic anti-immflamation stuff. That is a big part of asthma. I started taking tumuric and bioflavinoids. I don't know if they help but they are good for you

I have air purifiers in the room with my treadmill on days when it just isn't going to happen outside. ie. A sunny day after a rain is no bueno.

You can send me a message or friend me if I can help with anything else.

Thanks for posting. I am struggling with the same thing. I feel like my fitness levels are the best they have ever been, but I can't run more than about 90 seconds. I also have been trying to work through couch25k and failing! LOL I also use Albuterol to pretreat prior to work outs and as needed within a workout. I made an appointment to see my doctor this coming Monday. I'm hoping to get me EIA possibly re-diagnosed and start on something like advair. That was a suggestion given to me when I started a topic very similar to this a few weeks ago. Most of the other advice was the same as well.. Slow down, control your breathing 3:2 or 3:3 ratio. I live in the south and the pollen and humidity are awful. So I agree with the allergy advice posted here. Taking zyrtec everyday helps and using a netty pot to clear your nose makes breathing through your nose way way easier...when allergies are the issue. Thanks again for posting.

This is what has helped me. I take 2 puffs of my rescue inhaler immediately before exercise. I warm up for 10 minutes - Very slowly. This is usually walking with only 10-15 second jogs mixed in. I then jog the last 60 seconds of the warmup period to get my heart rate up followed by 1 minute walk. After that I can start whatever run I have planned for the day. It has worked for me. Good Luck

I have asthma and EIA, and I've been running with it for about 4 years now. I find that "sprinting" is what triggers my asthma the worst. I put "sprinting" in quotes because sprints are relative - my race pace is my partner's SLOW pace - but for me, doing anything like tempo runs or interval training can be really dangerous, and it can get real bad real quickly. I take ProAir preventatively 20-30 min before I run and also bring it with me in case of danger (cold is another trigger for me, and pollen never helps).

What has helped me is doing long, slow runs. As you work up to longer and longer run intervals, definitely don't be afraid to slow them down. Once you get used to maintaining a slow easy pace for a longer time, you should find that your body's more able to do bitty sprints.

I used to have exercise induced asthma when I was younger and it has slowly faded away. Have you been put on a longterm medication? I used to take an allergy/asthma medicine, singulair and it worked wonders for my breathing. Increasing physical condition helped my symptoms as well.

I used to be a competitive swimmer and complained about breathing issues. I even went to see a specialist that informed me that my breathing was "normal" from all these tests they did. I begged them to do something for me because it didn't seem normal. I was a very competitive swimmer, my lung functioning should have been through the roof. Anywho, a month later after taking singulair my tests increased by 120% or something crazy like that. The doctor was stunned. So make sure you see your doctor and be firm...

I have asthma too. I actually had 4 straight months of bronchitis in the fall due to an asthma flare. In February I started walking/jogging on the treadmill. I am currently on singulair, advair 250/50, I have albuterol as a rescue medication AND I have albuterol with a neb for acute days.

I literally use my albuterol inhaler just minutes before I get on the treadmill. Right now my allergies are acting up, so my chest IS tight. I cough the first few minutes of my workout, but as I keep going, I can feel things getting better--I am probably better off when I am done than when I begin!

Are you runnimg too fast? I have asthma, and have since I was about five. Mine is not exercise-induced, though, so my lungs don't constrict with increased exercise, they just produce more mucous, which makes me cough if I push past a certain point. Try slowing down when you start running, and go as slow as you can to see if it helps with the coughing. I've noticed that running and cardiovascular workouts have really helped my asthma, though, so the more you do it, the more likely you are to see some improvements.

Also, preventative medications, if you don't take them already, are lifesavers. I take ephedrine about a half hour before my runs when I know there are allergens floating in the air (pollen kills me every year), and haven't had issues with needing a rescue inhaler for a long time. Before my insurance was dropped, I took Advair and Singulair together, and they did a great job with symptoms long-term.