Exercise induced asthma

[Crackle]

Yep its seretide, been around a while its a combination of flixotide (a steroid) and salmetoral (a long lasting version of salbutamol) their is also symbicort which is a combo of pulmicort (streroid) and femetoral (a long acting reliever). The difference between the two is that you can increas/decrease the dose of sybicort depending how your athma is where as seretide you can't.

Yes I use Symbicort and as a result I don't have a reliever as I use the Symbicort instead. This suits me better and I only use the easi-breathe pre-excercise.

 

[WelshYiddo]

Another wheezy person here!

Asthma has unfortunately played a pretty big part in my life. I've had it since i was 5 or 6 but it has got easier over time (apart from a bad chest infection a few years ago which knocked me for months) so that now i only have mild asthma, which is mainly exercise induced. Cold air makes things much worse but thankfully hayfever isn't too much of a problem anymore.
As others have said, to combat it I take my salbutamol 15 mins before exercise and take it easy - listen to your lungs they will let you know when they've had enough!
Allergies can also play a big part - house/dust mites, mould spores, animal fur, foods etc. I can't go anywhere near rabbits - horrible furry little buggers!
My mother also suffers with it as does my youngest son. He's only 3 but we've been in hospital many times with him (including last Xmas, which was nice). He's taking Pulmicort and Salbutamol, and fingers crossed, is getting stronger (loves his bike by the way).

Don't let it take over your life, it can improve immensely through medication, exercise and management. But take it seriously. My cousin didn't. She was only 24 when she died.

On a lighter note I'm hoping to do the Lon Las Cymru next year for the charity Asthma UK. Them hills should test my lungs

 

[pedaling]

I have a friend with asthma and I wouldn't know exactly what to do exactly apart from get help and look for their inhaler. What else can you do?

The main thing is trying to get them to relax/ calm down (as vague as this sounds.) The more stressed/ anxious, the worse the situation will become. If you have a paper bag to hand you can try breathing in and out of this apparently. (My parents said they've done this when I was young.) Keep them aware, alert - I remember going very dizzy when I've had asthma attacks.

There's probably more things if you have a google, but this is what I remember.

Also spotting the signs is important - they might complain of a tight chest/ lungs and pass it off as nothing, but try to be alert because it might not be nothing!

Hope that helps.

 

[DaveP]

If you have a paper bag to hand you can try breathing in and out of this apparently. (My parents said they've done this when I was young.) Keep them aware, alert - I remember going very dizzy when I've had asthma attacks

Ped,

Have seen this recommended for someone who is hyper ventilating (as this knocks up the levels of CO2 ) but never seen this for an asthma attack…

As one of the growing band of the wheezy ones, anyone else tried this?

 

[pedaling]

I think most of my asthma attacks (last one included) have led to severe hyper ventilating (so much so that I associate the two together!), but I'm pretty sure you can use it anyway.

 

[DaveP]

I think most of my asthma attacks (last one included) have led to severe hyper ventilating (so much so that I associate the two together!), but I'm pretty sure you can use it anyway.

Ped,

By the sounds of it I am more fortunate than some of the other posters on here..

 

[pedaling]

Ped,

By the sounds of it I am more fortunate than some of the other posters on here..

Perhaps, but an asthma attack here and there, hayfever now and then... I could be much worse off!

 

[Kirstie]

Thanks everyone for responding to this thread - reading about everyone's experiences has been very helpful. My asthma is now well under control and I am back out on the road in the freezing fog without any problems...well the only problem I have is losing fitness from a 4 week break but that will come back no probs. I can still sprint and climb pretty well. I've been out today and am back out again tomorrow for a longer ride.

The best piece of advice was taking ventolin 20 mins before riding as I have done this and it really works. I haven't had any breathing problems on my current medication. Also a slow warm up helps a lot too. I think a power breathe would help so I will be getting myself one of those.

So I'm happy for now

 

[BIGSESAL]

Hi,

I found that exercise, mainly cycling, impoved my condition and stopped it from flaring up to often. The doctor said this was because the exercise had helped increase my lung capacity and so when my asthma got bad I could still breathe. But then my asthma is not exercise induced.

My advice would be to lay off exercise for a few days if you feel a cold coming on. Also try taking vitamin C tablets or eat/drink alot of fruit as this helps stop you getting the cold and a bad flare up.

And if your asthma gets really bad ask the doctor for steriods. I did this last year when my asthma got really bad and I could hardly do anything without stuggling to breathe, infact I fainted once because I exerted too much effort climbing the stairs (not the best 17th birthday). The doctor gave me 8 tablets to take each day and it really worked. Although I don't think they would be good for your health long term.

 

[Speicher]

Hi there,


I also use a PowerBreathe about 5 minutes before exercise and it helps a great deal - it really seems to open the airways. Apparently, quite a few full-time athletes use such devices.

See : http://www.powerbreathe.com/expert.html

All the Best

Kirstie, if you are thinking about getting a Power Breathe, please look at the above link, from pubrunner. You will see that there are Powerbreathe Classic versions and Powerbreathe Plus, the latter has the added improvements etc, and is probably better than the Classic. I mention this because I have seen adverts in the Newspaper offering "special" price on the Classic, and I suggest you look at the Plus version. I have a Powerbreathe Plus, and should really use it much more often. Pubrunner, does not say which one he has.

I was out walking today, on the Malverns. It was much colder than I expected, and about half an inch of snow. I am used to getting breathless with my asthma, but this time I was really struggling. Those people on this thread, if you are out in very cold air, what can you do to warm up the air you are breathing in?

The person I was with has no clue about asthma, and probably just thought I was "out of Puff." I had my inhaler with me, but that seemed to make little difference in such cold air.

 

[Kirstie]

Those people on this thread, if you are out in very cold air, what can you do to warm up the air you are breathing in?

The person I was with has no clue about asthma, and probably just thought I was "out of Puff." I had my inhaler with me, but that seemed to make little difference in such cold air.

Thanks for the advice on the Powerbreathe.
To warm the air up I do two things: First I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. the air has further to go when you breathe in through the nose and so it is warmer when it reaches your lungs. In the cold this can hurt but the more you do it the less it hurts. Second I wear a buff around my neck and pull it up over my nose and mouth, so I can create warm air within the buff by breathing into it. Even if it slips down when I am riding all I need to do is sit up and hold it over my nose and mouth until I can get some warm air in.

 

[Speicher]

I think I have got what might be called a buff in my walking kit. I will take that next time I go out in such cold weather. Thank you for that tip. I have also moved my Powerbreathe to somewhere I will see it, and remember to use it.