Cam Levins Addresses Doping Allegations, Says He Takes Asthma Medication for Adult Onset Asthma

about 10 years ago i was a massive fan of Paul Radcliffe. I used to say how great it was someone with asthma could fight and become a marathon champion.

Was i stupid?

In the current days it is suspected that you are a cheat if you have asmatha, and it seems every decent athlete is asthmatic

Were Paula and Hillie G just really the start of the grey area ? seems they all have had these issues.

Also seems to be many people on medications claiming its legit while blaming others for doing the same thing?

1) Link to where he says he isn't taking any prescription drugs other than asthma "meds"?

2) Pred's typical use for extreme asthma is why I'm interested in this because, per everything I have read, Levins does not have severe enough asthma to really warrant pred ever being prescribed for him. Alarm bells will be going off in my head if we learn he took low dose pred for an atypical duration - very easy to drop T levels that way, get a TUE for testosterone replacement, then taper off the pred to spare the side effects of the pred and reap the benefits of testosterone replacement.

Looks like Levins made a huge long term care mistake to go with Salazar instead of Speed River.

Doesn't Goldengirl also have asthma?

I had asthma and it disappeared when I started running... that being said if I get really sick or run in a cold, dry area it will flare up and can stick around for several months.

Anyone who doesn't think asthma meds won't help with distance running is an idiot. Go see how easy how it is to get a script for Albuterol and try it out yourself and report back when done.

Levins: shame on you and give the 10,000m Canadian record back to Jeff Sheibler.

The Truth Pt. 3.0 wrote:

Anyone who doesn't think asthma meds won't help with distance running is an idiot. Go see how easy how it is to get a script for Albuterol and try it out yourself and report back when done.

Levins: shame on you and give the 10,000m Canadian record back to Jeff Sheibler.

For the 15th million time, Albuterol doesn't even require a TUE. If you want to fool yourself into thinking it makes you faster then go ahead and puff it before your races. It's explicitly called out as legal in normal doses without a TUE because it's pretty much useless if you don't have asthma or bronchitis.

xenonscreams wrote:

The Truth Pt. 3.0 wrote:

Anyone who doesn't think asthma meds won't help with distance running is an idiot. Go see how easy how it is to get a script for Albuterol and try it out yourself and report back when done.

Levins: shame on you and give the 10,000m Canadian record back to Jeff Sheibler.

For the 15th million time, Albuterol doesn't even require a TUE. If you want to fool yourself into thinking it makes you faster then go ahead and puff it before your races. It's explicitly called out as legal in normal doses without a TUE because it's pretty much useless if you don't have asthma or bronchitis.

Head back to pubmed or your University's library and do some research yourself. Or get a pharmacology textbook. Albuterol is a PED especially if you don't have legit asthma. Why else do athletes get it and then buff away before workouts and races. Without getting into anatomy and physiology mumbo jumbo, it makes heavy breathing easier, stimulates the nervous system and has minor anabolic qualities.

Here is what the USADA is very clear about Albuterol.

Inhaled beta-2 agonists are prohibited and require a therapeutic use exemption (TUE), except for albuterol (also called salbutamol) dosages under 1600 micrograms/24 hours, formoterol dosages less than 54 micrograms/24 hours, and salmeterol when taken according to manufacturer’s instructions.

http://www.usada.org/substances/prohibited-list/athlete-guide/

The Truth Pt. 3.0 wrote:

Without getting into anatomy and physiology mumbo jumbo...

The mumbo jumbo is irrelevant, since WADA and USADA have decided that normal doses of Albuterol do not require a TUE.

Mumbo Jumbo = Dumbo wrote:

The Truth Pt. 3.0 wrote:

Without getting into anatomy and physiology mumbo jumbo...

The mumbo jumbo is irrelevant, since WADA and USADA have decided that normal doses of Albuterol do not require a TUE.

Are they taking normal doses in training and competition or well beyond normal doses? Taking larger than normal doses in order to get a training enhancement effect would be easy to do.

Mumbo my Jumbo wrote:

Are they taking normal doses in training and competition or well beyond normal doses? Taking larger than normal doses in order to get a training enhancement effect would be easy to do.

Well, that is the $64,000 question, isn't it?

I don't know how long albuterol lasts in the blood, but I would assume worries about this sort of thing are why Rupp's getting tested so often.

PS I just checked and the USADA "Athlete Test History" page is "being updated" and is offline. Does anyone know how long this has been going on? I'm pretty sure it's been at least two weeks.

After reading the Fleshman article has anyone any questions about how things are done?

The funny thing is that all this doping or micro-doping makes athletes believe that without it they cannot function-race.

Just try to stop some useless medication that an old person takes. I have tried it many times only to find out how difficult it is.

Be careful when you decide what helps you.

Soon you will think that you really need it.

Fleshman basically said in the latest Epstein article what I've been saying for years on these boards: that athletes take Albuterol and Advair in high doses to open up the lungs for training and competition and that there's long term benefits to have it in your system. Straight from Alberto's mouth. Yet every time I point this out someone pipes back that asthma meds have no performance enhancing effect becaus research says so.

The Truth Part 3.0 wrote:

Fleshman bYet every time I point this out someone pipes back that asthma meds have no performance enhancing effect becaus research says so.

There are all sorts of other things that we do, even though the research says it doesn't work. Ice baths, for examples.

I do want to note that Advair and Albuterol are NOT the same thing, and do not have the same action.

Albuterol - the rescue inhaler - is a beta 2 agonist that relaxes smooth muscle in the lungs.

Advair - a longer acting asthma drug, has both a "LABA" - long acting Beta 2 agonist - and a corticosteroid.

It was the Advair that Salazar was advising her to take at a different, higher dosage than the doctor recommended.

Everyone's lumping all asthma drugs into one pile, when there's a large range of them. Some have corticosteroids, some don't. Those rescue inhalers that you see people puffing before workouts and races (or when in trouble) shouldn't have corticosteroids in them.

Quick breakdown:

Short acting rescue inhalers (no steroids, just beta 2 agonists) - Albuterol (brandnames include Pro-Air and Ventolin)

Long acting Beta 2 agonists inhalers ("LABA") - Serevent and Foradil are examples

Combination inhalers - include a LABA and a corticosteroid - Symbicort, Dulera, Advair.

And then some people get prescribed corticosteroids on their own - prednisone is an oral medication, while Pulmicort and Flovent are inhaled corticosteroids.

It is possible to be on medications for asthma, and NOT be taking corticosteroids.

I agree with you completely don't get me wrong. I think that it is cheating. Just wanted to throw light from a different angle. No need for all these medications. You gain something with some of them you lose something else.

I guess the older and more experienced I get the more I think that it is better not to start thinking that there is a secret substance that will help you.

Especially in the hands of coaches-managers-gurus that know everything.

Biochemistry is a bit more complicated than Mr.Salazar thinks.

Yes, Advair and Albuterol are separate drugs with different mechanisms of action but they are often prescribed together and have a synergistic effect as well. Both, either taken together or separately, are being irresponsibly prescribed by doctors and their use is being dangerously encouraged by track coaches (not just Salazar) who do not have the educational background or medical training to be doing so. I highly recommend those claiming asthma meds aren't PEDs to see how easy it is to get a prescription and try them out yourself. Then you might understand how puffers and Advair discs boost performance.

The Truth apt. 3.0 wrote:

Yes, Advair and Albuterol are separate drugs with different mechanisms of action but they are often prescribed together and have a synergistic effect as well.

They're "prescribed together" because the first step is usually to treat asthma with an albuterol inhaler as needed. If that's not working, then next step is to try something with a longer lasting effect - Advair, Dulera, Foradil, etc. In that case, you still keep the rescue inhaler as your back-up. Thus two prescriptions.

I'm guessing that by "synergistic effect" you mean that they have a stronger effect combined than just the sum of the two. Do you have a source for that? Or can you explain what you mean? I'm not a doctor and no expert, but as someone on both Foradil and Albuterol, I'm somewhat familiar with asthma drugs, and I'm truly not quite sure what you're referring to.

(because I'm sure it will come up - neither Foradil nor Albuterol have a corticosteroid in them)

Yes that's what I meant. No source to pull out of my back pocket for you but I have been told that before including from a doctor and a pharmacist.