Asthma question

singulair works pretty well. Also, if you're on a steroidal inhaler you need to be very consistent with it. you won't see full benefits for a while, so it's best to just keep using it.

If you've really got asthma, using those resistance exercisers won't help you any more than the normal person, in my opinion. the problem isn't in your respiratory muscles. I will admit I've never used them, though, so I have no first hand evidence.

the only other thing I could suggest is get a spacer - you'll get way more of the stuff in your lungs that way.

I've had a little bit of success of inducing a small pre-race asthma attack. Do some 150m strides/sprints about 15min before the race to induce a baby asthma attack. Research has shown that you're less likely to have one in a race if you have one before the race.

EIA wrote:

I have asthma. I'm interested to find out what has worked for others. I've used albuterol, serevent, flovent,

etc....anything better?

Also, has anyone had success using those "breathing

resistance" exercisers to increase respiratory muscle

strength?

1. Discuss this in depth with your doc. ideally find a doc who has worked with athletes.

2. The issue is not respiratory muscle strength; it is a diffusion issue from inflammation and bronchoconstriction.

Anyway, the evidence is overwhelming that these devices, even when they improve some measure of pulmonary function, do not do any good when it comes to performance since ventilation is rarely a limiting factor.

asthma runner wrote:

I've had a little bit of success of inducing a small pre-race asthma attack. Do some 150m strides/sprints about 15min before the race to induce a baby asthma attack. Research has shown that you're less likely to have one in a race if you have one before the race.

1. This method is hit or miss. Medications are better and more consistent.

2. Do you really want to induce asthma attacks that could leave one feeling nervous or even go beyond a "baby" attack?

3. Why induce that stress before a race? That is a time stress should be controlled, not intentionally induced, IMHO.

Of course, as others have suggested, consult your doc.

As a child I was often hospitalized for asthma attacks triggered by exercise or animals.

Medications changed over time from slopthylem (syrup 70s)

To inhalers of all kinds in the 80s and 90s. I would use an albuterol inhaler use it all up in 14 days, but had a full collegiate career in combination with theodur tablets.

My life has changed since switching to singulair and advent inhaler.

I used to always have my albuterol inhaler in my pocket. Now it sits on my desk at home and lasts 9 months or more.

Just my experience

1)forget the meds

2)do an allergy-test, test for everything(food,pollen,..)

3)99% sure that you'll get positive results

4)there is no such "illness" as allergies

5)a lot of things enter your body through mouth,nose and skin and your body has to process these things.

6)If your body cant process these things "fast enough" because of different reasons(overload,genetics,stress,environment,lifestyle..) this problem will affect different parts of the body:skin,respiratory-system,brain(depression,schizophrenia and autism are linked to allergies).

7)you have to help your body to transport the trash out of your body.

8)Your body only can start to work on the "trash" if the stomach is empty.

9)help your body flushing out the trash by drinking large amounts of water(1,5+l) in a short time(1-2mins) on an empty-stomach(in the morning).

Dont eat anything for 1h and dont drink anything for atleast 3h after that.

10)You can also start a real-fast but this is really demanding and require a lot of energy and patience.

yogibearkrischna: lung-capacity in 2001:3.8l(~70%), needing meds the whole day to survive, skin-problems, concentration problems, depression.2005:5.8l, 100&% healthy and energetic.

Up until 2 years ago I dealt with many set backs due to my asthma. I found a doctor that really cared about runningand took my asthma seriously. I am now on Singlular Advair 500/50 during competition and drop back to Advair 250/50 during summer trainning, etc. and I take Allegra for allergies. It seems like a lot, but now my asthama is undercontrol and I can concentrate on my training, instead of worrying if I'll be able to make it through a workout or not.

Ask your doc about QVAR. It has made a big difference to me, I was on Singulair and have almost stopped using my albuterol since switching. And the other poster was right, a spacer really helps.

For 10 years I thought I had only asthma-after numerous medications, numerous doctors and tests found I had a bad case of acid reflux which had affected my vocal cords. I had a lot of mucous which caused me to spit and gag a lot while running, trying to get my breath. The first method of treatment is over the counter acid reducers-I ended up having surgery as my esophogas was pre-cancerous due to the reflux. I now can breathe normally and am training hard again after three years of fooling around trying to get the right diagnosis! MY asthma meds were doing nothing but I had a difficult time finding someone who knew anything. Asthma- like symptoms can be many other things!

Worst case snenario - give yourself a tracheotomy.

serevent and flovent did nothing for me. Advair was like a miracle drug, although I hope you have insurance it is VERY expensive.

Aren't flovent and servent combined to make Advair?

I run collegiantely and have been diagnosed with asthma since my sophomore year of high school. I have found that singulair works well. I also take pulmacort and foradil daily. Right now, those are working really well.

It's especially important to be hydraded.

Thorough warmups.

I found training more frequently (two and on rare occassions three times per day) but for shorter time allowed the same intensity and benefit as a "non-asthma" runner might get from one regular workout.

Good luck.

I'm curious about this acid reflux theory. I have a senior on our team who was diagnosed with this condition. I, too, have been told I have "moderately severe" (oxymoron!?)asthma and also that I am allergic to practically everything. Singulair, Allegra, Advair don't make a lick of difference to my spitting, hacking, and choking. Yet I have NEVER had chest tightness but do test poorly on the spirometer. What meds were your over-counters and do you take prescription meds?

Thank you for the help...