My fitness plan exposed a problem-with-a-solution: exercise-induced asthma

I started working out with a personal trainer six weeks ago (an AMAZING personal trainer, by the way).  I was slender but very sedentary and way out of shape.  As we started increasing the level of effort in my routine, I started feeling faint about 20-30 minutes into our workouts.  He’s very good and watches me and has me sit and rest between sets, doesn’t push me when I’m out of breath.  But I was feeling very wimpy and thinking just how out of shape I am.

But then, my doctor cleared it all up.  I have exercise-induced asthma!  During my annual physical, I mentioned the feeling faint and he was going to have me check my pulse and blood pressure when it happened.  Later, I mentioned wheezing, and he figured it out.  I now have a prescription for an Albuterol inhaler waiting for me at Costco.  I will use it in the dressing room, just before I go work out, and see if that alleviates the symptoms.  Makes sense.  Family members have asthma.  So maybe something in my body makes it so that I don’t have the full-blown thing, just the kind that comes out under exertion.

Ah, yet another good reason to have a great relationship with your doctor and checking in with him both before you begin to exercise and as you notice possible problems.

Just thought I’d share with you a little of what I learned about exercise-induced asthma, which is when only physical activity induces an asthma attack.  Since I take very effective anti-inflammatories (fish oil, MonaVie/acai juice), obviously, this problem needs a medical response.

This comes from eMedicine.com:

Exercise is a common trigger of asthma attacks.

• Exercise can even induce an asthma attack in people who have no other triggers and do not experience asthma under any other circumstances.
• People with exercise-induced asthma are believed to be more than usually sensitive to changes in the temperature and humidity of the air.
• When you are at rest, you breathe through your nose, which serves to warm and humidify the air you breathe in to make it more like the air in the lungs.
• When you are exercising, you breathe through your mouth, and the air that hits your lungs is colder and drier. The contrast between the warm air in the lungs and the cold inhaled air can trigger an attack.

Once the attack is triggered, the airways begin to swell (bronchospasm) and secrete large amounts of mucus.

• The swelling and extra mucus partially block or obstruct the airways. This makes it more difficult to push air out of your lungs (exhale).
• Because of this, asthma is referred to as a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), like emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Unlike other types of COPD, asthma is reversible. It cannot be cured, but it can be controlled by medication.

• With appropriate treatment, almost everyone with exercise-induced asthma can enjoy the mental and physical benefits of regular exercise.
• The large number of elite athletes who have asthma attests to the effectiveness of asthma medication.

Whether you walk around your neighborhood or run marathons, asthma doesn’t need to stop you from reaching your exercise goals.

Exercise-Induced Asthma Causes

Asthma has 2 components: the underlying chronic inflammation and the periodic attacks. We do not know for certain what causes the underlying inflammation. What we do know is that the tendency to have asthma runs in families and that some people are born with the tendency to have asthma.

We do know what causes asthma attacks —exposure to a trigger. In exercise-induced asthma, that trigger is mouth breathing during exercise. The attack is similar in many ways to an allergic reaction.

• An allergic reaction is a response by the body’s immune system to an “invader.” That invader can be a substance or anything that the body senses as “different.”
• When the cells of the immune system sense an invader, they set off a series of reactions that help fight off the invader.
• It is this series of reactions that causes the production of mucus and bronchospasms. These responses cause the symptoms of as asthma attack.
• Because asthma is a type of allergic reaction, it is sometimes called reactive airway disease.

Sports and games that require continuous activity or are played in cold weather are most likely to trigger an asthma attack.

• Long-distance running
• Basketball
• Soccer
• Hockey (ice and field)
• Cross-country skiing

Sports that are less likely to trigger an asthma attack are those that require short bursts of activity interspersed with breaks.

• Walking
• Recreational biking (not racing)
• Hiking
• Swimming
• Short-distance running and track/field events
• Baseball or softball
• Golfing
• Football
• Volleyball
• Wrestling
• Gymnastics

Downhill skiing

Exercise-Induced Asthma Symptoms

Symptoms usually begin about 5-20 minutes after beginning to exercise. The symptoms usually peak about 5-10 minutes after stopping exercise, then gradually diminish. The symptoms are often gone within an hour, but they may last longer. Symptoms include one or a combination of the following:

• Coughing
• Wheezing
• Chest tightness
• Chest pain
• Prolonged shortness of breath

Extreme fatigue