Asthma driving me mad
 

I have been exercising regularly for 12 months now. At the moment my asthma is very episodal (allergic to carpet at work - long story) For the past few days I have been wheezing pretty much on and off all day, but it's fine overnight. Should I lay off the exercise until things settle down or try to work through it? My doctor is not much use (can't get an appointment for two weeks) and even if I do see him basically says to do whatever I think is right.

I know nothing about asthma, but you might want to check the Dieting with Obstacles forum here and see if there's an asthma group.

I hope that the asthma lightens up soon for you.

Hey fellow asthma chick

It's horrible that you have an allergin at work that you can't get away from. It makes my lungs hurt just thinking about it. Do you take a daily maintenance drug for your asthma? or do you only have a rescue inhaler? Are you using them regularly? If you can't avoid this trigger, you've got to get your medication adjusted to cope with it.

If your doctor isn't helpful then I'd suggest finding a new doc.

If excercising is very uncomfortable or makes your asthma worse, I would suggest laying off until you get this issue resolved. If exercise doesn't make it worse, I'd probably keep it up at whatever level was comfortable. Do you have a flow meter? What are your numbers like? Don't wait 2 weeks for an appointment if you're in the red zone.

I hope you feel better soon!

I haven't seen as asthma thread in the Dieting with Obstacles, and I have looked! My peak flow readings are very variable, which is what makes me think I'm best just to stick to walking and gentle stuff at the moment. I don't want to make excuses though! In England, you have to stay with a GP in your local area, and he's it. Asthma management is very different here than my doctor in Australia, who was a lot more proactive, and helpful with silly questions, and i had access to respitory physician, which I don't have here.

I only take rescue, unfortunately I happen to be one of the few people on the planet who are hypersensitive to the long term drugs, I get crippling migraine, which I never get when I am not on the meds, so I am very tricky to manage! Migraine is not a reported side effect of corticosteroids, I just must be special!!!

My manager is working hard to resolve the carpet issue, they are trying to find me a safe office where it's not a problem. I am sitting on a different floor, but they had new carpet a month ago, and that's still flaring it up, so who knows! I did suggest a nice glass house with plenty of plants built outside, or even working from home, but they haven't taken me up on either of these options yet ;)

Hi kykaree--

Wow, I'm surprised they don't have you on maintenance meds. Although---BLECH--that one was nasty, nasty, nasty and it was only fear of landing in the hospital that kept me on mine.

So...OK...your peak flow is variable right now--how do your lungs feel? Are you wheezing? Feeling short of breath (or like someone is sitting on your chest)? Personally, I think I would take it pretty gradual until the carpet situation at work is resolved. I've had a couple of really bad asthma attacks that have pretty much scared me to death (because I thought I WOULD die--alone since I live alone) so I don't take risks when my lungs are in overdrive.

ALL CAVEATS ABOUT MEDICAL ADVICE NOW.....so....one thing that I know I've done in the past because I did NOT want to sit around on my butt--I would actually take one hit off my rescue inhaler, THEN exercise. This worked well for me hiking, and even at the gym on the treadmill when I was starting out. I'd wait a few minutes after inhaling, I could feel things open up, then I'd start my aerobic workout VERY GRADUALLY and let my body catch up. By the time the inhaler has probably faded in effect, my body was picking up speed and I felt good. You need to know your body and know when to stop (and when to use the rescue inhaler) if you feel the situation change!

One piece of good news for me that I dearly hope comes true for you: my asthma stopped flaring up after I lost about 30 pounds and I have not had an attack now in several months. I can truly feel the difference. I suspect that by the time I lose another 30-40 pounds I will be back to where I was in my 20s with a VERY OCCASIONAL and mild bout with exercise induced asthma (in very hot, dry conditions when my lungs would dry out).

Good luck!! Tracy

Are you on an inhaled steroid? Long acting bronchodilator? Or just ventolin... If you're only on ventolin, you probably should be on an inhaled steroid on a daily basis. You need to review this with your MD, it's too bad you can't find someone you're comoftable with. Good luck.

If you read my post above, I explained why I can't take inhaled steroids. The tablets are worse, but on inhaled steroids I have 3 to 5 migraines a WEEK, the sort of migraines that last 5 - 7 hours. On tablets like prednisolone and Theo-Dur, forget it. I can't have a life until I stop taking the meds, the migraines never go away. As my asthma is "usually" well behaved, I can't take the steroids as the unwanted effects are worse than the asthma. This decision was arrived at in consultation with my respiratory physician in Australia. It's not an ideal situation, but it's the way it is.

I only asked for advice on the exercise, not on medication, I wouldn't seek that sort of advice on the internet. I had a long discussion with my GP about this a year ago, and we decided to do a six week trial on the corticosteroids, the migraines returned, and so I am no longer keen to pursue that route of asthma management. I am comfortable with my GP, he's great, he's just not very good with my asthma because he's used to dealing with children with it, not adults, and I have quite specific needs. In a five minute appointment he does not have the time to really explore the problem. This is the thing about England, you have free doctors, but they have a lot of patients.

Since I have lost 60lbs the asthma situation hasn't changed for me. I don't get symptoms every day, and I always take my ventolin half an hour before exercise and very rarely have a flare up, but in times like this when there is an active trigger around, it's not good.

Poor Kylie! :hug: This happened to my cousin (aged 5) when they laid new carpet in his house. When I visited I started to have symptoms too. I thought it was the gluey smell which was getting to me.

If you're fine overnight (that's one blessing, I suppose) could you exercise first thing, before you get to work?

I think they should open all the windows at work. Good luck.

Poor chick :hug: I don't have any advice, but you could just take it as an opportunity to rest up for a while. I know it sucks and is so frustrating when you can't exercise - I've just been bashed in the knee so will have to take it easy for a day or two. :tantrum: