I have Exercised Induced Asthma (E.I.A.), or at least I believe I do. I self diagnosed it, and have never had a medical professional check it out. Perhaps it is time.
Tired of the amount of weight I'm carrying around I've recently started back in an exercise regimen. Knowing that 1) I'm older now, and 2) I'm very out of shape, I've been taking it slow. Weights every second day, not pushing myself, and adding a new set each time. Cardio on the rowing machine on alternate days, taking it slow and increasing my time slowly.
I've always seemed to have a different reaction to cardio than a lot of the rest of the world. Perhaps it is why I was never an athlete. Usually I have a slow resting pulse (quite often in the 50 bpm or slower, nurses sometimes do a double take when taking my pulse. But my heart rate shoots up quickly during cardio, and a really intense work out can bring on an attack, not right away but always after things slow down completely.
I do have a tendency to throw myself into these things and quite often injure myself after resuming workouts after a lay off. So I'm being careful. I've also not wanted to bring on my E.I.A, but apparently not exercising for years hasn't helped me in that regard.
So today was rowing, and when I felt that I was pushing myself I slowed down. Last session I didn't and suffered from the coughing fit after. I finished the session, did a cool down, drank a litre of water and when feeling returned to my legs I sat down in front of this thing. Now the thing about EIA, at least in my experience, is that it doesn't always manifest itself right away. Leah called, and while talking to her the familiar scratching came to my throat and I began coughing, a little bit. So I coughed through our conversation and then hung up. Deciding that a nice hot shower would help I stood up, and then really started coughing, and the world started closing in. I thought to myself "Self, you are about to black out" and sunk to my knees, where a firm grip on the desk and filing cabinet, and a lot of concentration kept my world from completely closing in. Thirty seconds later I was fine and the attack ended.
Interestingly, according to the article linked above, there is a period of time (about an hour) after an attack when resumption of cardio will not result in another attack. Maybe instead of a shower I should get back on the rower. Nah, maybe I'll wait until after I talk to the nurse.
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5 responses
Go see a doctor right away. As a lifelong asthmatic, I can tell you that they have GREAT meds now that can help you get some real control over it. Don’t wait!
Also, dry cold air tends to aggravate asthma, particularly exercise-induced asthma. Not that that’s good news to you, given your locale.
Crikey, Clare, that doesn’t sound too good. Take care, and do try to get it sorted. I want you around for a long time yet!
Kia ora Clare,
Back when I lived in Wisconsin and did a lot of cross country skiing I was impacted by that quite a bit, as Liza writes that dry cold air is not good. I developed asthma when I moved to New Zealand, apparently we have one of the the highest rates of asthma in the world for unknown reasons. I suspect the damp nature and high pollen rate. Interestingly it rarely affects me when in the mountains and working very hard. I always carry ventolin and that might be the thing you need Clare, when you feel that cough or tightness a couple of puffs will work wonders. Good luck, and well done with the fitness program.
Cheers,
Robb
Thanks for the advise and the concern Liza, pete and Robb. I instantly regretted posting this. Mostly because it upset my family, and sounded worse than it was.
Don’t worry, I’ll look after myself.
It’s amazing how a little bit of news on ill health can cause a panic. On the other hand, better that than the reverse – when I mentioned to my mom that I was a bit concerned over recent shortness of breath I was experiencing, and I didn’t think it was normal, she called me a hypochondriac and to stop worrying. :p I mentioned it to the doctor anyway the next time I went in, who said it sounded like exercise-induced asthma and put me on ventolin. Three different inhaler types later, I said it didn’t seem to be making a difference, and that’s when he finally listened to my lungs – and said it definitely wasn’t asthma, and referred me to a specialist. Long story short, it turned out to be a physical blockage of my trachea, a scar tissue growth of unknown cause, that, three years after the initial diagnosis of asthma, finally had to be surgically removed. I was 10 days in the hospital, several months in recovery, have only partial use of my vocal chords now, and am still (and will always be) only at 80% normal. If it had been diagnosed correctly early, say when I’d first complained about shortness of breath, it may have been treatable through laser surgery and have been a fairly minor procedure, with no lasting side-effects.
Moral of the story – visit your doctor! And don’t be afraid to press for closer examination of the problem just to confirm the diagnosis. The problem may be a common one, but it’s good to be sure that’s what it is.