# Resources for training with asthma



## SevenRoadie (Nov 30, 2021)

I grew up in CO racing as a junior (80s and early 90s) and cat 3 for a bit. I recall breathing problems especially in the hilly races, and circuit races or crits were more my thing. So I guess I've always had some level of asthma. After college I moved to NYC to become a corporate slave and really only used the gym for exercise for a number of years. Around 2003 I thought I was "race fit" again, but had a kid and loved my time with her more than being on the bike. I eventually ran the NYC marathon and got serious about the bike again as a 40yr old...

Then one day, almost as if a switch was flipped, my running went from 7:45/mi (slow I know) to 11min. I just couldn't breath. I'd go for the Saturday rides and would get dropped by the fat guys... it was humiliating. The physician I went to (specialist) said my air flow was only 70% and prescribed various things for me that didn't help, one of which was some powder inhalant with steroids and made me feel weird. I dropped that fast.

So I have been riding the last few years much slower than I'd like. I keep the emergency puffer with me "just in case", but rather than go deep in the red, I know how to stay in my limit. But that isn't fun when it means still getting dropped by guys I should not be falling off from. I ride almost every day, and get 12k miles a year again.

I see some old threads with some out-dated links, etc., but I'm wondering if anyone here has successfully upped their game with rather bad asthma. My FTP is only at 3.0w/kg and of course like everyone, I want more. What can I do to breath better is my question.

Thank you for any guidance.


----------



## JSR (Feb 27, 2006)

Ask your pulmonologist about Fasenra and Nucala. These are new biologic drugs for the treatment of asthma patients with high eosinophil counts (eosinophil is a type of white blood cell). After never having had asthma a switch was thrown in my system that caused extremely high eosinophil levels. The result was two hospital stays in the space of a month with extreme asthma symptoms. It took a couple of years, but we eventually found a biologic that works and I don't even carry an inhaler any more. Good luck.


----------



## SevenRoadie (Nov 30, 2021)

JSR said:


> Ask your pulmonologist about Fasenra and Nucala. These are new biologic drugs for the treatment of asthma patients with high eosinophil counts (eosinophil is a type of white blood cell). After never having had asthma a switch was thrown in my system that caused extremely high eosinophil levels. The result was two hospital stays in the space of a month with extreme asthma symptoms. It took a couple of years, but we eventually found a biologic that works and I don't even carry an inhaler any more. Good luck.


JSR:
I very much appreciate your response... thank you. That is more potentially helpful info than I have been able to find on the subject on asthma sites, etc. My doctor (who I have not seen for a couple years now) is one of those "Park Ave" docs who don't have athletes' concerns to deal with. My challenge has been to locate a doctor who works with athletes, like an Andy Pruitt was in Boulder for sports injuries, but for asthma.
Thank you and be well.


----------



## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

SevenRoadie said:


> JSR:
> I very much appreciate your response... thank you. That is more potentially helpful info than I have been able to find on the subject on asthma sites, etc. My doctor (who I have not seen for a couple years now) is one of those "Park Ave" docs who don't have athletes' concerns to deal with. My challenge has been to locate a doctor who works with athletes, like an Andy Pruitt was in Boulder for sports injuries, but for asthma.
> Thank you and be well.


Hmmm... This isn’t complicated. Exercise induced asthma is super main stream common. Exactly what you are experiencing is common. You must be dealing with really crappy doctors? Maybe you are a crazy outlier, but that’s, well, super rare as you’d expect. I mean, close to half of serious endurance athletes have experienced exercised induced asthma. That number is higher among women. I’m completely baffled as to why you don’t have care you are completely comfortable with? This is mundane Main Street stuff. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## davelikestoplay (May 27, 2010)

I also have asthma (since a young child so not the same situation exactly) and I was never as fit as you but at points my lung capacity was in the 50% range. I have tried almost every steroid or other drug to accompany the rescue puffer, even participating in various clinical trials, until I found something that worked for me (symbicort). Now I am more in the 80-90% range, and I would love to have an FTP in the 3w/KG range but am happy I can be active without worrying about it so much.

I don't think the rescue puffer alone will get you where you want to go. I would keep trying other things. I would also suggest seeing a pulmonologist or an asthma specialist if you haven't already. Good luck!


----------



## Oxtox (Aug 16, 2006)

life-long asthmatic...had tried numerous things, Flovent, Serevent, allergy shots, yadda yadda...

finally got a Rx for Advair, changed my life.


----------



## SevenRoadie (Nov 30, 2021)

Oxtox said:


> life-long asthmatic...had tried numerous things, Flovent, Serevent, allergy shots, yadda yadda...
> 
> finally got a Rx for Advair, changed my life.


I think it was Advair that I had been prescribed, but then dropped as it was not helping. Also, I would prefer to avoid steroid based products. 

I appreciate the added comments, minus the "Main Street" guy... that was a pointless post.


----------



## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

SevenRoadie said:


> I think it was Advair that I had been prescribed, but then dropped as it was not helping. Also, I would prefer to avoid steroid based products.
> 
> I appreciate the added comments, minus the "Main Street" guy... that was a pointless post.


So, you are getting replies from people with juvenile onset asthma (mostly). Adult onset exists but it isn’t very common and from what you have described, it doesn’t sound like you. What does sound like you is very, very common and that is exercise induced asthma. Increase altitude and decrease temperature and increase likelihood of onset. People managing chronic childhood onset asthma may not be providing information that applies to exercise induced asthma. You don’t need a rocket scientist Pulmonologist to manage this, every doc you see should have seen a whole lot of this among their endurance athlete patients. They don’t need to be Dr House. This is managed effectively in the vast majority of cases, including elite level athletes. Maybe I’m reading you wrong? Now, you may not like the solutions, that’s a very different thing. That’s also very common, but it is what it is... 

Good luck getting this managed,... 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## curtw (Mar 27, 2004)

Oxtox said:


> life-long asthmatic...had tried numerous things, Flovent, Serevent, allergy shots, yadda yadda...
> 
> finally got a Rx for Advair, changed my life.


Same here. Suffered all of my life, and was never happier than when I moved to Texas, and no longer had to deal with cold-induced asthma. I started on Advair, didn't notice much difference at first. But then I took my four-year-old son to Wisconsin in February. We had such great fun outdoors! I was able to pull him back up the sledding hill all afternoon.


----------

