Breathing Problems

Zorba

Dunno if anyone can help me here but here goes.

I've been cycling the past 3 yrs, used to race and the past few weeks i'm having difficulty breathing. Even on a very slight incline if i'm beside someone and their talking to me i'm having trouble talking and breathing. When i go up hills it's obviously far worse. Was out monday last week and it was hard to breathe then went out on friday and it was way worse and then on sunday it was a little better but still hard to breathe.

It's like the feeling u get when u have a cold and u don't know about it, ie short of breath, i've no chest pains, no tightness and haven't had a cold or flu in months. I don't smoke gave them up over 4 yrs ago. I'm going to the doc next week about it just wondering does anyone have the same experience or have any idea what maybe up with me ?

Morgan

Sounds odd. Asthma?

I'd get to the doc ASAP.

Zorba

Hmmm hope it's not asthma, read a bit on the net and i don't have the coughing or wheezing or chest tightness, having said that i'm no expert !

Only for the fact that i'm regularly cycling there'd be nothing wrong, off the bike everything is grand.

Ghost Rider

Good to see you're getting it checked out.

A question: when you're having trouble breathing, is it also accompanied by an unusually high heart rate? I'm no medic - just asking the question. It strikes me that if your heart is going "hammer and tongs", that would probably explain the breathing difficulties and point in one diagnostic direction. Whereas if the breathing difficulties had no accompanying heart rate increase, it would point in another direction altogether.

Again, I'm just guessing, though...

Zorba wrote: »

Dunno if anyone can help me here but here goes.

I've been cycling the past 3 yrs, used to race and the past few weeks i'm having difficulty breathing. Even on a very slight incline if i'm beside someone and their talking to me i'm having trouble talking and breathing. When i go up hills it's obviously far worse. Was out monday last week and it was hard to breathe then went out on friday and it was way worse and then on sunday it was a little better but still hard to breathe.

It's like the feeling u get when u have a cold and u don't know about it, ie short of breath, i've no chest pains, no tightness and haven't had a cold or flu in months. I don't smoke gave them up over 4 yrs ago. I'm going to the doc next week about it just wondering does anyone have the same experience or have any idea what maybe up with me ?

Zorba

Ghost Rider wrote: »

Good to see you're getting it checked out.

A question: when you're having trouble breathing, is it also accompanied by an unusually high heart rate? I'm no medic - just asking the question. It strikes me that if your heart is going "hammer and tongs", that would probably explain the breathing difficulties and point in one diagnostic direction. Whereas if the breathing difficulties had no accompanying heart rate increase, it would point in another direction altogether.

Again, I'm just guessing, though...

Yes i should have said that my heart rate goes through the roof when i'm having trouble breathing goes up into the 180-190's. So which diagnostic direction does it point to ? Asthma ?

irishmotorist

I don't know, but problems with breathing would have me going straight to the doc. Breathing is meant to be normal and it's kind of critical to everyday carry on, so if there's something wrong with that, I'd want to know for definite what's causing the problem.

Ghost Rider

I really don't know but it would seem to rule out anything purely to do with your lungs or breathing e.g. a chest infection or asthma. I'd say a doctor would consider the increased heart rate at least as important a symptom as the breathing difficulty. Again, though, I'm not a doctor: I'd just recommend you report that symptom very clearly to him/her.

Zorba wrote: »

Yes i should have said that my heart rate goes through the roof when i'm having trouble breathing goes up into the 180-190's. So which diagnostic direction does it point to ?

niceonetom

if it only came on in the last few weeks could it be hay-fever related? alergies can develop at any stage in life yunno.

a pollen allergy can cause all sorts of reactions including narrowing of the bronchi etc. just a thought. if you find it less of a problem on wet days than dry it might indicate pollen count has an effect.

get thee to a doctor.

Zorba

Ghost Rider wrote: »

I really don't know but it would seem to rule out anything purely to do with your lungs or breathing e.g. a chest infection or asthma. I'd say a doctor would consider the increased heart rate at least as important a symptom as the breathing difficulty. Again, though, I'm not a doctor: I'd just recommend you report that symptom very clearly to him/her.

Hmmm ok thanks. When i was racing 15 odd years ago this same thing used to happen but it wasn't often maybe twice during a whole year and it's been happening on and off for the last few weeks, just as i said the last week or so it seems to be getting more frequent.

Zorba

niceonetom wrote: »

if it only came on in the last few weeks could it be hay-fever related? alergies can develop at any stage in life yunno.

a pollen allergy can cause all sorts of reactions including narrowing of the bronchi etc. just a thought. if you find it less of a problem on wet days than dry it might indicate pollen count has an effect.

get thee to a doctor.

Yes thought it might be hayfever but doesn't matter what the weather is like rain or sunshine it's the same.

Guess i won't really know until i see the doc

Ghost Rider

Exactly. And I'd hold off on the exercise until you do - just to be on the safe side.

Zorba wrote: »

Yes thought it might be hayfever but doesn't matter what the weather is like rain or sunshine it's the same.

Guess i won't really know until i see the doc

Zorba

Ghost Rider wrote: »

Exactly. And I'd hold off on the exercise until you do - just to be on the safe side.

Hmmm guess i won't be out on the bike then over the weekend :mad:

Ghost Rider

Annoying? Yes. Unnecessary? I really don't think so.

Zorba wrote: »

Hmmm guess i won't be out on the bike then over the weekend :mad:

MeWantBroadband

The first place you should go for answers about shortness of breath is definitely an internet forum.

blorg

I have chronic hayfever but I have not yet had a problem this year; I'm a fairly good barometer of the pollen count.

If your heart rate is up in the 180s and 190s you would sort of expect that you would have trouble talking and breathing. I know I wouldn't be chatting to anyone with a heart rate in that range. Hell, I wouldn't be able to sustain that sort of heart rate for longer than 30 seconds to a minute.

Is it possible you are just out of shape a bit? Have you come back to cycling recently, or doing more/faster? I note you mention talking to others- are you pushing yourself harder up these hills with a new group?

Definately get straight to the doctor, you wouldn't want your heart to go pop.

Zorba

blorg wrote: »

I have chronic hayfever but I have not yet had a problem this year; I'm a fairly good barometer of the pollen count.

If your heart rate is up in the 180s and 190s you would sort of expect that you would have trouble talking and breathing. I know I wouldn't be chatting to anyone with a heart rate in that range. Hell, I wouldn't be able to sustain that sort of heart rate for longer than 30 seconds to a minute.

Is it possible you are just out of shape a bit? Have you come back to cycling recently, or doing more/faster? I note you mention talking to others- are you pushing yourself harder up these hills with a new group?

Definately get straight to the doctor, you wouldn't want your heart to go pop.

Don't think i'm that much outta shape, think i should be going better for all the training i'm putting in. My problem is it doesn't take much to get my heart rate up to the 180s i've done less training in previous years and been going better hence i'm on my way to the doc.

Hungrycol

Do you recover quickly from these boughts of shortness of breath when you stop exercising?

I'm no medic either but other peoples comments help to ask yourself these questions and perhaps provide more information to the Dr.

Lettuce know what the Dr. says.

sy

Sounds like Sports Induced Asthma. (The lack of oxygen is causing the heart rate to increase). Not a medic but have come across this. Can be sorted out with an inhaler. Seek medical advic. Good luck

cmyk

I've just been diagnosed with mild asthma myself and the symptoms would be very similar. As others have said though, get it checked out by your GP.

I was sent for simple breathing/skin/blood tests to determine the cause. I also had slight chest pains so I had a stress test and chest xray. All in all, trip to doc, sent for few tests...mild asthma, ventolin to control it...and most importantly mind at ease.

Good luck and let us know how you got on.

Zorba

Hungrycol

Yes i do recover quickly actually very quickly, when it happened last sunday i was suprised how quick i recovered.

sy and cmyk

Thanks for the replies, starting to think i might have asthma after all but dunno till i see the doc, will report back next week and let u all know.

Thanks again

kenmc

All sorts of things can cause an allergic asthma - personally I am intolerant of dairy products; the side effect of too much is asthma. If I don't have much milk/cheese/cream in my diet then there's no issues for me, and although I have an inhaler prescription, I don't remember the last time I used it.
Is there something new you've added to your diet recently, or a change in your environment - e.g. new carpets/new car/repainted house? These could all be contributers. Given that you've got a quick recovery it sounds like it shouldn't have a major impact on your life, once it's sorted out.

Zorba

kenmc wrote: »

All sorts of things can cause an allergic asthma - personally I am intolerant of dairy products; the side effect of too much is asthma. If I don't have much milk/cheese/cream in my diet then there's no issues for me, and although I have an inhaler prescription, I don't remember the last time I used it.
Is there something new you've added to your diet recently, or a change in your environment - e.g. new carpets/new car/repainted house? These could all be contributers. Given that you've got a quick recovery it sounds like it shouldn't have a major impact on your life, once it's sorted out.

Now that is interesting cos i do tend to get blocked sinuses if i OD on milk and other diary products along with beer and wine. Was told by someone in a health food shop that i probably have an intolerence to them so i cut down on them and my sinuses be grand. But didn't think it'd effect my breathing that much, cos somedays i'd go out and my sinuses would be ok but i'd still have the breathing difficulties.

Other than that there's nothing else new, no new carpet or paint etc.

Zorba

cmyk wrote: »

I've just been diagnosed with mild asthma myself and the symptoms would be very similar. As others have said though, get it checked out by your GP.

I was sent for simple breathing/skin/blood tests to determine the cause. I also had slight chest pains so I had a stress test and chest xray. All in all, trip to doc, sent for few tests...mild asthma, ventolin to control it...and most importantly mind at ease.

Good luck and let us know how you got on.

Can u tell me how your asthma effects u, like do u have some good days and some bad days where you'd think there's nothing wrong ?

Just asking cos i went out yesterday, plan was to take it easy but well i found i had no breathing problems no matter how hard i pushed myself and then went out today again, done the same spin and i'm 5 mins faster than yesterday, once again no breathing problems !

Even after the last 2 days i still plan on seeing the doc next week, better to get this checked out after all.

cmyk

Zorba wrote: »

Can u tell me how your asthma effects u, like do u have some good days and some bad days where you'd think there's nothing wrong ?

Just asking cos i went out yesterday, plan was to take it easy but well i found i had no breathing problems no matter how hard i pushed myself and then went out today again, done the same spin and i'm 5 mins faster than yesterday, once again no breathing problems !

Even after the last 2 days i still plan on seeing the doc next week, better to get this checked out after all.

Well to be honest sometimes when I cycle I don't have any problems at all as you say. However I can't run to save my life, I'd be struggling for breath after about 400m!! When I said this to specialist, she told me that it can affect people in different ways. During the breathing test they told me my problem was expelling air from my lungs, no problems getting it in.

They also did allergy skin testing, for pollen, cats/dogs, dust etc. Seems I'm highly allergic to dust, different things could set it off for you if it is asthma?

She also told me that 10% of olympians are affected by asthma in some form or other, which surprised me.

Zorba

cmyk wrote: »

Well to be honest sometimes when I cycle I don't have any problems at all as you say. However I can't run to save my life, I'd be struggling for breath after about 400m!! When I said this to specialist, she told me that it can affect people in different ways. During the breathing test they told me my problem was expelling air from my lungs, no problems getting it in.

They also did allergy skin testing, for pollen, cats/dogs, dust etc. Seems I'm highly allergic to dust, different things could set it off for you if it is asthma?

She also told me that 10% of olympians are affected by asthma in some form or other, which surprised me.

Thanks for the info, been reading up on asthma and i read somewhere about the 10 % of olympians thing, think sports like running and cycling make people more susceptible to asthma, they don't know why.

Now u mention running i never really could run that well no matter how fit i got, guess that's the main reason i never really liked running that much.

Anyway starting to think i might have a touch of asthma but will let the doc confirm it and let u know when i do.

blorg

One of the main reasons asthma is so common among athletes (cyclists in particular) is that it allows them Therapeutic Use Exemptions for salbutamol, which has performance enhancing properties. At times, up to 80% of the professional peleton have been "asthmatics" :eek:

cmyk

blorg wrote: »

One of the main reasons asthma is so common among athletes (cyclists in particular) is that it allows them Therapeutic Use Exemptions for salbutamol, which has performance enhancing properties. At times, up to 80% of the professional peleton have been "asthmatics" :eek:

That was my first thought when she initially told me that stat, but maybe that's the sceptic in me.

Sean02

Hi Zorba hope your feeling better. You realy should have got the answer from the Doc by now. Shortness of breath can be a serious sign of possible heart problem. I have suffered in the past from similar symptoms. The remedy was in my case relatevly easy, was'nt even necessary to lose a days cycling. However the potential consequences if untreated can be fatal. Don't take a chance.

Zorba

Sean02 wrote: »

Hi Zorba hope your feeling better. You realy should have got the answer from the Doc by now. Shortness of breath can be a serious sign of possible heart problem. I have suffered in the past from similar symptoms. The remedy was in my case relatevly easy, was'nt even necessary to lose a days cycling. However the potential consequences if untreated can be fatal. Don't take a chance.

Thanks for your concern Sean, i'm going to the doc this Thurs, it's a combination of work and can't get an appointment with the doc to suit.

I've been getting this shortness of breath while pushing myself on the bike on and off for a few months now so think if i was gonna drop dead i'd have done it by now, or maybe i'm just a bit too optimistic !!

As i said i'll let u know what's the craic.

unionman

Read this thread with interest and hope you'll keep that appointment tomorrow. Hope it's just a minor thing, but important to get it checked.

Zorba

Ok well just back from the doc and i've sports induced asthma along with rhinitis, seems the two are linked. I've a spray for my nose that i use for a week to clear it up and then just use it whenever needed and i also have the inhaler for use before i go out on the bike which should clear up the problem if not i'll have to go for xrays and such. Also done a breath test and that came back good which shows there's nothing major wrong.

Wonder if that salbutamol will have any noticeable improvements on my performance ? Has anyone else noticed it ?

Just done a little search on the net and apparently it doesn't have any performance enhancing properties, mind u though been able to breathe properly will be performance enhancing itself !!

kenmc

never noticed any performance increase myself when I was using it for rugby. did get slightly phsycologically addicted to it though, but managed to wean myself off it. Apparently this is not uncommon either, so something to be aware of.

blorg

There is a lot of debate over how much of a benefit it gives (e.g. it's not as significant as amphetamines or blood doping) but there is plenty of evidence that it does have an effect, e.g.:

Studies have shown that in addition to aiding in the treatment of asthma, Salbutamol can be used to increase an athlete's anaerobic power. According to study results, peak power appeared significantly earlier and was noticeably increased after Salbutamol use.

- Velonews

I would imagine it is unlikely to have much of an effect with limited dosages at amateur level.

I have severe hayfever (seasonal allergic rhinitis) myself which is a real downer in the summer, good luck with the treatment!

Zorba

kenmc wrote: »

never noticed any performance increase myself when I was using it for rugby. did get slightly phsycologically addicted to it though, but managed to wean myself off it. Apparently this is not uncommon either, so something to be aware of.

Thanks for the tip was actually wondering how much i'd have to use it or would i get away without using it on some spins. Doc recommended i should take it out with me on the bike but think i'll just have some before i go out and leave it at home.

Zorba

blorg wrote: »

There is a lot of debate over how much of a benefit it gives (e.g. it's not as significant as amphetamines or blood doping) but there is plenty of evidence that it does have an effect, e.g.:

- Velonews

I would imagine it is unlikely to have much of an effect with limited dosages at amateur level.

I have severe hayfever (seasonal allergic rhinitis) myself which is a real downer in the summer, good luck with the treatment!

One thing i know for sure isn't causing my rhinitis is pollen, but as the doc said i could be searching for yrs to find exactly what causes it and never find the answer, most probably is a combination of things.

sy

Glad to hear you got it sorted Zorba. Back to training and remember that your condition is quite common. Good luck

Zorba

sy wrote: »

Glad to hear you got it sorted Zorba. Back to training and remember that your condition is quite common. Good luck

Thanks Sy, least it's put my mind at ease. Was out today for the first time in nearly a week, had my little puff before i started and well my breathing was ok but i felt kinda weird, think i was just having an off day.

Ironic thing is i started cycling again to get fit and i end up giving myself asthma !!!!!