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Asthma and exercise

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Posted 6/25/2013 6:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hello everyone,

I just want to first start by saying this might be a little long, but I want to get all the details in:

I'm a 28 year old male and I was diagnosed with asthma since I was two years old. When I was young I would have the classic signs of wheezing, shortness of breath, etc. A rescue inhaler would do the job and help me. Skip foward and now that I'm older, I am having a lot of trouble.

The last four years have been exteremely hard on me with breathing. I will wake up in the morning, usually cough up yellow phlegm out of my system, have post nasal drip and have a hard time breathing. I never wheeze anymore but cough a lot, and my albuterol rarely works if at all. I think my body may have become acustomed to it, but I'm not sure.

Before anyone says this, yes I've been to many doctors and specialists. I have asked all these questions and more, and maybe it's just my luck, but they have not helped me. I have tried different types of rescue HFA inhalers, long term medication for controlling asthma such as: Advair, Flovent, Zyflo, Dulera and Spariva. I do have allergies mainly to dust mites, cats and dogs that I have tested high for. I do not own any animals and keep my living quarters very clean, yet I still hvae these symptoms constantly, every day and every season.

What frustrates me the most is that I have had testing done on my lungs like the peak flow meter, and it almost always comes out fine. Even if I have difficulty breathing, I can bring it up to green and keep it around 500-600 usually. When doctors see this some have just dismissed me outright that I have asthma altogether. My specialist believes it is allergies so he has had me try double doses of Singulair, nasal sprays and over the counter allergy meds such as Claritin, etc. None of these in my life time have been effective.

Now for what matters to me the most: exercise.

When I was 18 I wanted to become more serious about my health and weight so I started going to the fitness center at my work. I would go every other day and feel great. Yes, I would still use my albuterol if I did too much cardio, but other then that I really didn't have much of a problem. Now skip to about six or seven years later. I can't do anything. I know it sounds absurd but my body becomes extremely fatigued no matter what. An example: I will jog on the troublemill at my own slow pace for even 15 minutes, feel okay for about half an hour, then my breathing will kick in. I don't know how to describe this but I get extremely weak, I don't wheeze or cough, but I can tell my bronchi are effected. Albuterol before and after exercise does nothing, and it will not make this feeling go away; it only leaves after about a full day has gone by.

Does anyone have any clue whats going on with me? I have payed so much  money up until this point on different medications that do nothing, and doctors visits. I'm trying to do the right thing but I'm not getting any help. I honestly thought I had chronic bronchitis and my body is just permanetly weak now, but my doctors insist I don't have it because I'm not a smoker or old. ~_~

Thank you for reading all of this, and I will be happy to answer any questions.
Chris         
Posted 6/27/2013 12:40 AM (GMT 0)
Vitamin D deficiency can cause allergy meds (esp. steroids) to fail to work as effectively as they should. There is a blood test for Vitamin D - I'd encourage you to get this test done.

Also, many with chronic sinus congestion have a fungal sinus infection. They may not even have symptoms during the daytime, or symptoms may come and go sporadically. But many doctors are not familiar with the concept of chronic fungal sinus infections so they don't know to look for it.

Perhaps an ENT physician or even an Environmental Medicine specialist could be of help to you with this issue?

I should also mention that sometimes allergies to foods or other things can show up as sinus or breathing problems.
Posted 6/27/2013 3:06 AM (GMT 0)
Hi, I just wanted to say I hope they can figure out what is going on for you. My son also does have asthma and coughs only and can get fatigued very quickly, he is only too but I know the feeling when the symptoms don't show up and the drs dont hear wheezing there convinced theres no asthma at all!! Hope everything works out for ya :)
Posted 6/29/2013 6:11 PM (GMT 0)
Hmm... I don't think I've been tested for a Vitamin D deficiency before. I will look into that. Also I don't believe I've ever been checked for fungal problems related to my breathing; I know I have had thrust before when they put  me on too many antibiotics in the past, but that did go away.

I have been to an ENT when I had a terbanite reduction done for my sinus cavities which helped me breath a little easier through my nose. I asked him all the same stuff with my yellow phlegm, breathing issues etc and he said he didn't see any sinus infections and that it sounded more like it was coming from my lungs. So then he had me go back and see the pulm specialist which then said he heard nothing from my lungs. ~_~ ugh.

Thanks again for all the tips everyone, and I'm sorry to hear that about your son Mommylife I know it sucks.

Posted 7/5/2013 3:17 AM (GMT 0)
I have been taking atrovent, ventolin, and symbicort to cope with my asthma and COPD symptons. Recently I started having difficulty swallowing and had a pain near my breast bone every time I ate something. This affected my breathing. My doctor sent me for an upper GI endoscopy. It was found that I had Candidal Oesophagitis throughout a large part of my gullet. I was given Nystatin drop to take for times a day, which kills the yeast infection.

I no longer have trouble swallowing, and my breathing has improved. The doctor advised I should reduce the number of times I used my inhalors. 


Post Edited (whanau) : 7/4/2013 9:21:23 PM (GMT-6)

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