Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Hey all,

I've noticed after doing big efforts, I get a nagging cough. I don't experience tightness of the chest, still able to push quite hard, it's just annoying.

Best described as a scratch in the throat but it doesn't go away for hours.

Does anyone else experience anything similar?

-JB

might be cough variant exercise induced asthma, see your doctor

Might also be under hydration.
When the rear wall of the pharynx and trachea are relatively dry, cough receptors are more easily irritated by the passing of air and small particles, and even taking deeper breaths. Your first step could be to adequately hydrate before getting on the bicycle.
As an experiment, drink 500mls of electrolyte an hour before riding, and same again 10-15 minutes before.

It could be under hydration. I usually drink water only. I try to drink a bit before I leave and the night before too.

This morning was quite warm (30 degrees (AT) 6am) and I didn't quite get a litre of water down over two hours.

So I suspect underhydration. I'll try the same ride with the same intensity next week and drink up, get some Gatorade powder or something too.

The odd thing about it is that I did a pretty tough ride on Tuesday (different route, but comparable climbs and intensity) and can't recall coughing up badly afterwards. It was 12 degrees cooler, though.

I did, but it didn’t last for hours, I just think my lungs have not had to expand so much before so it opened up my airways and that caused some coughing up of mucus. I presume once you train your lungs to expand, the cough should also evolve. But that’s just my view, best to check with your local medical officer.

Exercise induced asthma.

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jimboss wrote:The odd thing about it is that I did a pretty tough ride on Tuesday (different route, but comparable climbs and intensity) and can't recall coughing up badly afterwards. It was 12 degrees cooler, though.

Yeah, you mightn't have sweated as much on the cooler day....or shunted as much blood to the skin to keep yourself cool.
Some interesting reading
http://www.active.com/cycling/Articles/ ... Strategies

I took a pee just earlier and it wasn't super yellow but it wasn't clear either. Will work on hydration next week, if it recurs then it's a visit to the doc. I'm still on the easy side of 30 but would like to get in the habit of yearly checkups.

winstonw wrote:Might also be under hydration.
When the rear wall of the pharynx and trachea are relatively dry, cough receptors are more easily irritated by the passing of air and small particles, and even taking deeper breaths. Your first step could be to adequately hydrate before getting on the bicycle.
As an experiment, drink 500mls of electrolyte an hour before riding, and same again 10-15 minutes before.

Good advice the electrolyte comment is important not just water. If you want just water try a magnesium supplement.

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jimboss wrote:I took a pee just earlier and it wasn't super yellow but it wasn't clear either. Will work on hydration next week, if it recurs then it's a visit to the doc. I'm still on the easy side of 30 but would like to get in the habit of yearly checkups.

Something to discuss with your doc is his insight into growing evidence exercise induced asthma is caused by repetitive bouts of dehydration during exercise. Repetitive dehydration can lead to hyper-reactive bronchial smooth muscle, damage to the cells lining the airways, and associated scarring.

My experience with docs is prendnisolone most have been useless. I was diagnosed with this by a dietitian who heard my cough. I now put salt on my food and take magnesium cough gone.

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I used to get an annoying cough when exercising hard and thus breathing hard, especially when it was hot out. Same description, throat scratchiness, and I just figured it was the hot air drying out my throat. Simple fix for me is chewing gum when I run or ride, keeps the saliva production up and no more sore throat/coughs.

Added bonus, keeps my teeth from knocking together when I hit an unexpected nasty bump.

Google " Pursuiter's cough" or "Track hack" .

JBark wrote:I used to get an annoying cough when exercising hard .... simple fix for me is chewing gum when I run or ride

Another bonus is that it keeps the mouth shut, you lose less moisture. Surprising how hard it is to keep your mouth shut even when riding in the heat of Summer.
Edit: Or is that just me?

It may not always be simply exercise induced asthma or dry throat causing these symptoms, if you have chest or back injuries this can lend to breathing or recovery issues.

I get a dry cough after every tt without fail. Just happens when you are breathing that hard.

When I was rowing competitively I used to always get the cough after a race. If I didn't I knoew I wasn't trying hard enough.

These days, when riding, I get more of the exercise induced asthma if I put in a long sustained effort. Had it for a couple of days after the B2GC 100km ride which I did alot faster than I expected. Only really shows up an hour or two after finishing. It goes away with a bit of rest and in my experience not too much to be worried about.

There's probably breathing techniques/exercises that can be employed to reduce the effects, but I haven't bothered with it as it's so infrequent.

I get the opposite of the dry cough some times - I end up with so much saliva that it feels I'm about to choke on it and I do cough up a bit. It's not very comfortable.

But it only happens after I've put in a really big effort for a long time and I'm at the point where I'm totally exhausted. I'm like that for a minute or two and then okay after that.

I did 98km and 1900m up yesterday, but the temperature was much lower (average 16 versus 30+)

Overall intensity was the same, but I didn't have a short lungbuster climb like I ride on Thursdays.

Marty Moose wrote:My experience with docs is prendnisolone most have been useless. I was diagnosed with this by a dietitian who heard my cough. I now put salt on my food and take magnesium cough gone.

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Salt is sodium-based. Take magnesium tablets.

57km and 998m up, this morning, no cough. Stayed hydrated (1000ml in 2 hours, 750ml before I left). Felt really cruddy though, lead legs. Was crook yesterday though, and have had a big couple of weeks, so I think the lead legs was just a cost of doing business.

This Thursday will be the moment of truth, though. Once a week I have a crack at a 500m long, 20% grade that really gets the heart and lungs working. It's this climb that I reckon gets my cough going, but at the same time, I don't often drink much before it. So will see how I go.

gorilla monsoon wrote:

Marty Moose wrote:My experience with docs is prendnisolone most have been useless. I was diagnosed with this by a dietitian who heard my cough. I now put salt on my food and take magnesium cough gone.

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Salt is sodium-based. Take magnesium tablets.

Did you miss the last sentence, are you saying sodium is not important??

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gorilla, I am afraid Endura are out on their own with their focus on Magnesium. No pro cycling team I know of uses their products.
Pro teams favor electrolyte that emulates the concentrations of sweat.
Below is a typical profile of sweat.

Electrolyte mg/L
sodium 800
potassium 150
calcium 25
magnesium 12
zinc 0.6

The last I looked, no Endura product comes close to this formulation, and Endura have never responded to my multiple requests for scientific papers validating their formulae.

Research Allen Lim, the cycling physiologist behind SkratchLabs electrolyte.
http://www.skratchlabs.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


JimBoss, it seems you're revealing more information now! What do you mean you were "crook" the day before? And 500m of 20% is a tough gig.

I alluded earlier that dehydration can unmask or trigger EIA, however it can also irritate prior scarring of the airways. Scarring from what? dehydration, and over-exercising esp in the presence of a respiratory tract infection. IMO, the diagnosis of EIA is still confounded by irritation of airways previously scarred by infections and exercise while dehydrated. A GP really has to be rigorous to discriminate.

winstonw wrote: JimBoss, it seems you're revealing more information now! What do you mean you were "crook" the day before? And 500m of 20% is a tough gig.

I alluded earlier that dehydration can unmask or trigger EIA, however it can also irritate prior scarring of the airways. Scarring from what? dehydration, and over-exercising esp in the presence of a respiratory tract infection. IMO, the diagnosis of EIA is still confounded by irritation of airways previously scarred by infections and exercise while dehydrated. A GP really has to be rigorous to discriminate.

Sorry, I meant I was crook yesterday, which meant today I had lead filled legs while climbing. I wasn't crook before any coughing issues.

Not wrong about that climb being tough. It's a good one. From memory it's the trigger for coughing - and quite hard on my lungs. While there are several efforts I regularly do that have me holding close to HRMax for a few minutes (some near on ten), this is the only one that really takes my cardio to task. And it only lasts 3-ish minutes!

winstonw wrote:The last I looked, no Endura product comes close to this formulation, and Endura have never responded to my multiple requests for scientific papers validating their formulae.

Research Allen Lim, the cycling physiologist behind SkratchLabs electrolyte.
http://www.skratchlabs.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Allen Lim is also the physiologist for Slipstream Sports (aka Garmin Sharp). I didn't realise he had his own line of electrolyte products.

I've tried Endura myself - I didn't find it that effective. But I have found that a few of these energy supplements or gels upset my stomach.