Asthmatics - difficulty with the cold and high humidity?

[rkelsen]

I was born with asthma, but grew out of it in my late teens. Had a few minor attacks in my adulthood so far, up to 4 or 5 years apart.

The past few days of riding in cold, foggy Melbourne has me gasping for air. My legs want to go, but my lungs are saying no. I think I'll have a puff of Ventolin before leaving the house tomorrow morning.

Anyone else experiencing anything like this?

[Semar]

My trigger is cold dry air, such as a nice day cross country skiing.

But if you are an urban rider, then fog isn't just water vapour. Whenever I drive towards Melb on a still day, the layer of pollution is obvious.

[trailgumby]

Mine exhibits as pursuiter's hack, and is much worse when the air is cold and dry. Humidity is actually helpful. My nose also runs like a tap in these conditions, which then drips into my lungs and... you don't need any more information

Have beeen struggling with a dry tickling cough for over a month after getting the flu at the end of the school hols at the back end of April. Only just starting to settle down now. I still get tight and coughy when talking too much, and when I pull up at lights when cycling.

[cp123]

yup - same here. Fine for 6 months of the year and then almost grind to a halt in winter.

Get in to work and steam myself half better in the shower but spend the next hour hacking away and sounding gooby. But no goobs come up though. I am taking a lot slower to ride anyway and any little hill seems to get me gasping and coughing way more than usual.

Dunno if its just the cold but i take some heavy duty drugs anyway. I don't like winter for that reason.

[MacG10]

Maybe your GP can give you something like Symbicort (or similar) to have a puff before you ride. I find this helps on the really cold mornings.

Have also read elsewhere about trying to warm up the air before it enters your lungs, either breathe through nose more (which can be difficult I find when excercising hard) or something like a bandana in front of your mouth to warm up the air. I think I remember reading about people that ride with a simple dustmask for that same reason.

[cp123]

I use seretide 50/500 morning and night. Plus most winters gotta get on prednisolone. I know about breathing through the nose too but it really is hard - not enough air when you're going up a hill - and i know the tricks like wearing a bandana. I reckon if i walked into a bank the staff would hit the security screens to go up. I do all that already, and warm up slowly etc.

[munga]

hi, my name's munga, and i'm a seretide/symbicort/ventolin user.

i've felt winter in my lungs this year. last year, not so much.
can you use an alternative to prednisolone? that stuffs not great for you afaik.
saline nasal rinse and an antihistamine ("goes like a...") each night makes a difference.

[Hangdog98]

I was a lifelong asthmatic cyclist until I did Buteyko therapy. It's difficult to make recommendations without sounding like a spammer, but as a former asthmatic I can tell you that it's well worth a google.

[nyeholt]

I've recently gone onto Symbicort after 25 years of Ventolin + other preventer. Best thing I've ever done for my asthma, and so far this winter my breathing hasn't been too badly affected. My nose runs a lot more, but overall I'm not suffering from bouts of wheezing.

[AndyTheMan]

ust a quick comment. Like the OP I was an asthmatic as a kid – and sorta grew out of it as I got older.

I have a ventolin but probably use it maybe one or two weeks a year.

This year its been playing up – had the flu about 8 weeks ago and couldn’t shake the cough/shortness of breath. Went to the Dr last week and got some new inhaler to take morning and night (can’t recall what its called atm).

Fixed me up within 24 hrs

I’d strongly recommend visiting your GP for a check over and to get something – can’t believe I wated 6-7 weeks before getting it sorted…

[Waza]

Im a crontic asthmatic. was worse when i was a kid, but then i got into the rowing which helped me and a grew out of it. since i left school about 10years ago it has been getting progressivly worse cause i stopped rowing and started playing rugby.
now im cycling ive noticed it kicking my arse again. im not liking these cold mornings but it seems a quick puff of ventolin helped. just recently ive gone to Salbutamol which is working a little better.

[AJH]

Hi you could always get an ampule of normal saline for injection from the chemist and but it in your nebulizer it will help you break up all the mucous in your lungs without having to take all those nasty high strength drugs every time unless otherwise advised by a doctor but you should always consult a medical professional before doing so but this helps me when my asthma plays up