Hi! This is my first post. I just started Masters Swimming and had a scary incident happen.
I have a terrible kick, so my coach has been doing a lot of leg drills with me. Last night, he had me swim with fins in a side stroke position with flippers on. I did 8 sets of 75 yards.
By the last set, I started wheezing (I don't have asthma), and my lungs were gurgling. I couldn't stop coughing.. and I found I couldn't swim anymore.
All last night, upon exhalation, my lungs would make a loud wheezing/percolating sound. It's fine today, but my lungs are really sore from coughing.
Did I swallow water? Maybe, I didn't really notice.
I've Googled like crazy, and haven't been able to find anything, except for SIPE (swimming induced pulmonary edema). But, everything that I read, points to open water swimming. I was in a chlorinated pool. I also didn't cough up the pink, frothy stuff they talk about. I did notice a tiny bit of blood, but I think it was from coughing so hard... but I did have the same type of experience with the wheezing and rattling in the chest.
Has this happened to anyone else? What could have happened? I'm now kind of afraid to swim again.
Thanks for any input on this.
Parents
Former Member
Thank you again for your replies. Yes, I will take your advice and go to the doctor tomorrow (Monday) and get a chest x-ray.
Although, I think now I suspect what may have happened. A good friend of mine is a nurse practitioner, and she says it sounds like exercise induced asthma.
I had been a serious athlete (in another sport) most of my life and trained hard, but never had this happen. But, now I'm wondering if it's being triggered by the chlorine in the indoor pool. I have been swimming recreational for all my life (just easy laps), but ONLY in an outdoor pool. This is my first time doing serious swimming indoors since being a teen.
I found this: "Swimmers (14%) not previously asthmatic displayed airway obstruction at baseline. Exercise-induced bronchospasm occurred in a further 11% of swimmers not known to have that problem or asthma. Swimmers known to have asthma seemed to do better than swimmers who had not previously been diagnosed with asthma. Exercise-induced bronchospasm negatively affected performance. It was concluded that swimming is worse with respect to bronchospasm than other endurance sports, a paradox since swimming is supposed to promote health. "
coachsci.sdsu.edu/.../asthma.htm
Again, I appreciate the replies, and I'll let you know what I find out. Hopefully, I can continue training.
Thank you again for your replies. Yes, I will take your advice and go to the doctor tomorrow (Monday) and get a chest x-ray.
Although, I think now I suspect what may have happened. A good friend of mine is a nurse practitioner, and she says it sounds like exercise induced asthma.
I had been a serious athlete (in another sport) most of my life and trained hard, but never had this happen. But, now I'm wondering if it's being triggered by the chlorine in the indoor pool. I have been swimming recreational for all my life (just easy laps), but ONLY in an outdoor pool. This is my first time doing serious swimming indoors since being a teen.
I found this: "Swimmers (14%) not previously asthmatic displayed airway obstruction at baseline. Exercise-induced bronchospasm occurred in a further 11% of swimmers not known to have that problem or asthma. Swimmers known to have asthma seemed to do better than swimmers who had not previously been diagnosed with asthma. Exercise-induced bronchospasm negatively affected performance. It was concluded that swimming is worse with respect to bronchospasm than other endurance sports, a paradox since swimming is supposed to promote health. "
coachsci.sdsu.edu/.../asthma.htm
Again, I appreciate the replies, and I'll let you know what I find out. Hopefully, I can continue training.
