About 3 weeks ago after my swim meet, I got home and thought I was having a heart attack. My chest was tight and I couldn't breathe. It finally stopped but I was sore the next day. Then the next time I swam it happened again, only not as severly this time.
So I did a little research and I think it might be exercise induced asthma. I bought an over counter inhailer (sp) and it seems to be helping. The only thing is that I never had problems with asthma as a kid or anytime, this is entirely new.
Has anybody else had problems with this? I'm gonna go the doc when I get back from school, but does anyone have ways to deal with it?
Thanks!!!
Parents
Former Member
I didn't take my pulses but I didn't notice my heart racing abnormally either. Everytime it has happened has been after exercise so my heart rate has been elevated anyway, but it didn't feel dangerous.
I have a Primatene inhailer right now that my mom recommended I get (she's a PA) and I use it when it's bad enough I can't start to breath normally on my own. Really bad attacks are infrequent, I've only had 2 since this became a problem a few weeks ago. The one I mentioned in the very first post being the worst. The second being one I had last night were I had a chest rattling cough, but after a few puffs of the inhailer, stopped and normed out after about 10 minutes.
I would go to the doc now, but finals are coming up and I don't have time really. I only swim 3 days a week anyway, so I might just back off a bit til I get in to get some real treatment.
I think it is very poor advice from your mother to even slightly suggest that you use Primatene. It is a very dangerous over-the-counter drug. So many people end up abusing it. Most of the deaths from asthma, if that is what you have, are from people not using the proper drugs but using over-the-counter instead. Primatene will burn your lungs. Being short of breath doesn't have to mean only asthma. You might have asthma, you might not.
If your breathing was bad enough that you thought you should do something, you are being very careless to not do soemthing about it now. What is so terrible is that taking a few puffs of Primatene might have you breathing better but your problem could be a list of things. You are taking very silly actions. I was once told that there is a reason PAs don't have MD after their names-they'aren't doctors. Asthma can only truly be diagnosed with a PFT. You should have x-rays. Also x-rays might reveal something else. I could give a list of things it could be that would produce syptoms that appear to be asthma. Rarely would an asthma attack decrease in severity with out taking some type of intervention. If your college has any type of health service,you are being stupid to not have it checked. I do mean stupid.
Also, if you get a diagnosis of EIA, you still might not have it. in th emid 80s that was the illness for atheletes. Oddly, the number of people diagnosied with EIA has decreased.
I didn't take my pulses but I didn't notice my heart racing abnormally either. Everytime it has happened has been after exercise so my heart rate has been elevated anyway, but it didn't feel dangerous.
I have a Primatene inhailer right now that my mom recommended I get (she's a PA) and I use it when it's bad enough I can't start to breath normally on my own. Really bad attacks are infrequent, I've only had 2 since this became a problem a few weeks ago. The one I mentioned in the very first post being the worst. The second being one I had last night were I had a chest rattling cough, but after a few puffs of the inhailer, stopped and normed out after about 10 minutes.
I would go to the doc now, but finals are coming up and I don't have time really. I only swim 3 days a week anyway, so I might just back off a bit til I get in to get some real treatment.
I think it is very poor advice from your mother to even slightly suggest that you use Primatene. It is a very dangerous over-the-counter drug. So many people end up abusing it. Most of the deaths from asthma, if that is what you have, are from people not using the proper drugs but using over-the-counter instead. Primatene will burn your lungs. Being short of breath doesn't have to mean only asthma. You might have asthma, you might not.
If your breathing was bad enough that you thought you should do something, you are being very careless to not do soemthing about it now. What is so terrible is that taking a few puffs of Primatene might have you breathing better but your problem could be a list of things. You are taking very silly actions. I was once told that there is a reason PAs don't have MD after their names-they'aren't doctors. Asthma can only truly be diagnosed with a PFT. You should have x-rays. Also x-rays might reveal something else. I could give a list of things it could be that would produce syptoms that appear to be asthma. Rarely would an asthma attack decrease in severity with out taking some type of intervention. If your college has any type of health service,you are being stupid to not have it checked. I do mean stupid.
Also, if you get a diagnosis of EIA, you still might not have it. in th emid 80s that was the illness for atheletes. Oddly, the number of people diagnosied with EIA has decreased.
