Greetings, I just joined this group last night (08/14) due to my latest round of allergy attack prompted by swimming. Briefly, I am 61 yrs old, swam distance, some masters, and college intermurals from age 20 - 40. Around 40 I developed allergy to something in the pool, worked with allergy clinic at Ohio State Medical Center. Doc could not figure it out. Was on med for awhile that worked, but it was taken off the market.
I finally gave up, went to running long distance for the next 21 years. Lately I have been tiring of running, have tried on a few occasions to return to swimming, this past week for example. Mon. 1000 yds, Wed 500 yds, Fri. 1000 yds. Started some sneezing during the week, determined I could beat it this time until Friday night and a huge allergy attack, repeated sneezing, runy nose, burning eyes......and I am about to admit defeat again. It is very unpleasant, very disruptive.
I do not have other allergies. In a regular year I dont even typically get sick, maybe the rare sneezing. Also live with 4 dogs, two of them big GSDs, meaning lots of dog dander. No problem.
Go swimming a few days in a row and it is a disaster, same as 20 years ago when I finally switched to running. I would like to get back to swimming, but.............
There is a lot of insight and experience in this group. Does anyone have any ideas about this, antidotes, medications, techniques to address this problem? Any thoughts will be appreciated. I may return to OSU allergy clinic, see what they will say. Meanwhile, your comments are welcome.
Skip Cornett
Columbus, OH
You didn't mention whether you were swimming indoors or outdoors.
Indoors, this type of problem is usually caused by chloramines, which are produced when chlorine reacts with nitrogen-containing compounds, such as sweat and urine. Levels are usually higher in the summer, due to the hot weather and greater number of kids using the pool during swim lessons and camps. Chloramines can be irritating to the nose and lungs, but this is not a true allergy. As some of the other posters have mentioned, this is not a problem in pools that do not use chlorine-based chemicals, but those are uncommon in the U.S. You might want to talk to the pool manager to see if the ventilation system is working properly, to enforce rules requiring a shower before swimming (removes sweat and sunscreen), and to encourage kids to use the bathroom before swimming. You can also talk to your doctor about a steroid nasal spray, which may reduce the inflammation in the nose. I'm not sure what you used in the past, but allergy pills are usually not that helpful.
Chloramines are rarely a problem in outdoor pools. However, people can have allergies to trees, grass, pollen, etc. Again, you can talk to your doctor about testing and treatment for outdoor allergies.
Hope this helps, and keep on kickin'.
1: Talk to the manager of the largest pool you can find and ask him if there is a pool in the area that uses a non-chlorine disinfectant. If you can find a pool with an alternate disinfectant, perhaps you may find one that doesn't trigger your allergy.
2: As was said above, try to find a pool that virtually no one uses (eg, a backyard pool that is well maintained but rarely used). Even if you can only get one half-hour swim in it, you may have extra data.
3. I wonder whether using a snorkel might also help minimize allergen exposure.
4. Have you tried swimming in a river, lake, or ocean to see how they affect you? If the trigger is disinfectant chemicals, maybe you should become an open-water swimmer.
5. Indoor pools are notorious for their higher level of chemicals. (I don't mean to say there aren't well run indoor pools.) But outdoor pools are exposed to pollens. Do you react differently?
6. Do take a vigorous shower with soap after swimming to remove as many chemicals as possible from your skin, esp. around your hair, face & hands.
I would think most if not all large public pools supply disinfectants at close to a constant rate all day long. There can be effects due to usage of the pool or weather/sunshine that may make the levels in the pool vary during the day -- but they shouldn't vary by that much in a well maintained pool.
A few years ago, I started having difficulty getting enough air in workout. I figured it was just being badly out of shape but eventually I realized it was (exercise induced) asthma (other medication contributed to it), which an inhaler helped. The odd thing is that I can work out until I drop on an (indoor) exercise bike and the asthma never hits there. I have had a few exercise induced incidents outside of swimming, but it makes me wonder if there are contributing factors such as chemicals/pollen in the pool, body position, or body temperature.
never had that problem with pool swimming, but man I can't stop sneezing or get my nose to stop after a open fresh water swim.
after all 4 of my summer races 1km up to 5km I sneezed for up to 20 minutes after and then spent the following 24hrs feeling like I had a head cold.
but the same holds true for my practices in the lake. the only thing I could think of is some kind of pollen allergy that doesn't really effect me on land because its not such a high concentration, but the level of pollen on the water surface must be higher.
I've had a stuffy nose and sneeze attacks from my last swim on Tuesday after I posted that nose clips are the most effective method.
I had my nose clip with me but I didn't use it.
Today I will make the test.
My normal reaction without the nose clip is: severe runny nose that turns stuffy, sneeze attacks with up to 4-5 sneezes in a row which usually lasts for two days.
I will post my result after my swim later on WITH the nose clip.
