I am not overweight and have always kept in shape. However, never in my life have I been able to exert myself. I have never been able to run, but have no trouble exercising for long periods of time as long as it is at a moderate pace. After just a few minutes of vigorous exercise my symptoms are a severe shortness of breath, blotchy skin, flushing and phlegm. If I don't stop, I become dizzy. After a few minutes I am fine. Sun and heat are also factors. Anyone experience this type of reaction to exertion?

Have you been tested for asthma?

The blotchy skin is probably just heat rash.

I developed a problem very similar to this. All of a sudden, I just didn't have the stamina to excerise as hard as I used to. My chest would get very tight and I would be short of breath. My allergist at first thought I was developing asthma, but after being tested, he ordered a CT of my sinuses. It turned out I had a stealth sinus infection that was causing a condition called sinobrochial syndrome. In other words, even when I didn't feel it, my post-nasal drip was so bad it was causing my to have a mild case of chronic bronchitis, which was causing my shortness of breath.

no never tested for asthma, may be a good place to start? Thanks!

Sneezy: interesting! I have several food/pollen allergies, with PND (only on the left side for some odd reason) will research sinobroncial syndrome. Thanks for your post!

I should add that when I developed bacterial sinusitis last year, I also developed Asthma. The inflammation had gone from the sinuses, all the way down into my lungs. I was wheezing, etc.

Fortunately, that is all cleared up now. I still have some sinus problems, but the Asthma is long gone.

there is such a thing as exercised induced asthma. at least that is what the dr. told me when i was a child. i lived w/foster parents for several years and myf-dad was the religious type who didn't like medicine. after playing hard or riding my bike i would have an asthma attack. this would have me wheezing and struggling for air for up to three days. no medicine, just prayer. as i got older, this happened less often and i was finally allowed medicine. then it was not such a problem. i did good for many years but it finally reached a chronic stage about 7 years ago[this coincided with marrying a woman w/3 cats which i'm allergic to] i started eating a 1/2 cup of ground flax seed a day on june 21, 2004. since then my need for asthma medicine[220mcg flovent] has gone down 95%. my exercise capacity has gone up 33% to 50%. pre-flaxmeal i was riding the exercise bike 45 minutes. now. i ride it for a minimum of an hour. today i rode it 1 hour and 21 minutes. i put a lot of tension on the wheel to simulate riding uphill. i believe this qualifies as vigorous exercise. i also started lifting weights since eating flax. i hadnt done any weightlifting for over seven years. i feel great. the omega 3 essential fatty acids are what give you more endurance. flax has a lot of health benefits, just put flax seed in a search engine and all kinds of info will come up. get all the tests you can to make sure it's not a life threatening situation. don't eat a 1/2 cup of flax the first day if you try it. i started w/1 tbsp and gradually increased it. you can find flax seeds cheap. i pay 89 cents a pound. you have to grind them up first. i use a coffee grinder i paid 20 bucks for. that is a one time purchase and grinding them yourself is way cheaper than buying already ground. just grind as much as you intend to use that day. i've read it doesn't store well. good luck.

Chiggins 1066 - you said you developed asthma after a sinus infection, but now your asthma is gone? How did you get cured?

Taylor...
Rick is actually right on the money. There are actually three rare but realistic "allergic" typed exercise-induced conditions. They include Exercise-Induced Asthma, Anaphylaxis and Hives and are very real reactions in susceptible individuals.
It sounds like you may have some of the symtoms of the asthma. In exercise-induced asthma, the process of heat and humidity exchange from the lung space to the air outside the body can lead to condensation of moisture around the nose and throat causing constriction of the bronchial tubes and symtoms of cheast heaviness, coughing and wheezing. Some people with exercise induced asthma may have a background of allergies and some may be unaware of any respiratory symptoms except during exercise.

The blotchy skin, flushing and phlegm are all likely reactions to the abrupt change in oxygen supply to your system when the asthma like symptoms suddenly occur. It is also likely that you don't react the same way when you exercise moderately because your body temperature is not in the range where condensation is occuring within your lungs, noseo r throat due to conflicting with the environmental air around you.

Granted, I am not a doctor by any means, but I am a certified fitness professional and not only do I specifically remember learning about these conditions during my group training cert because they were of so much interest to me, but I also know of a few people who suffer from them. Possibly you could find more about the condition by doing a search online... hope you get to feeling better!

I went to my Primary Care Physician for a referral to see an asthma specialist and after five minutes she wrote me a prescription for a bronchillator. Told me to try it a few times one half hour before exercising and if it worked ~ it worked. She simply would not refer me to a specialist and felt it "OK" to try and treat the symptoms with drugs! Do I just try this inhaler full of chemicals (which I hate) or see another doctor in hopes that they will refer me to a specialist who can run the simple tests?

I am also allergic to heat. when i get hot and sweaty i develop hives all over my body. the doctor said that it was something called cholinergic urticaria.