Hey guys,
I've never posted here before. I would like some imput from you guys. I have exercised induced asthma. I was diagnosed when I was about 12-13. For a long time I never used my albuterol inhaler but over the summer I started using it. I'm prescribed albuteral, flovent and singulair. None of them seem to be helping me and it seems to be getting worse. Whenever I run my chest tightens up and I can't get a good deep breathe. I also sing and I have trouble with breathe suppoint for singing as well. I have a prescription for advair but I haven't gotten it filled yet. I heard that advair is better than flovent. Is this true?
Please help me! I really want to get back to running again!

Thanks! :wave:

Hi Maggie,
I am trying to find out if I have exercise induced asthma, I have a Maxair inhaler but all I do is cough when i take it. I am also on Allegra for allergies which doesn't help either. You may want to try inhaling outside of your mouth instead of putting your lips around the opening of the inhaler. I heard from my Physicians assistant that I see that they discovered more medicine gets in your lungs that way. Anyway, when you get a tightening in your chest, is it in the middle? Does it feel kind of like a tug? But it doesn't hurt? I get that when I am exercising plus when I am tired also. Any input will help. Thanx :confused:

Hi Maggie,
I am trying to find out if I have exercise induced asthma, I have a Maxair inhaler but all I do is cough when i take it. I am also on Allegra for allergies which doesn't help either. You may want to try inhaling outside of your mouth instead of putting your lips around the opening of the inhaler. I heard from my Physicians assistant that I see that they discovered more medicine gets in your lungs that way. Anyway, when you get a tightening in your chest, is it in the middle? Does it feel kind of like a tug? But it doesn't hurt? I get that when I am exercising plus when I am tired also. Any input will help. Thanx :confused:

Hey thanks for replying. :) I've started taking advair to see if it will help more than the flovent. I've only been on it a little more than a week and I don't really see a drastic difference yet. I do think advair is easier to use and gets into your lungs better though. I'm also still using the albuteral before I run. I'm hoping that it's more allergies and that it might die down some.

Take care! ;)

The tip mentioned above about holding the inhaler away from the mouth, is not to get more into the lungs, as most healthcare professionals will tell you (they tell you this to increase pt. compliance) the truth of the matter is, the Spacer and/or holding it away actually prevents GI sideeffects. Either method will provide 10% of the delivered medication to your lungs. Its just that using a spacer actually has the remaining 90% (around 90%) to settle out and not lodge on the back of ya throat where it would eventually be swallowed and cause GI side effects. This becomes increasingly important with inhaled steriods.

I'd suggest having your doc set ya up for PFT's before and after exercise, if flows decrease after, chances are you have asthma.


Just an FYI.

i have gotten a great deal of relief from asthma since i started eating a half cup of ground flax seed everyday. i,ve cut my meds by about 90%. i was using flovent everyday. now, i just use my albuterol inhaler occasionally. the flaxmeal has helped my allergies a great deal, too. i was taking flonase daily. now, i just use it when i get an attack, which is once about every 3 weeks. it's not supposed to work if you don't take it everyday, but it does for me. flaxmeal has a whole long list of health problems it can help. the seeds are packed with vital nutrients. it is the closest thing there is to a perfect food. please learn more about it and read my other posts. i sincerely hope this helps you.

Intal (Cromolyn Sodium) is a commonly used inhaler for exercise induced or cold air induced asthma attacks. I used it years ago when I studied martial arts and it was of great help. I recently got my new dr to prescribe it (I moved to another state and started having the attacks during exercise again). I swear by it and it is a lot safer to use on a continual basis than any of the steriodial inhalers already mentioned. Steriodial inhalers should be saved for rescue and treatment only when your asthma is out of control. There are long term effects from the steriod inhalers.

I have known people close to me with asthma, and there is a perfectly natural herbal way to treat this and not to go on suffering and continue to exercise with more energy and without the loss of breath. It is a scary condition because I have seen so many people limit their life to inhalers and feeling they have nothing else to try. There are methods out there.