CCRunner88

I have a question to all of you that I'm hoping you can help me with. about two years ago I was diagnosed with Excercise-Induced asthma. Being the avid Cross Country runner that I am, my doctor prescribed me albuterol (now proair), and to take 4-6 puffs 15-30 minutes before running. Over the course of the last two years, that helped out some. However, when I hit this last Cross Country season, I went into my first race with a decent cold. Therefore, combining that with the side aches that had still been plaguing me (probably a side-affect of my poor breathing with the asthma, according to the doctor), I took more medecine than I had been prescribed, just to see how it would affect me. Before that race, instead of taking 4-6 puffs, I took about 5 "double" puffs where I pressed down on the inhaler twice in quick succession and then breathed in. Long story made short, I had the fastest race ever of my life for that early in the season, despite the cold, and felt more like I could breathe than ever before. So, I kept on doing that, taking 4-6 "double" puffs 15-30 minutes before running, and it really does seem like this has changed my running career. I dropped my best time down 1:15 in the 8k to really help my team at conference, and I seem to be a stronger runner. I don't seem to burn out as much as I used to with my running, and I don't get as sore as I used to after some workouts (I'd always be more sore than anyone else the next day, and I have since attributed that to my difficulty in getting enough O2 in - Thus, my body relying on the lactic acid more quickly).

Here's the problem: I had been told by my doctor that it may take some "experimenting" to find out exactly what my body requires from my asthma medication to run most efficiently, although he never specifically told me to do what I'm doing (with the "double puffs", so I always figured that what I was doing was fine. However, recently I became aware of the "danger" of taking more proair than your doctor recommends, even the danger of death. Now I've checked all the symptoms, and I've never really had any of them, despite doing this for months now. And it just makes sense to me that since the 4-6 regular puffs weren't completely getting my airways open, there can't be too much danger going with these "double" puffs (which I don't really think gets a full 2 puffs into you anyways), because if the "single" puffs" didn't do the job, how can the "double" puffs be bad if they do indeed open up my airways more. Plus, the doctor said that just by taking the medcine through an inhaler without a spacer, you often don't get anywhere near a full dose in you. But, what would you guys advise? This is the only time I take proair during the day, and I take advair once a day at night to help with the asthma. Am I putting myself in danger?

Thanks ahead of time for the responses!
--Nate