Which leads to me a post I've been meaning to write for a while...asthma.
I was diagnosed with asthma as soon as I came back from Kentucky. Strange how I never had any issues all the time I lived in Cali, but as soon as my lungs enjoyed the humid KY air, they said hell to the no to anymore Cali smoggy, pollen-filled air. Ugh. It was hard for me to breathe while I was running and my chest felt like it was going to explode. Running was difficult and I was starting to hate it. So I went to my doctor.
She did some breathing tests on me and found that my lung capacity was half of a normal person. Awesome. She had me puff some Advair and then do the same test. My lung capacity was about 3/4 of normal. Obviously, I needed inhalers, stat!
I was prescribed Advair and an Albuterol inhaler. I had had Albuterol for a while because when I get sick, I get asthma, but I never thought it would progress into exercise-induced asthma and then whole-life asthma. Thanks lungs, you rock! My doctor also told me to change my allergy meds from Claritin to Zyrtec because it would be stronger, meaning less likely for more histamine to be released, meaning less inflammation in all parts of my body, meaning less lung inflammation and easier breathing.
Since I've been on Advair for almost a year, my breathing has been soooo much better! But it's not the best and I will never be Kara Goucher because my lungs can't keep up with my body. That's fine, though. I have no dreams of the Olympics or even winning age group medals. I run for the love of running (and sometimes hatred of it) and the sanity it brings me in all aspects of my life. If my lungs are the limiting factor to my abilities, it's ok with me.
What are your "limiting factors" in running? Do you have asthma and can we be inhaler buddies?
I ran 5 miles this morning in 49 minutes and thought I was going to die. No matter how fast I tried to run, my legs just wouldn't move fast enough!
ReplyDeleteI use an have an Albuterol inhaler a few years back. It really does help. (I don't have asthma anymore.)
My husband has really bad allergies and says Zyrtec works wonders. lol
Hey-I have asthma too! But I usually only need my albuterol inhaler in the summer when my allergies are really bad or in the winter when it's cold. Boooo asthma!
ReplyDeleteSo I love the title to this post. Love it. :) I don't have asthma, but I do have allergies! I think that it can sometimes be just about as difficult when it comes to that breathing thing. During the summer, I have been known to have an allergy attack while I'm out running, and once I get my my eyes are all swollen. It's really sad and pathetic!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you found something to help with your breathing! Way to keep going!!
I don't have asthma, but when my allergies kick in my nose and eyes just about kill me when I run outside.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you have asthma. That bites. :(
ReplyDeleteAnd my limiting factors in running are...well, the fact that running makes me feel stabby. Though I did feel very accomplished when I did the 5k Run to Feed the Hungry, so there's that. :)
oooh, glad to hear about the advair, i also suffer while running in allergy season! might give it a try!
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