Cycling aches and pains

[Grog]

There was an interesting blurb in HerSport this month about reducing the sodium intake (to a very reasonable 1500mg daily I think) to reduce exercise-induced asthma. You might want to look at your sodium intake level...

[Torrilin]

You can use things like blowing up balloons, singing, underwater swimming, and hold your breath games to build up lung capacity. That will make it easier to breathe during attacks, and it will help you recover faster. Using deep breathing to get the gasping and panting under control can also help. A lot of people have emotional stress as a trigger, and deep breathing works to break the feedback loop that happens when it feels like you can't breathe.

I habitually grab water if my chest feels tight. Being properly hydrated is another way to help you recover faster from an attack. Caffeine is an asthma drug, and is pretty readily available. It's a good emergency treatment if you're caught out without your inhalers, but check with your doctor about it. It's not a good idea to mix caffeine and some other asthma drugs.

Asthma is sort of weird, since you can use these kinds of non-drug techniques to minimize the effects of an attack. The drugs work faster and better when you use the non-drug treatments with them. Oh and if you can, get a peak-flow meter and learn how to use it. That makes it easy to check lung capacity, and if you see a drop, you can take action before the attack has a chance to really take hold. Emergency drugs like albuterol work better if you start them early in an attack.