Exercise Induced Asthma & Allergies

[beccaB]

I was going to search for a thread on this very subject. After a really long ride my lungs burn real bad. They might have always done that, but for some reason I'm just now noticing how after a ride, the feeling continues on for a while. When I was in Colorado in June I rode a lot, and that was hard for me because I am not acclimatized to altitude. However, there was no burning lungs there. just here, in South Central Michigan. What gives?

[indigoiis]

I was having this problem this Spring, and my doc, who tends to loathe prescription anything, asked me to track my diet for a month before she had me have an allergy test. I did, and tracked symptoms, and lo and behold, they were related. Certain foods really triggered bad breathing on long rides.

So she suggested I cut those foods for a month, which I did, and lo and behold, the asthma disappeared.

I also lost ten lbs. in the process and that probably helped my climbing.

Everyone's different but.. I'm glad she didn't just give me an inhaler script and call it a day.

[Cycling Sister]

beccaB, Check with your doctor. I hope you find answers! Not being able to breath is no fun.

indigoiis, That's interesting. So, your triggers was food allergies? What foods did you eliminate?

[beccaB]

Yeah, me too.. I'm curious about which foods you eliminated. I have a feeling dairy and wheat may be some of them. I had an anaphalaxis (sp) episode as a child, and I get winter hives. I have fantastic lungs otherwise, I play a wind instrument. This might be a game changer for me, so I need to get serious about it, and I don't like to take meds either.

[indigoiis]

I stopped eating cereal with milk before rides, and then I cut it out altogether. Starting having dry whole wheat toast, black coffee and grapefruit, maybe an egg, in the a.m. Much better.

But at first I cut out most processed wheat products (my husband was still making baked bread, so I figured since it was homemade I could toast it and eat that, and it didn't seem to affect me.) Cut out all pasta. All white flour products. All desserts for a month. All scones, muffins, danishes, whatever. I cut out all dairy for a month. Didn't even eat yogurt. I basically ate only fruits, veggies, meat, some beans (but not like I ate beans before) and the homemade bread, toasted. Bazinga.

Since clearing up I slowly reintroduced a couple of things like hard cheese and have stayed clear. I did have a bowl of cheerios with milk and immediately felt stomach cramping, congestion, and tiredness. So, I think it's a combination of cow's milk and processed wheat foods.

[beccaB]

I think I'm going to make more of an effort to eliminate all white flour and change what I eat for breakfast. I can probably reduce or nearly eliminate most of the sugary junk food from my diet. Giving up my frosted mini wheats with milk for breakfast is going to be a challenge, but it's worth it if it gets rid of my breathing problem. It could be that there are so many environmental allergens that even making a small dietary change will have a favorable outcome.

[Cycling Sister]

I can see how food allergies can trigger EIA. I don't think my triggers are food related. I don't eat dairy and hardly much processed foods. Stopped eating dairy years ago. My body reacts best to whole wheat breads or rice grain breads. Glad you were able to find out what triggered your EIA!