A couple of weeks ago when I was training for the marathon, I was in the middle of a 13 mile run when I started coughing but couldn't stop. I wasn't able to catch myself and get any air into my lungs. I slowed my pace down from a run to a jog and then a walk but the coughing didn't stop. I completely stopped and tried to take some deep breaths but no air was filling my lungs. I started to get worried and realized that I wasn't going to be able to finish the run. I called my wife to come pick me up. She could tell it was bad on the phone because I couldn't get a word in between all the coughing. Fortunately I was able to give my location through each cough and she rushed to me and brought me back home.
My wife has been telling me for the past year or so that I have asthma and I have ignored it. I never thought that I had asthma because I never remembered having any real issues with my breathing. My wife has asthma and though she doesn't use her inhaler all the time she has it handy for her major flare ups. She would get into these coughing fits and couldn't breathe, she would have times were you could hear slight wheezing in her chest. Anyone who has a loved one with asthma knows that it's a pretty rough scene when they can't breathe. But none of those things happened to me so I didn't believe I had it.
On rare occasions I would have coughing spells but associated it with something tickling my throat. I didn't take the time to see if there was anything more to it. Of course in order for me to see if there was anything wrong I would have to go to a doctor and I DO NOT like going to the doctor. But since I had a physical coming up I thought I would ask the doctor about it and she what she recommended. Yesterday was my appointment and I had to blow into some computerized block three times. The funny thing is that right before the test the doctor asked me if I was feeling any tightness in my chest. I said no. But doing all that huffing and puffing brought on the tightness. So what was the diagnosis?
Turns out I have mild exercise induced asthma. Whenever I'm running I can get an asthma attack and the attack can be worse if the air is cold and/or dry. Well it turns out that the day I wasn't able to breathe there was a drop in temperature. Inhaling all that cold air caused my airways to restrict and because I'm running I'm taking in more air than if I was walking. the doctor prescribed me an inhaler that I have to use before my runs. I have to check back with her in three months to see how I'm doing and just be aware of any changes before then. So what I didn't want to admit for years is finally true, I have asthma. And here is another example of my wife being right. The posts where I'm telling you that my wife is right are really racking up. Maybe I should keep count.
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