Athletic asthma is also called exercise induced asthma. This is different from ‘regular’ asthma because it is only triggered by physical activity. Although exercise can cause someone with asthma to have an asthma attack. Usually athletic asthma is found in children and current information indicates that these children may have very mild asthma that is only triggered by exertion.

Why does any of this matter to me? Because I’m beginning to think my child may have athletic asthma and as any parent can tell you, a child’s health is way up on the list of priorities. So back to my overly paranoid mommy brain. Whenever my son is playing and he gets all hot and sweaty (takes about 15 min of running) he gets kind of congested like a cough. Well that was how we found out I had asthma (cough etc, not typical wheezing although mine is allergy induced not athletic).

Fortunately, just like with any other form of asthma it can be treated and I will be taking my son to his pediatrician for a checkup soon. Do you or your children have athletic asthma? Do you have any advice you’d like to share? It’s amazing how comforting it can be just knowing others have gone through the same things.

Anyways

Photo Credit: Mattsip

If your child has asthma attacks due to exercise there are still activities in which he or she can take part. Swimming doesn’t usually trigger asthma attacks, nor does leisurely biking. Tai chi might appeal to kids who can’t take other martial arts due to asthma, and yoga teaches breathing techniques that may actually help prevent asthma attacks.

I found some more ideas in this article: http://www.childrens-asthma.info/articles/asthma-attack-triggers/index.php

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My doctor told me that more children than ever are developing asthma, with as many as four times as many children suffering from it. He said there is a lot of speculation about the cause of this trend, but he believes it has to do with air pollution. I thought asthma was genetic. Can pollution cause a rise in reported asthma cases, or is it some other factor?

A discussion around the rates of asthma in urban children can be found here: http://www.childrens-asthma.info/articles/increased-asthma-children/index.php

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My child was recently diagnosed with asthma after I noticed him having less energy than the other children after a soccer game. I remember I was diagnosed with asthma when I was a child, but have not had a problem with it since I was a kid. Did I pass the asthma genes down to my child? And will he outgrow asthma like I did?

This article had some interesting insight that helped me better understand his condition: http://www.childrens-asthma.info/articles/asthma-kids-lifestyle/index.php

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I can see why spirometry wouldn’t work for young kids. It’s hard to hold the mouthpiece and breathe at the same time and frankly, the equipment looks pretty scary. The nebulizer creates a little dry-ice-effect that I could see really freaking out a little kid. My daughter was fourteen when she underwent spirometry testing, and she was a bit unsettled by it.

I read more about it in this article: http://www.childrens-asthma.info/articles/diagnosing-asthma/index.php

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The combination of a household pet and asthma usually leads to a heartbreaking decision for families. In some cases, the pet contributes so much to asthma attacks that there’s no choice but to give it up for adoption. But in milder cases, there are steps you can take, such as bathing your pet regularly, to lessen your pet’s effect on your asthma.

There are more ideas for living with pets and asthma in this article: (Click Here)

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I got a lot of interesting info from this article: Click Here.

I never knew so many ingredients could cause allergic reactions and asthma. It’s interesting that cosmetic manufacturers can claim a product is allergy-free, hypoallergenic, or all-natural, even if it isn’t. The cosmetics industry should be regulated by the FDA, especially when it comes to claims about allergies and allergic reactions.

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I have suffered with allergies, whether I knew it or not, all of my life. I’d seen numerous doctors and even the occasional allergy specialist. Yet, I still didn’t know that asthma could be caused by allergies. I’d been told once that I might have a mild case of asthma and if it got worse I should see a specialist but, other than that, asthma was never even mentioned.

I also didn’t know there were multiple types of asthma. I thought all asthma attacks resulted in the person gasping for breath. I had no idea that my incessant coughing spells were actually asthma until a few years ago. The really funny thing is that allergic asthma is one of the most common causes of asthma. Who knew? Well….other than the doctors.

Symptoms of Allergic Asthma

• Chest tightness
• Coughing
• Rapid breathing
• Shortness of breath
• Wheezing

I never had a life threatening attack but I had all of the above symptoms and not one single doctor ever told me it was allergy-induced asthma, until my favorite allergy specialist. He kept me on my allergy medication and added an oral allergy/asthma medication and gave me an inhaler for when the coughing got really bad. Wow, what a difference! I used the inhaler and suddenly I could get through a lecture (I was a teacher) without having to stop for a coughing fit. After about a month on the new medications I had to use the inhaler less and less.

Now that I know what triggers my asthma I avoid those things as much as possible and make sure I take my preventative medication daily. I almost never use my inhaler and often don’t keep it with me (don’t tell my doctor) unless I know I’m going to be in a ‘bad’ situation.
Do you have allergic asthma? Were you as shocked as I was to find out your ‘coughing fits’ were actually asthma? Please, share your story so I’ll know I’m not alone!