Odd question... - Beginners

Dippy

20/10/2002 at 13:18

I hope that I am not a freak of nature but I have noticed that after all of my 5 runs I have coughed on and off for about 20 minutes to clear my lungs - I would understand this if I was a smoker but I have never touched them I'm not asthmatic either. Does this happen to anyone else and do you know why? ( Ihave only been running for a week is this significant?

Severa Superba

20/10/2002 at 14:55

well i suffered so bad from coughing when running, and spitting up phlegm every five minutes. i used to have lots of catarrh anyway, but the running made it worse...

so, i found out that i had several allergies, i'm allergic to the moss (so it's worse when it gets wet) and several things in my diet.

i'm vegetarian, but became vegan earlier this year because of my allergies. running or any aerobic exercise can make any symptoms of allergies worsen, so you might consider a test. theyre about £20 and they do them in health food shops etc.

it could be that you've had some symptoms but the running made it worse. you dont have to cut out any suspect foods, though, the person who tests you gives you a re-introduction programme, but i enjoyed my nw diet so much that i never bothered with it!

it might not be that, but that's all i can think of. i hope you sort it, and good luck with your running!

Charlie O'B

20/10/2002 at 15:15

Hello DD,
I have had a similar thing, though maybe not as severe as you, after a particularly hard run. I ran with a local club last week for only the second time, now i am normally around an eight minute miler but these guys are nearer seven. So i was pratically sprinting for the whole six mile run, anyway by the time i got home i sounded like i had bronchitis.
So if you are a new runner it could be your lungs getting used to the extra exertion or it could be running induced asthma but you would need a medical professional to give you advice on that one.

Colchester Coyote

20/10/2002 at 15:15

Hi DeeplyDippy, I had a race this morning and I was coughing for about 30 mins afterwards, it wasnt desperate breath needed coughing, but was still happening. I dont know how to cure it, but personally am not bothered about it at all.

NN

keswick1uk

20/10/2002 at 17:26

I have it and have been diagnosed as having exercise induced asthma. In the summer I thought it was me warming up because I seemed to 'run through it'. When the colder weather came along it wouldn't go away so easily. I now have a puff of ventolin before I run and have taken it with me, but not had any symptoms or needed it during a run at all.

Dangly Spice

20/10/2002 at 20:07

I have a good cough after a run and my voice goes really hoarse for several hours afterwards. I just put it down to stirring up the bottom of my lungs. it only happens after a good hard run ie: after a hard race.
I don't worry about it as it settles down after a few hours.

Dippy

21/10/2002 at 14:25

Thanks guys. I'm not 'specially worried but thought is was unusual. Could be just because I've gone from couch potato to fitness freak in the space of 8 days. Feels a lot like your cough Dangly Spice but for me in my virgin runner status every run is a hard run!!!

Christopher P.

21/10/2002 at 14:30

Could it be inhaling the cold air that causes this? - have also experienced it
recently after recovering from a cold

nighteyes

21/10/2002 at 20:02

Hi Deeplydippy your coughing problem caused by running should clear up as you become fitter, I was the same when i took up running (put down to years of inactivity which seemed to bring stuff up from who knows where) cleared up quite quickly though!

XFR Bear

22/10/2002 at 16:52

Hi! I've had a similar problem, also seemed to be worse in the winter months. The doctor gave me an inhaler to use for such occasions. I'm taking time off running now due to an injury but will see if it recurs.

According to the official Asthma website, Paula Radcliffe also suffers from exercise induced asthma and uses an inhaler, so it needn't be that much of a handicap! Unless of course she'd go even faster without it?

millipede

22/10/2002 at 17:33

re: allergy tests at health shops.

Don't bother. Go to your GP and get tested properly if you believe you have an allergy. The allergy tests you can get from alternative practitioners are just a way of separating the gullible from their money (and if you don't believe me then just go and have two different ones and compare the results - then tell me that they are anything other than random).

Millipede

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