Asthma has affected me since I was about 13 years old. Although my condition is not a serious case, I can say that it definitely has changed my life in the way it restricted my way of living. I used to be very active & athletic until asthma showed up in my life. I was aspiring to be a track and field star and even had the mile down at my peak under 5:50. It wasn't until middle school that I really started feeling the effects of asthma. After about 5 minutes of strenous physical activity I would feel restricted by my breath, and would feel more so after only a couple minutes of running. I realized I had asthma but I didn't think it was as bad as some people had it (I never used an inhaler)... that was until I started blanking out during sprints and nearly fainting while running the mile in 8th grade. My mile time decreased to about 7... not because I was getting slow or fatigue was hitting me, but only because I wasn't getting enough oxygen.
Now after that I was getting really discouraged and decided to stop running and doing heavy-duty physical activity. I still played basketball occassionally and worked out, but nothing much more than that. Eventually it got to the point where I couldn't even keep up in basketball. Full-court bball would (and still does) nearly kill me. I just got really down and stopped altogether. I can still work out for the most part and lift weights since it doesn't tax the respitory system nearly as much but I still feel bad about missing out on the things I could have done if I didn't have asthma. Just recently my friend asked me if I wanted to go jogging with him and a few friends, and although reluctant at first, I eventually gave in.
I started out fine... and then just as usually, I heavily breathing followed only after a few minutes. We weren't even sprinting; it was just a moderate jog. So about 5 minutes later I had already seriously slowed down my own pace. I didn't want to hold the rest of the group, so I just dropped out and tried to gather my breath. It was pretty bad... It took a good 10 minutes at least to recouperate myself. By then my friends had found me and asked whats up. They understood that I had asthma so they told me that they would tone it down. So I get back on track with them and although we have slowed down nearly to a walk, I still had trouble breathing. I simply just kept pushing and pushing myself until I couldn't take it. My chest was hurting and I was getting extremely light headed. It was too much for me... I'm ashamed to say that I couldn't even make a couple miles
...
Well you get the idea.
So anyway, I was wondering if anyone else is affected by asthma and if they have had any success in controlling or managing it. I've heard stories of people overcoming their asthma and actually becoming Olympic gold medalists... I sure wish I knew their secrets!
Now after that I was getting really discouraged and decided to stop running and doing heavy-duty physical activity. I still played basketball occassionally and worked out, but nothing much more than that. Eventually it got to the point where I couldn't even keep up in basketball. Full-court bball would (and still does) nearly kill me. I just got really down and stopped altogether. I can still work out for the most part and lift weights since it doesn't tax the respitory system nearly as much but I still feel bad about missing out on the things I could have done if I didn't have asthma. Just recently my friend asked me if I wanted to go jogging with him and a few friends, and although reluctant at first, I eventually gave in.
I started out fine... and then just as usually, I heavily breathing followed only after a few minutes. We weren't even sprinting; it was just a moderate jog. So about 5 minutes later I had already seriously slowed down my own pace. I didn't want to hold the rest of the group, so I just dropped out and tried to gather my breath. It was pretty bad... It took a good 10 minutes at least to recouperate myself. By then my friends had found me and asked whats up. They understood that I had asthma so they told me that they would tone it down. So I get back on track with them and although we have slowed down nearly to a walk, I still had trouble breathing. I simply just kept pushing and pushing myself until I couldn't take it. My chest was hurting and I was getting extremely light headed. It was too much for me... I'm ashamed to say that I couldn't even make a couple miles
...Well you get the idea.
So anyway, I was wondering if anyone else is affected by asthma and if they have had any success in controlling or managing it. I've heard stories of people overcoming their asthma and actually becoming Olympic gold medalists... I sure wish I knew their secrets!
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