The Student Room Group

Asthma - Peak Flow & Exercise

I'm a bit worried I've started to become asthmatic so went to my doctor's yesterday and he took my peak flow, which was perfectly healthy. He has given me my own peak flow meter and asked me to record it for a week when I think I feel asthmatic. So anyways, I've just been for a run, and like always after 10mins or so I feel really short of breath and my ribs are hurting a bit. Just got back and took my peak flow and it's 420. According to the doctor, for my age/height/sex it should be around 475, but when we took it the other day it was 520. So my question is, should I be worried that my peak flow is now currently 420 (I've been back about 10mins and still wheezing a bit)? I mean, I'm not about to have a severe asthma attack or anything and I'm not expecting you guys to diagnose me, but would a drop in about 100 below my normal resting peak flow be something that could be conceived as asthma, or is that expected after exercise? Also, if it is slightly concerning, would I be foolish to keep going running and making myself wheeze like this for the next week until I have to go back to the doctor?

Thanks :smile:

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Reply 1
I am asthmatic and my 'best' peak flow is 440. I'm 18.

I would be worried that my asthma was going to get bad if it hit 300, and would most likely use my inhalers and monitor my peak flow closely. However I am not sure of rules about excersise and asthma as mine isn't triggered my excersise.

If you can feel or hear a wheeze then it is possible you have asthma and I wouldn't excersise to that extent again until you see your Doctor if I was you. This isn't to say DON'T EXCERSISE but like I said, it's probably unwise to just incase you are asthmatic and you have some kind of attack or bad episode.

Better safe than sorry!! :smile:
I am asthmatic. At the age of 19 my peak flow reading is the same as 9/10. oh fun. lol.

Anyway, if your doctor has told you to carry on normally then it's probably alright to continue but if you're worried then perhaps you should wait until you see him again.
Reply 3
dropping by 100 seems quite severe, my peak flow usually is about 590/600 but at worst can go down to about 450, usually olny if i have a chest infection and wheezing pretty badly
Reply 4
Rouge
dropping by 100 seems quite severe, my peak flow usually is about 590/600 but at worst can go down to about 450, usually olny if i have a chest infection and wheezing pretty badly

Wow, now it makes me realise how serious it was that time when my peak flow was at 60... :eek:
Reply 5
wow 60? are you sure thats right? i didn't think people could survive on 60, and I thought my asthma was pretty bad.
Reply 6
Well it's been an hour since I got back from running and it's still only improved to 450, which is still below the recommended value for my age and lots below my usual peak flow.

My doctor just told me to do what I'd normally do and measure my peak flow lots so he can asses it when I go back. When I approached him yesterday it was with the intention that I get wheezy following bouts of exercise (even really short bursts like 10mins running), so I thought it was sensible to try and do some exercise and then measure it so we can get a good assesment of it. But now that I've done it and seen it drop by 100 has made me worried incase I am actually worse than I realise - yeah I feel really wheezy, tight chest, slightly light-headed when I get back from exercise, but it's been like this for years that I've always assumed I'm just really unfit (even when I was in training for my college rowing team, I just assumed I was more unfit than everyone else). But it was when I went to Paris with my boyfriend and we climbed the steps up the Eiffel Tower and I just felt completely unable to exhale properly that I realised it might be a good idea to see someone. I also keep waking up feeling all yucky on my chest, which I never use to (I know it's pollen season, and I developed hayfever last year, but I'm taking medication for that and I'm not getting any symptoms, so I presume the reason I wake up coughing up phlegm isn't due to the hayfever).

Maybe I'll just try going running a couple more times before I see him so I can show him that after exercise it really does dip and then he'll have a better idea of what problems I'm experiencing.
Reply 7
Rouge
wow 60? are you sure thats right? i didn't think people could survive on 60, and I thought my asthma was pretty bad.
Positive.

I had a severe chest infection, I was asthmatic (but not yet receiving treatment for it) and I was in the middle of a panic attack. I was given oxygen and this increased to 120 (I had calmed down quite a lot by then) and then I was given a nebuliser and it went up to 250ish. Then I was taken to hospital and given a crapload of nebs and antibiotics/steroids. They thought it was a clot on my lung at first, which was worrying (especially since they were only concerned due to a "shadow" on the x-ray :s:) but all is well now as they have finally acknowledged that I am asthmatic :biggrin:
Hoofbeat
Well it's been an hour since I got back from running and it's still only improved to 450, which is still below the recommended value for my age and lots below my usual peak flow.

My doctor just told me to do what I'd normally do and measure my peak flow lots so he can asses it when I go back. When I approached him yesterday it was with the intention that I get wheezy following bouts of exercise (even really short bursts like 10mins running), so I thought it was sensible to try and do some exercise and then measure it so we can get a good assesment of it. But now that I've done it and seen it drop by 100 has made me worried incase I am actually worse than I realise - yeah I feel really wheezy, tight chest, slightly light-headed when I get back from exercise, but it's been like this for years that I've always assumed I'm just really unfit (even when I was in training for my college rowing team, I just assumed I was more unfit than everyone else). But it was when I went to Paris with my boyfriend and we climbed the steps up the Eiffel Tower and I just felt completely unable to exhale properly that I realised it might be a good idea to see someone. I also keep waking up feeling all yucky on my chest, which I never use to (I know it's pollen season, and I developed hayfever last year, but I'm taking medication for that and I'm not getting any symptoms, so I presume the reason I wake up coughing up phlegm isn't due to the hayfever).

Maybe I'll just try going running a couple more times before I see him so I can show him that after exercise it really does dip and then he'll have a better idea of what problems I'm experiencing.


next time do a peak flow BEFORE you exercise, and then one after.
If the fall is of greater than 10% (ie it drops from 450 to less than 405) then it is exercise induced asthma.

its no biggy by all accounts though.
Reply 9
Jamie
next time do a peak flow BEFORE you exercise, and then one after.
If the fall is of greater than 10% (ie it drops from 450 to less than 405) then it is exercise induced asthma.

its no biggy by all accounts though.

I did do a peak flow just before I went and it was 520. As soon as I got back from the run it had fallen to 420, so I'm guessing then it's possibly exercise induced asthma - I'll just be careful when I go running from now on until I've seen my GP.
Reply 10
Yeah I have exercise induced asthma, it was diagnosed after I did a 300m race at school, got to the end and just could not breathe at all, for about a minute and even after that I had difficulty breathing. It was the worst experience ever! Anyway, you could try the running once again before going the doctors just to make sure that it happens when exercising but stop if you feel ill, then when you go back to your GP just tell him that it seems to be when you're running/exercising that it happens. You'll just have a inhaler to take 10 mins before exercise which should help.
Reply 11
After I started to get wheezing and coughing after playing football or going to the gym for cardio stuff, my doctor gave me the peak flow and that. My normal was 650 prior to exercise but fell quite a lot when I had the coughing/wheezing.

My doctor prescribed me a steroid inhaler to take twice per day (morning and before bed). I've been taking it for about 4 weeks or so, I played football again last week and I did not experience the coughing/wheezing.
Hoofbeat
I did do a peak flow just before I went and it was 520. As soon as I got back from the run it had fallen to 420, so I'm guessing then it's possibly exercise induced asthma - I'll just be careful when I go running from now on until I've seen my GP.

ah right. well, if you want to be REALLY good (and make your GP practically jizz his pants in excitement) then record your peak flow (best of 3) every day morning and evening (being young you can do this best on an excel spreadsheet then print it out with a graph if you are really keen :wink:) maybe record before and after exercises on specific days too.
using these the severity of your asthma can be judged. if its just exercise when you get problems then a simple blue inhaler (salbutamol) might suffice - to be taken just before exercise and when ever out fo puff.
if you get it in morning, or have night cough issues then a preventor - steroid inhaler that is might also be tacked on.
Reply 13
I suffer with asthma quite badly, normal peak flow probably around 320. Ive been asking to be refered to a specialist for ages (they dont seem to be too bothered about asthmatics once you reach 18).

Im being sent for a lung function test and hopefully being passed on to an asthma consultant and sinus specialist.
Reply 14
There is a pretty grey area between not "normal" and asthmatic. Your probably like me and have extremely mild asthma that only really shows itself when you have a cold etc + heavy exercise. I was diagnosed when I was much younger and worse than I am now though I was only put on the minimal possible dose. I went back to the doctor (well actually asthma nurse) for a check up a year or 2 ago and she said I could barely be considered to even have it. I certainly wouldn't worry you don't sound anywhere near bad enough to not be able to survive without medication.

I would possibly advise against using medication if possible as they can become difficult to come off they become sort of addictive as you forget what it feels to be "normal". It would be much easier if you could buy the drugs in shops when you actually need them say when you have cold/flu instead of having to get a prescription but for some reason they don't allow that.
What does it feel like when you get exercise induced asthma?
I've started going running some evenings, and although I'm not too bad at the actual exercise, I find it hard to breathe after a while, and it sounds like I am wheezing and my windpipe feels a bit constricted. Do you get lots of phlegm stuff in your throat that gets in the way also?
I'm just curious, it's not really bad or anything, I just have to stop for a while to get my breathing closer to normal.
matt bass
I suffer with asthma quite badly, normal peak flow probably around 320. Ive been asking to be refered to a specialist for ages (they dont seem to be too bothered about asthmatics once you reach 18).

Im being sent for a lung function test and hopefully being passed on to an asthma consultant and sinus specialist.

Gps are pretty damned good at dealing with asthma.
I think you're going to be disappointed with this 'consultant' idea because there is nothing he can do a gp can't.
Sarge

I would possibly advise against using medication if possible as they can become difficult to come off they become sort of addictive as you forget what it feels to be "normal". It would be much easier if you could buy the drugs in shops when you actually need them say when you have cold/flu instead of having to get a prescription but for some reason they don't allow that.

please don't follow this advice...
:frown:
Reply 18
i 'used' to have asthma, when iwas probably 12ish used to be between 200 & 300 but i am now interested to find my old peak flow out and see what i get

a kid at school i volunteer at died the other week, from either an asthma attack or bronchitis depends which doctor his parents believed, proves doctors are crap (no need to get worried though)

also, everytime i go serious running i.e. push myself, i can always 'taste' blood (i cant actually taste like its in my mouth just the flavour like when your breathing in smells you can taste it if you get me) does this mean owt or does anyone else get the same?
I get the blood taste/smell too.