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Do you have (sports-induced) asthma and what do you do to manage it?
A: yes B: nothing special, i.e. the same regime as anybody would use if they were paying the slightest bit of attention. Routine beclomethasone, PF reading morning and evening, pre-ride prophylactic salbutamol, avoid racing in cold weather.
YMMV, other preventers and relievers are available, some people are less bothered by cold, some are aggravated by pollution or biological allergens etc. so the important thing is to find out what works for you and also what doesn't.
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I've had exercise asthma my whole life, but always just treated it with salbutomol if it flared up. I was pretty cavalier about it and just down played the effects in my head.
It took a pretty severe asthma attack on a 360km ride this summer to force me to take it seriously. I'm now on a preventer (clenil modulite) which has properly transformed my riding. I have no idea why I resisted going on a preventer up until now, but it's helped so much on intense efforts. Now it's not my wheezing lungs which slow me down on hills, it's just my legs.
On a non cycling note, I find my breathing is far easier and deeper in everyday settings. I always used to feel short of breath when trying to breathe through my nose but that's a non issue now.
So yes - see a doctor, stick to a preventative regime which works for you and you'll be much better off.
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gbj_tester
amac090
@frankenbike
Do you have (sports-induced) asthma and what do you do to manage it?
A couple of weeks ago I had to pull out of a ride when my asthma started to worsen and I did not have my inhaler with me. I never take it anywhere because the asthma only bothers me once every few years when I really exert myself and it's really cold. Reading some articles whilst I was waiting for my friends to finish the ride, I realised I'm being far too cavalier, and there's a (small) risk I'll end up having a fatal attack in the Highlands with no phone signal or something if I don't take it a bit more seriously.
I don't want to ride less hard or stop riding in the cold or whatever, which is what some of the advice says, and I'm sure many of you feel the same way. I also want to minimise the effect on my performance (if that's not too grandiose a term for crawling up hills in a shamefully low gear). Lots of pro athletes "have" asthma (though there is a question about doping), so there's no reason to think we should be any slower or less able to ride in poor conditions than anyone else with proper management.
It would be nice if we could collect together some knowledge that pertains to cycling specifically, to help each other and any future sufferers.