Irish dancing is extremely reliant on stamina, and I'm trying to build mine up. I know that comes from dancing longer periods of time and gradually increasing it, but I have exercise-induced asthma, and I can't keep dancing when I'm on the verge of an asthma attack or I'll pass out.

I know I'm not the only one around here who deals with this. Does anyone have any advice for me? I would ask my asthma doctor but it costs me $100 out of pocket to go see him...and it's not like this is an emergency where it's disrupting my daily life, it's just an obstacle as I'm trying to build endurance. I'm not on any preventative medicines, I just have flovent as a rescue inhaler. I rarely use it as I was told if you overuse it it weakens your lungs over time, and if I'm having trouble, I'm generally fine in 10 minutes if I just sit down.

Years ago, I had an instructor that gave me the best tip to increase my stamina that I've ever tried. Make a play list. Dance one song, rest the next, dance the next, rest the next. Repeat until the playlist was over. After doing that every day, my stamina increased 10 fold. You don't have to do or have proper choreography for every song - just put it on, and move around. It helps!

I was told to use my rescue inhaler about 15 minutes before I exercise to prevent any sort of asthma attack.

I hated using my inhaler though. What I started doing was really practice breathing (even when not exercising). It took a while and I still need my inhaler sometimes but now I can usually keep my breathing under control so that I don't end up having an attack. I don't know if it is the same for you, but as soon as I start breathing heavy I get chest pain and eventually wheezing if I don't stop exercising/treat it with my inhaler. I practiced taking slower, deeper breaths which for me, took a lot of focus. It really seemed to stave off any problems. I can usually do quite a bit of exercise without using my inhaler at all.

I will say, if I'm already having problems because of allergies (it sets off my asthma) I won't just rely on my focus on breathing. I will use my inhaler beforehand to be safe.

Good luck

Sometimes it's the way you're breathing that sets it off (I have the same issue, plus the fun of normal asthma... yay...). Do you notice your shoulders heaving after you dance because you're breathing so hard? If you do, try breathing more using your diaphragm (best way to describe it sorry!). When you breathe, your stomach look like it's expanding, while your shoulders stay motionless, or close to it. Sometimes, you're subconsciously using more muscles to lift your shoulders, which tires you out more even though you feel you should be getting more air for your efforts. It takes practice to get while you're exercising, but I think it's helped me a lot.

You might want to email your doctor and just ask if he thinks a long-term thing would help. Something besides an emergency inhaler.

i just wanted to point out that Flovent should be a maintenance inhaler taken on a dailiy basis to prevent asthma symptoms, not a rescue inhaler. It does not work immediately as it has no bronchodilator in it, it is a steroid to reduce inflammation over time. Rescue inhalers (bronchodilators) are albuterol, ProAir, Xopenex, Ventolin, Maxair, etc and are for use when needed to treat symptoms and before exercise to prevent them. So i would recommend just calling your doctors office and inquiring about that.

^ very true. Flovent is not a rescue inhaler as it doesnt work instantly.

My doctor always told me to take a rescue inhaler like Ventolin 20 minutes before exercice.

My method was to take ventolin the exercice. When it became comfortable, I would increase the time of my exercie period. Then when it became comfortable I would try to do the same without Ventolin. etc etc.

I became very good and after a couple of months I finally felt ok without my ventolin. It also helped me to have the support of my PE teacher. He thought me a lot about exercice.

Sorry guys, I totally meant to say Ventolin, not Flovent. The all the vents get mixed up in my head--I've been on Flovent before.

I'm at the library now so I'll reply in more depth later. Just wanted to clear up that I had misspoken. I am in fact using the correct inhaler!

^ Gotcha, it's all good. We all make mistakes and those drug names can get confusing haha.

Just wanted to say that starting to work out at the gym helped me a lot in building my endurance. I used to dance and march in the colorguard/winterguard and would have to take my inhaler 15 minutes before and often a nebulizer treatment during or after because I would have an attack. 2 years ago I began taking fitness classes like spinning, Zumba, Yoga, and kettlebell as well as swimming laps in the pool. At first it was rough and I would often take my inhaler before the workout and sometimes during if I was having trouble, but the more I worked out the better my endurance got. All of these classes helped in different ways - yoga teaches you some good breathing techniques, Zumba and spinning were high intensity cardio, and kettlebell was a mix of cardio and toning with weights. Learning to breathe properly while working out also helps. After about 6 months, I was no longer needing my inhaler during or before workouts. At this point, I have taken it maybe a handful of times in a year or so and I don't usually even have any symptoms.

Hope this helps - you can always PM me if you have any questions.

Thanks guys. Great advice.

I was told by my doctor when I was diagnosed that I should use it 15 minutes before exercise, but I hate doing that because it makes me so shaky that it's almost worse than just sitting down and enduring the breathing issues for a few minutes until they fade. I know that's maybe not the best thing...but whatever. I can't handle the shaking.

I'm actually taking yoga now, I started a weekly class (all I can afford) about a month ago and at first, controlling my breathing so deeply actually made me feel faint because I felt like I wasn't letting myself breathe fast enough to get oxygen. Once I chilled out, got used to it and stopped panicking it really started feeling good, and now a few weeks into the class it feels really natural. So I'm hoping that will help. I'm going to try to pay more attention to my breathing while I'm dancing, and trying to calm it down when I start breathing heavily so I don't trigger an attack. I originally made this post because I tried to practice and had a scary time trying to breathe after I finished my hornpipe--probably the worst problem I've had so far. So that's what made me really think I needed to get this under control.

Haha i feel like I am replying a ton, but I just wanted to mention something else.

I know you said you take Ventolin and it makes you feel shaky. Why not talk to your doctor about switching to Xopenex? It works the same as albuterol, in fact it's an almost identical drug, but without the racemic component so there are fewer side effects. I took albuterol for awhile and also hated the shaky feeling and the fast heart rate, but one of my doctors switched me to Xopenex and it is so much better. Very rarely i will feel a little shaky but nothing like with albuterol. Just a suggestion

I was on Xopenex for awhile, but the one and only time I ever used it, it almost sent me to the ER. It stopped my breathing trouble but made my heart pound, and I passed out. So...no more xopenex for me.

I had Maxair for a little while before I switched to Ventolin. It didn't make me shake and I didn't have a real reason for switching, other than the fact that my GP gave me the Maxair before I even knew why I couldn't breathe, and the pulmonologist diagnosed me and gave me Ventolin. So I guess I could try Maxair again.

I still have a Maxair that's not expired, so maybe for the next few weeks I'll try using that before practicing. If it works perhaps I can use that time to build up my strength and eventually won't need to do that anymore. That's the whole problem; I'm trying to build up my endurance but at this point it's not safe for me to keep dancing through the breathing issues.

Maybe I can try Theresa's suggestion, but shorten it. Like instead of doing a whole song if I can't handle that, I'll do half of it. Or whatever I can do, and start with that.

^ Certainly a good reason to skip the Xopenex then haha. Stick with the Maxair and see how it goes, if you don't have any problems with it, I would call your doctor and just ask if they can switch you back to that.

And at the same time, go ahead and try Theresa's suggestion too, I think that will help. keep us updated on how it goes!