Icarus Part II

So, a few weeks ago I went to the doctors to talk to him about my breathing. His initial thoughts were ‘exercise induced asthma’ so he prescribed me a Salbutamol inhaler, he also gave me a peak flow meter and asked me to measure my breathing (morning and night) for two weeks. The results of this are below

The numbers mean very little to the common man, the only analysis I can give is that 460 was the high and 340 was the low. To put them into context the below shows a peak flow measuring chart

So, for a man of my age and height, the normal peak flow number should be in the region of 620, clearly not what I was producing! I will caveat my numbers with the information that I have had a cough and a cold pretty much since I got the device so I don’t think that helped!

What was interesting, however, was the impact of the inhaler. After exerting myself on Zwift with the use of the inhaler I measured the peak flow again and my reading had jumped to between 550 and 580!

I returned to the doctor and he referred me to the nurse for a spirometry test which I took yesterday. All my resting readings were normal, with a slight rise in performance with the inhaler, so she asked me to return after taking some more pre, post and post inhaler exercise. Her initial thinking was that I have a slight form of exercise induced asthma that is brought on by one or more factors like pollution, pollen etc.

Probably the best thing about the appointment (aside from a good blood pressure and oxygen check) was the nurse telling me that my readings suggest that there is no lasting damage caused by smoking. For that I am relieved as I have some pretty big plans to tell you about soon……..

IAIN