collegiate runner

[Liz432]

My daughter is a cross country runner who during cold weather or high winds has difficulty breathing during her races. She was evaluated at a regional medical center where after testing they said she does not have asthma. She is still having difficulty breathing at the end of her races even when she uses arbuterol (prescribed by a team doctor to see if it would help) before the cold and windy races. Are there other suggestions for medications or treatments that she can try.    Thank you.  

[Victoireh]

There are other drugs for exercise induced asthma she can try, but that can only be prescribed by her doctor. Does she have symptoms such as coughing, chest tightness, shortness of breath or wheezing outside of running? These are typical daily symptoms of asthma. There is a spirometry test that can be done while running on a treadmill. If the lung function drops to 20% or more, then she is considered to have exercise induced asthma. That is  the only way to know for sure.

Does she have allergies? Allergies very often goes hand in hand with asthma. Another test that can be done is the methacholine challenge test. This test is used for those with normal spirometry tests. Methacholine is a substance that is inhaled prior to the test, given at varying doses to see if a mild asthma attack can be induced. Again, a 20% drop in lung function is indicates asthma.
If nothing is found to be a cause for her symptoms, then maybe she is just pushing herself to hard. Most people have limits to their abilities to exercise to such levels.