Parents Asthmatic gymnasts-success stories?

[flipnastic]

I did several sports and had asthma from the age of 18 months old. I have always had and still do have side effects… at least from NEBULIZED albuterol. It isn't nearly as bad when I use my inhaler. When I use my nebulizer, I have to lay perfectly still for 30 minutes afterward or I will have the shakes for hours. I have also been known to have a "resting pulse" of 120 45 minutes after an albuterol treatment (I was in the ER and they gave me the breathing treatment. pre-treatment, my pulse was 72).

This sounds very much like my daughter! Last night, I checked her oxygen/heart rate after her treatment and her resting heart rate was low 130's! And, The only time she ever gets in trouble at day care is when she is on nebulizer treatments or prednisone(that one is so much worse!) and it is a little early because she cannot keep her body still and cannot focus… she's everywhere! But, as she gets older, I think she is learning to cope a little better...maybe lol! Anyways, all of this input it so helpful. Thank you so much everyone!

 

[mmarlow]

My DD has allergy related asthma. Working closely with her doctor has helped incredibly. Also, we've taught her to take care of any symptoms immediately. We have run into issues when she tries to wait before using her inhaler. Communication with the coach is key.
Also she drinks a lot of water (sometimes 64 oz over a 4 hour practice) as it seems to help prevent flare ups. That was critical for us to communicate because she often needs to use the bathroom more often than her teammates.
Personally I don't think asthma has to prevent children from participating in gymnastics. A plan for prevention and treatment has to be put in place for their safety, but it's absolutely plausible.

 

[momto2js]

My son started on the team at 5, I didn't leave the building because he simply could not recognize when his breathing was starting to become a problem, until he was in pretty severe distress. We started using the inhaler as he went into the gym. We use zopenex instead of albutrol because of the shakes. I didn't leave and watched him like a hawk. As he got older, he was able to handle it on his own but I didn't leave the gym until he was at least 8. (The coach situation was less than ideal and his training group was huge) Now he can handle it on his own, and we only pretreat when he had a flare.

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

Little Monkey is 15 year old level 10 first diagnosed with asthma at age 2. She had RSV as an infant. She's been on albuterol and singular for many years. Daily singular and Flovent (previously was on Advair) keep her in check though she still needs to do her inhaler before conditioning and floor rotation at practice and meets. When she gets a cold, we do nebulizer with Xopenex which Dr says is not anymore effective that a rescue inhaler but DD feels like it helps more. Once in a while she will complain that she "runs out of breath" during a floor routine but usually she's ok. She carries inhaler with her and coach holds it during meets.