I can finally breathe

I started having major allergy problems about two years ago. 

I endured sinus infection after sinus infection. I treated itchy, burning eyes with allergy drops. It was all manageable with a little Claritin D, but when that got too expensive to use on a regular basis, I tried to switch back to plain ole' Claritin. But plain ole' Claritin didn't work. 

When the wheezing and itchy throat started, Benadryl would give me one good day, then would cease to work. Then Zyrtec. Not even the D, which I'd dubbed my magic bullet all that time, could help.

I tried to pinpoint the beginning of all this mess and the onset of the major problems seemed to have come on after a particularly bad go at Week 2 of the Couch to 5K program I had been so excited about. 

I had worked through Week 1 - three 20+-minute workouts (plus warm up and cool down) that consisted of light intervals of walking 60 seconds and jogging for 30, with a day of rest in between. I was out of breath, though it got a little better after my second day. Week 2 had been a different story. The same workout lengthened itself to 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking - but the way my body reacted, one would have thought I jumped straight to the 5K.

My iPod malfunctioned and my Couch to 5K podcast  stalled just after my warmup, then 30 seconds of jogging. I walked briefly to restart the program and then hit it hard. What normally wouldn't have hit me until just before the 20 minutes was up hit me like a brick during the first interval. I ignored what I then thought was my out of shape self and pushed on. I got to the end of the workout, coughing, sneezing, wheezing all over the place. It got worse when I thought it should have been getting better. Embarrassed, I sat in the adjoining empty dance studio, in the corner, in the dark, trying to concentrate on my breathing and recover. My chest was tight and I couldn't get air IN, although it didn't seem as hard to get it out. A half hour passed but the wheezing hadn't gotten better. I could at least stand up without fainting, and thought it might be safe at this point to drive home. In bed at home, it took me more than an hour more to recover. 

I told this to my doctor last week when I told him about the allergies. I also told him that my grandmother had pretty severe asthma as a young woman. He said it sounded like a case of exercise induced asthma, as I had somewhat suspected. 

I still have to get a chest x-ray and a respiratory test sometime before the beginning of May, but in the meantime he has me on Singulair and gave me an inhaler to use before exercise. I can finally breathe!! (He also gave me some allergy medication, but I can't afford it right now. For now, this will have to do.) Last night, after some brief exercise, I felt what it must be like to be out of breath and not in-pain out of breath.

It all makes sense, really. I never had much wind in me as a kid, and even in high school, I loathed running because I didn't have the lung capacity for it. Everybody always told me to stop whining and I felt bad because I thought I was lazy and blamed myself. It's somewhat assuring to me now that I have a problem, and better than that, it can be controlled. 

And I can get back to my weight loss program. 

With only 8 weeks to go, I am only down 4.5 pounds from my start weight...  20 pounds from my original goal (due to not eating meat, but also not exercising much :()

2.5 lbs a week seems a little strenuous but I'd be happy to get down to 155 (10 pounds lighter than now) if I can establish a regular routine.