Health Question: Am I sick?!

[mysilver70sekai]

I got on my bike today and after about 10min i noticed that i couldn't get a full lung of air...i thought that maybe it would go away if i kept riding and so i continued on my loop. After a bit longer i noticed that i had this gross metallic taste in my mouth and i was producing some clear phlem. Unlike some of the other cyclists on this site, i rarely ever spit when i ride. I ended up doing my loop in exactly the same time as i did on sunday(which was the last time i went out), but i felt like i had to work harder and i was not having fun today. It felt like I had smoked a pack of cigarettes before my ride. I don't know if i am dehydrated or have a lung infection or what. I was hoping that someone has encountered this before, otherwise i will have to call the doctor.
I would be a mega-bummed if i was getting sick since next week is the last week that i can bike before i have to leave the bike and go back to school.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

Aaron

 

[danch]

Usually, if you have a serious lung infection (bronchitus, pheumonia) you'll be hacking up yellow to brown phlegm, not clear. It also wouldn't wait until you were on the bike - if it's bad, you'd have a nice rattly cough and maybe a weeze going on as well.

This sounds like maybe a bit of excercize induced asthma, or maybe you inhaled a bug! The fact that you're breathing was tight before you were coughing sounds more like the former than the latter. Do you have any allergy problems? You might even have one that you don't know about because it's not real severe - the normal symptoms can be mild enough or subtle enough that you don't notice. Riding the bike and breathing hard may have just brought something to light.

 

[mysilver70sekai]

Usually, if you have a serious lung infection (bronchitus, pheumonia) you'll be hacking up yellow to brown phlegm, not clear. It also wouldn't wait until you were on the bike - if it's bad, you'd have a nice rattly cough and maybe a weeze going on as well.

This sounds like maybe a bit of excercize induced asthma, or maybe you inhaled a bug! The fact that you're breathing was tight before you were coughing sounds more like the former than the latter. Do you have any allergy problems? You might even have one that you don't know about because it's not real severe - the normal symptoms can be mild enough or subtle enough that you don't notice. Riding the bike and breathing hard may have just brought something to light.

Yeah, the fact that the stuff that i coughed up was clear told me that i didn't have a lung infection. The only time that i can remember feeling like this was in high school playing hours of broomball in the arena...and i was a heavy smoker back then.
I hadn't felt this kind of lung restriction at all since i started biking, but i did take a few more days off between rides than normal during this week. I'm not sure about the exercised induced asthma. It's like a tickle.
And as far as allergies, i have none that i know of.
Maybe a good night of sleep is in order...the temperature here dropped quite a bit and it is alot less humid than it was during most of my other rides this summer. Maybe the humidity was acting as lung-lube...if that is possible. Maybe this combination shocked my lungs and it just felt like they were not able to take as much in, and the tickle was the dryness. Just a shot in the dark.
Thanks for the response.


Aaron

 

[danch]

Maybe a good night of sleep is in order...the temperature here dropped quite a bit and it is alot less humid than it was during most of my other rides this summer. Maybe the humidity was acting as lung-lube...if that is possible. Maybe this combination shocked my lungs and it just felt like they were not able to take as much in, and the tickle was the dryness. Just a shot in the dark.

Aaron

Yeah, the sudden weather change could have something to do with it. I have a lot of problems in the winter going in/outdoors, but then I'm asthmatic.

Sleep'll never hurt!

 

[mysilver70sekai]

Yeah, the sudden weather change could have something to do with it. I have a lot of problems in the winter going in/outdoors, but then I'm asthmatic.

Sleep'll never hurt!

Yeah, i think that's what the doctor ordered. Thanks Goodnight.

Aaron