salbutamol, beta agonsists & muscle cramps



Thom_y

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Aug 16, 2006
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With the Pereiro salbutamol controversy

Pereiro could be excluded from this year's TdF

I had to laugh. As in my case, salbutamol is not necessarily performance enhancing, due to a possible side effect:

I have mild cold-induced asthma that is mainly a problem in early spring and late fall, or damp, cool, foggy days. Even though I'm a medical specialist and my wife is specifically lung specialist (sleep apnea), I hate seeing doctors or taking meds if I can avoid it. Yet, when I do pretreat myself before I ride to avoid bronchospasm with either salbutamol (Ventolin) or combined inhaled steroid/beta-agonist (budesonide/formoterol) I seem to repeatedly get muscle cramps in my legs towards the end of my ride. If I avoid these beta-agonists, I don't usually get these cramps -- so I'm fairly certain it is due to these drugs. I know cramps are listed as a side-effect and may relate to potassium shift, but I wonder if this is a common problem in asthmatics who use beta-agonists. If so, which bronchodilators have people found useful for cycling.
 
Thom_y said:
With the Pereiro salbutamol controversy

Pereiro could be excluded from this year's TdF

I had to laugh. As in my case, salbutamol is not necessarily performance enhancing, due to a possible side effect:

I have mild cold-induced asthma that is mainly a problem in early spring and late fall, or damp, cool, foggy days. Even though I'm a medical specialist and my wife is specifically lung specialist (sleep apnea), I hate seeing doctors or taking meds if I can avoid it. Yet, when I do pretreat myself before I ride to avoid bronchospasm with either salbutamol (Ventolin) or combined inhaled steroid/beta-agonist (budesonide/formoterol) I seem to repeatedly get muscle cramps in my legs towards the end of my ride. If I avoid these beta-agonists, I don't usually get these cramps -- so I'm fairly certain it is due to these drugs. I know cramps are listed as a side-effect and may relate to potassium shift, but I wonder if this is a common problem in asthmatics who use beta-agonists. If so, which bronchodilators have people found useful for cycling.
Salbutamol is clearly a performance-enhancer that works. It's a lot like adrenaline. It works as well as or better than ephedra or pseudoephedrine (Sudafed), which are also performance-enhancers, and common over-the-counter (OTC) cold/flu drugs. Try a 60 mg pill of OTC pseudoephedrine (as long as your MD says it's safe to do so) on your next ride. You will feel the difference. Of course, there's a heart attack risk so do be sure to use with doctor's permission. There's more than one way to a heart attack in cyclists besides EPO, that's for sure.

Oscar: Hi Doc, if some is good, more is better, right?

Doc: Well, with a TUE, you can take as much as is safe to.

Oscar: Excellente! Bye.
 
I always ride like a dog if I take Salbutomol. Hence I never take it if I'm racing.
 
CapeRoadster said:
Salbutamol is clearly a performance-enhancer that works. It's a lot like adrenaline. It works as well as or better than ephedra or pseudoephedrine (Sudafed), which are also performance-enhancers, and common over-the-counter (OTC) cold/flu drugs. Try a 60 mg pill of OTC pseudoephedrine (as long as your MD says it's safe to do so) on your next ride. You will feel the difference. Of course, there's a heart attack risk so do be sure to use with doctor's permission. There's more than one way to a heart attack in cyclists besides EPO, that's for sure.

Oscar: Hi Doc, if some is good, more is better, right?

Doc: Well, with a TUE, you can take as much as is safe to.

Oscar: Excellente! Bye.

In all but one study on beta2 agonists there are no ergogenic effects (other than e.g., returning a diseased population back to normal). The one study that did show an ergogenic effect was looking at sprint performance.

On the other hand beta2 agonists have been used in both the farming industry and e.g., body building as a method of 'repartitioning'.

In animal studies, often looking at rodents, while the repartitioning has been shown to work (with absolutely huge doses) the effect it has had on aerobic performance has always been negative (if i recall correctly). Oxidative enzymes are damaged by the beta2 agonists.

Ric
 
xbgs351 said:
I always ride like a dog if I take Salbutomol. Hence I never take it if I'm racing.

if you actually need it you should, at least, carry it with you in case you have an asthma attack while racing. There's no contest between making yourself seriously ill and racing well (although i'm guessing that if you neglected to take your inhaler while racing when you had an attack you'd be going pants)

ric