Excessive exercise can cause you to breathe intensely, too hard, too fast, or to gasp. This unbalanced hyper-inhalation can make it difficult to get the air your body needs to support the physical exertions of excessive exercise. Because the inability to breathe can be frightening and dangerous, it is important to understand what can cause it to occur and how it can be remedied and avoided.
Symptoms
The inability to breathe due to excessive exercise can vary in severity from a mild annoyance to a frightening and life-threatening incident. Symptoms can include coughing, exhaling noisily, shortness of breath, pain in the chest, poor exercise performance, fatigue and chest tightness. These symptoms can develop both during and after your exercise routine. They can occur a few minutes after you start your exercise routine or show up 15 minutes after you've finished your workout.
Causes
Respiratory infections such as a cold can make it hard to breathe during excessive exercise. So can bronchitis, nasal congestion, asthma, allergies, and encountering large amounts of dust during a workout. In addition, air pollution, dry air, high pollen counts, cold air, nasal congestion and obesity can all contribute to breathing problems. Emotional distress, which often accompanies the need to exercise excessively, can make breathing difficult.
Treatments and Prevention
Immediately stop your exercise routine and sit down to rest if you experience breathing difficulty. If you suffer from asthma, use your quick-relief inhaler to control symptoms and open your airways. Refrain from exercising outdoors if pollen counts are high or fields have been freshly sprayed where you exercise. Do not exercise when you have a respiratory infection or illness. Because excessive exercise is often a coping mechanism, try to identify and eliminate the pressures or stresses that are causing you to do it.
Dangers
Get immediate medical attention if the inability to breath during exercise happens suddenly, does not subside or causes you to stop breathing completely. In addition, contact your doctor if you experience wheezing, a fever, a barking cough, throat tightness or chest pain, pressure or discomfort. Left untreated, exercise-induced breathing complications can cause permanent narrowing of the bronchial tubes, making breathing difficult even when you are not exercising.
