Asthma in Wrestling

[Engine 0]

 

I'm not in college yet but I need some help

 

I've been wrestling for years now and I used to have asthma that went away but now its coming back. It sucks because I feel so out of shape all of a sudden in practice even though I used to be the hardest working on my team. Now if I push too hard it gets bad. My mom took me to the doctor who said I could still play sports, especially try swimming. And he told me about all the olympic athletes who are swimmers with asthma.
 

But I don't think anyone really understands that wrestling is everything to me. Its the one thing in life I am good at. I want to be the best and prove it at states. I want to be on a college team in a few years. Even if I don't make it I want to know it is possible.
 

 Sorry for the long rant. I was just hoping if there were any wrestlers with asthma out there who made it to college and beyond and how they dealt with it. At least I want to show my doctor and my mom that theres a way to do it and never talk about me quitting wrestling ever again.
 

Thanks for any help if anyone understands or if anyone at least has some advice.

[GoNotQuietly 1,175]

Hello Engine,

 

I wrestled 4 years of division 1 with asthma, so I assure you it is possible, though obviously extremely difficult.  I tried a lot of things which didn't help at all. notably, I think regular inhalers like albuterol made wrestling much more difficult; your heart is already going to be racing and your mouth dry from nerves before a match, unless your blood is colder than mine.  What did help was yoga, swimming, and specific drills all to learn to stay calm in strange positions and only engage the muscular systems which you need at that moment to reduce your oxygen consumption and keep your breathing regular.  I had good success with another inhaler of Cromolyn Sulfate which helped reduced the bronchospasms without making me feel jittery, so that is something you could ask your doctor about. best of luck!

[teach 175]

I would agree with everything GoNotQuietly said, especially the stay calm part.  That seems to be a big issue when you get nervous, or work yourself up before a match.  Wrestle hard be in great shape, but the prematch prep needs to be calm.

[knox 1]

Hey Engine, I completely understand how you feel. You should insist that your doctor help you find the right combination of meds to prevent asthma, because there are quite a few options that you can try. For me Advair was a game changer. I still had to take albuterol before exercising and matches but even there I eventually got used to the jittery side effects. (Didn't help make me calmer overall though.)

 

I'm not going to lie to you and say it was easy for me -- just as wrestling isn't easy but worth doing. I got frustrated all the time but it is possible to make asthma a lot less of a factor than I ever though. Keep working with your doctor and don't give up!