Burning Lungs

L505

I have the burning lung problem too, and am trying to find (and offer) some tips or answers from people with similar problems.

Ten or so years ago, I had a wheezing and out of breath problem. It was a cold induced breathing problem. There was no lung pain though, just "out of breath". Huffing and puffing. That I can put up with. It's not painful.

Later after about 3 years, it was now no longer an out of breath problem or wheezing problem. It was a lung burning problem! Even running 50 meters to the nearest mailbox would cause burning in the lungs. No wheezing or out of breath. In fact, I could ignore the burning and still run for a while. But after stopping, the burning gets worse. I feel noxious and want to lay down immediately. It hurts to breath. It hurts for 1-3 hours after. (not just 15 seconds or 15 minutes!).

It's not just a case of being out of shape because:
Ten or more years ago, I even did some triathlons without being prepared for them (i.e. out of shape). I could still pull through the entire triathlon huffing and puffing with weak legs. But never this strong lung burning that I have now.

I was a competitive runner/triathlete 10-12 years ago before I had this lung problem. It seems to have first started out as a wheezing problem while cold. Whether this is coincidence or not I don't know. i.e. the burning lung problem may have nothing to do with the cold weather wheezing/restriction problem.

I assume that something is being inflamed and reddened in the lungs. But I don't know what the cause. I have tried running in humid climates (near the ocean on holidays) and it does not seem to help. Drinking water can help the problem during running though (although does not solve it completely). So something with water may be a key, but I'm sure there is more to it than just water (dehydration inside the lungs? not enough flem?)

I cannot cough up flem. It hurts greatly to cough and breath after doing any sort of exercise. I can only go slow on a bike, which is just not my style. Getting "in shape" does not seem to help much. I rode the bike 4-5 times a week for two years and put up with the lung burn every day (and went slower to reduce the pain).

I figure there are several different types of breathing problems, and that asthma is a vague and over-used term. The asthma specialist I went to see said I 'could' have asthma and that it was possible, but didn't say anything more specific. He did several tests on treadmills. I will go again some time to the specialist, and get some actual on-paper testing results this time.