Fellow T-magers this is the day i’ve been dreading. That forced vacation that we all hope we never have to take. I recently suffered a severe asthma attack, and stepping aside the medical jargon i developed a small hole in my lung. The Doctor told me that i had to let it heal and could not do anything to build up signifigant pressure in my chest (i.e. LIFT AT ALL) for 5 weeks. He said after about 2 i could jog, bike, or do pretty much any non-hardcore sprint intensive cardio. I just recently hit my mass peak at about 216 lbs., and am currently about 11% BF, I also just achieved my best Max Bench Press. I eat a very clean diet, and I am using this week to read IAN KING’s book, but any advice on how to keep my size per your own experiences would be greatly appreciated, maybe even trim a little fat without losing to much muscle seeing that i can do cardio way before i can lift, If you have any questions just ask, thanks Forum.
I feel for you. Since I too, have asthma and right now am on the brink of a migraine. Dammit, dammit, dammit. Anyways, I would watch my carb intake - I notice that a day with a high carb intake, causes my asthma to flair. But as long as you can do some sort of weight training, I wouldn’t worry too much about not doing the intensive cardio - the most important thing right now is for you to get BETTER. There’s also Combat Conditioning to consider as well. I’m just assuming that in two weeks, you’ll be able to weight train? Right?
God, I feel for you. Asthma is definitely a bitch.
I’ve had asthma for nearly my whole life…at times severe enough to warrant prolonged hospitalizations. I’m just curious…how in the heck did an asthma attack manage to put a hole in your lung? Please let me know so I don’t risk doing the same.
Thanks Patricia but i can do cardio in 2 weeks, but i can’t lift for five. I appreciate it. Anyone have any suggestions on supplements to take to retain muscle while not being able to lift
Mike, He didn’t really explain in great detail, he attributed it to the gradual attack and the fact that i’d been forcing breath all day long and building up pressure in my already tightened chest, as well as a severe hacking cough, He also said that ussually the hole will cause a collapsed lung but since it was on the inner part towards the trachea my lung didn’t collapse. Hope I could help. Tell me what you think
I don’t know what to say about your training but I just wanted to say that oftentimes asthma is related to dietary choices and food intolerances, especially from dairy and processed carbohydrate type foods. More cases of asthma are diagnosed each and every year most likely due to our dietary habits here in the U.S. I have a friend who has asthma so bad he can’t take 2 steps without having to pull out his inhaler. Last year he went on a strict keto diet for 12 weeks. No processed foods just strictly meat for the most part. Within 2 weeks his asthma disappeared completely and never came back again for the duration of his diet. As soon as he started eating normally again his asthma came back 100%. I’ve also heard of many others eating the Paleolithic style diet who have successfully treated conditions such as this.
I had to take almost 3 months off between my surgery and cancer treatments and it was a double whammy because you have no appetite and are nauseated all the time. However, I was taking 10 - 12 scoops of whey (200-240g) a day since I would get pretty sick when I did eat solid. My docs were amazed since I only lost 12 pounds during the entire span of treatment. I also took 3g of vitamin c, 1000iu of E, and 8000iu of A. After almost 3 months I only dropped from 230 to 218!!! So my advice is LOTS of protein. Not that we dont already do that! 
Hope this helps.
Thanks for clarifying, Buck. My first suggestion would be to make doubly sure that you are maintaining your protein intake. As for supplementation, obviously a good protein powder, but I’m sure you have that already.
Have you ever thought of static contraction of the muscle? What about the resistance bands or rubber tubing? Would your MD allow that?
I feel for you, bro! There have been times where I’ve had a moderate attack last for days. If you’re anything like me, you just get so sick and tired of traveling back and forth to doctors that you just “live with it” and hope it subsides.
After hearing what happened to you, though, I don't think I'll play that game any more. People like yourself, myself and Patricia deserve a lot of credit. Physical exercise is hard enough, but doing it with a disease like asthma is harder than a non-asthmatic can imagine.
Just relax these two weeks for sure, and ease back into it slowly. The gym isn't going anywhere...it will still be there when you get well. You'll make your gains back in no time!
Mike: and not just training, at times just performing everyday duties - like getting ready to go to work. It’s been about 95% humidity here in Portland, OR - and my asthma is flaring up big time.
In terms of training, when it's squats/deads day and my asthma is rearing it's ugly head, I loathe going into the gym. But I gotta do it, cuz I know that in the end, it's helping me. People just dont' realize what it's like to dead 265lbs with just one lung. That's what it's like. Maybe we should turn this into the "Asthmatics Support Thread".
But, Kelly B is rather correct. Once I begin playing with my carb intake during pre-contest, my asthma practically dissapears. Also, I avoid bananas, dairy products (which I dislike anyways), soda (even diet sodas), majority of processed foods due to my asthma. And I drink coffee (which I hear is good for asthmatics) and I also read that dark beer (I'll find the article), is okay for beer choices for asthmatics (hey, I won't argue with that one!). We also have two (yes, 2) HEPA air filters in our home, one for upstairs and one for down. The downstairs is on 24/7 - that's where our "children" (parrots) are.