Are asthma meds considered performance enhancing?

The active ingredient in Primatene Mist is Epinephrine.

I competed at a high level of distance running (college and open) in the late 70s and early 80s. In large part I walked away from the sport after repeatedly witnessing runners' abuses, in particular the use of asthma meds -

http://onlinepharmacyreviews.org/medical-conditions/asthma

and various pills.

As ONE example, a runner on my very large and high-ramked (then) college team, with whom I routinely ran against, with, and ahead of in practices, ONLY used his inhaler on the once-weekly hard workout day and then again right before his competition. He never seemed to wheeze much at other practices and definitely not more than the avearge runner. When questioned about the drug, he SOMETIMES claimed he had asthma while other times he had some other basis for taking the drug. I clearly recall checking out his inhaler one time while I was doing a different practice and was astonished to find both his name on the RX and his father's...his dad was the prescribing doctor...by the runner's own his own admission and my research then , his father was a podiatrist. Go figure.

Just to clear a few things. I was diagnosed with small airways in high school that flared with mold counts in high school- I was prescribed abuterol for when conditions are bad. As a professional cyclist now- I do NOT need a TUE for my abuterol. Unless I plan on taking 27 puffs.

You don't need a TUE for albuterol in normal doses. It's specifically listed as an exception.

Nikas wrote:

As ONE example, a runner on my very large and high-ramked (then) college team, with whom I routinely ran against, with, and ahead of in practices, ONLY used his inhaler on the once-weekly hard workout day and then again right before his competition.

I only use my albuterol inhaler before hard workouts and races because I've only ever had asthma attacks during hard workouts and races. A leisurely ten mile jog isn't enough to trigger an asthma attack. I don't have asthma attacks when I use my inhaler, so I appear to have totally normal lung function, which presumably is the point of using an inhaler.

Don't add to the paranoia against treating a legitimate condition that can be really harmful. Asthma attacks are really terrifying.

xenonscreams wrote:

You don't need a TUE for albuterol in normal doses. It's specifically listed as an exception.

Nikas wrote:

As ONE example, a runner on my very large and high-ramked (then) college team, with whom I routinely ran against, with, and ahead of in practices, ONLY used his inhaler on the once-weekly hard workout day and then again right before his competition.

I only use my albuterol inhaler before hard workouts and races because I've only ever had asthma attacks during hard workouts and races. A leisurely ten mile jog isn't enough to trigger an asthma attack. I don't have asthma attacks when I use my inhaler, so I appear to have totally normal lung function, which presumably is the point of using an inhaler.

Don't add to the paranoia against treating a legitimate condition that can be really harmful. Asthma attacks are really terrifying.

Sorry, I meant a leisurely ten mile jog isn't enough to trigger an asthma attack for me. Some people have much worse asthma that is triggered by any exercise at all. Mine requires the combination of very hard running and allergies.

Allergies and asthma are frequent in elite athletes. Previous studies have shown that the prevalence of allergic rhinitis in elite athletes is between 15% and 29% [1-5] and that wheezing is reported by 6% to 15% of athletes [2,3,6]. The prevalence of asthma in athletes was reported to be different, based on the methods used and the athletes included in the study. E.g., in the US, the prevalence differed from 12% among athletes (football players) in 1984 to 15% among athletes participating in the 1996 Olympic Summer Games and up to 22% among athletes who participated in the 1998 Olympic Winter Games [2,7,8]. In Australia the prevalence of diagnosed asthma in Olympic athletes rose from 10% in 1976 up to 21% in 2000 [9]. A five-year follow-up in Finnish swimmers showed that prevalence of current asthma increased from 31% at baseline to 44% at follow-up [10]. Overall, between 7-18% of top athletes seem to use asthma medication