winter excercise: hacking up nasty stuff after?

OK- After I hike in the winter, for the next 12 hours or so, I hack up junk. Is this a normal occurrence? Or is it a sign of my overall crappy lung function, or what!?!?!

thanks!

jason

Jason Berard said:

OK- After I hike in the winter, for the next 12 hours or so, I hack up junk. Is this a normal occurrence? Or is it a sign of my overall crappy lung function, or what!?!?!

thanks!

jason

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Schedule a Dr. visit, 6 hours after you finish your next hike!

Jason,

I've noticed that if I am coming down with a bad cold, the BEST thing I can do for myself is hike a winter 4K. All the crap in my throat/lungs is hacked up during the hike, and when I come back I am cured.

This has happened three times, seems to be something about that nice, clean, cold mountain air...it cleanses my lungs, or some such thing.

Maybe the same thing is happening to you, but your crap is being coughed up after instead of during?

Of course, I'm not a doctor, yada yada yada.

PS -- not a smoker, never have been.
PPS -- obviously, as I'm sure you already know, only a doctor can give you a real sense of what's going on.

Whenever I heavily exert myself in the cold I find that my lungs will pick up a little bit of fluid. I always put it down to irritation, much like exercise-induced asthma.

thanks guys,

this only happens after prolonged heavy excercise in cold, dry air, like the hike to Isolation yesterday. I'm not too worried about, just curious if this happens to other folks, and if the cold/dry air is a factor.

My lung function, at least as measured on a flow meter ( my kids have minor cases of asthma) is good, around 750 liters per minute.

I've never smoked. oh yeah, and the "junk" is thick, but clear/white. not yellow or green.

thanks, barkingcat. that's a good idea. I do breath through my mouth....I just don't feel like I get enough air through my nose.

TrishandAlex said:

I've noticed that if I am coming down with a bad cold, the BEST thing I can do for myself is hike a winter 4K. All the crap in my throat/lungs is hacked up during the hike, and when I come back I am cured.

This has happened three times, seems to be something about that nice, clean, cold mountain air...it cleanses my lungs, or some such thing.

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What may be going on here is that when you inhale cold air you chill your airways and when you exhale moisture condenses from the airstream (~97% humidity at body temp) onto the chilled airways. (This is why your nose runs in the cold.) This extra moisture helps to flush the junk from your airways.

Winter indoor air tends to be warm and dry so it simply dries out the junk in your airways.

Doug

yes, this happens to me although the severity varies. Generally the colder it is and the longer I'm out in it the worse it gets. In my case it is due to asthma. In your case, I'm pretty sure it's because you get to hike on Wednesdays.

I have a mild case of coughing after a long winter day.

Tim

Thanks, Doug, for your explanation. Makes a lot of sense.

Believe me, coughing is preferable. I get this little gurgle way down in my lungs that at the moment of full exhalation is a slight whistle. I can't cough it out. Incredibly aggravating when trying to fall asleep.

I get this after intense exercise, regardless of the season, but it does seem to be worse in the winter. I've had asthma since I was a kid though, so it may have something to do with it.

"Intense exercise" is probably a relative term. For me, it's running more than a few minutes, or a difficult/fast hike. (Or lately, taking the stairs instead of the elevator )

I don't recall any similar problems, but perhaps it's a case of Low Altitude Pulmonary Edema or (more seriously) Exercise Induced Asthma.

i think i'm going to need pictures of the fluid so i can really diagnosis this.

lunch anyone?

I have heard from several folks that they stopped using Aleve (naproxin) in the winter as it "caused" similiar symptons. I have heard it from a couple of others that Advil (ibuprophin) has the same effect. I personally may have noticed the effect, but lacking a bottle of identical placebos and variable outdoor conditions, its going to be hard to prove.

In no way would I infer that this is a tested phenomenum, but ithey were interesting observations.

Anyone care to set up and administer a double blind test regimen? Heck maybe a a good topic for a college thesis.

leaf said:

i think i'm going to need pictures of the fluid so i can really diagnosis this.

lunch anyone?

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It think it would be even better if the patient expectorated into a vial and had it couriered to you.

A quick and dirty viscosity test is to dip your thumb and index fingertips into it and gently pull them apart.

Neil said:

It think it would be even better if the patient expectorated into a vial and had it couriered to you.

A quick and dirty viscosity test is to dip your thumb and index fingertips into it and gently pull them apart.

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Yuck!

Still want lunch?

Just TMI for me...Although I've been known to yack up some nasties on occassion...Remnants of 20 years of smoking I think

Quote:
Originally Posted by leaf
i think i'm going to need pictures of the fluid so i can really diagnosis this.

lunch anyone?

originally posted by Neil:
It think it would be even better if the patient expectorated into a vial and had it couriered to you.

A quick and dirty viscosity test is to dip your thumb and index fingertips into it and gently pull them apart.

Leaf: It's in the mail...you should have it tomorrow! Thanks for the offer! Well....really Neil offered for you.

jfb said:

I don't recall any similar problems, but perhaps it's a case of Low Altitude Pulmonary Edema or (more seriously) Exercise Induced Asthma.

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...and all these years I thought I was just out of shape. Now I can tell everyone I have LAPE!

Often in cold weather, the first 1/2 mile or so of a hike I can't seem to get enough air in my lungs, panting, etc. Then I seem to settle down after warming up. I often hack up after a hike as well, especially in the winter. I always figured it was my body trying to tell me something- take up golf. But I don't like golf, so I hike.

Petch