Regarding allergies and treatment

[richwagmn]

Can these guys take any drugs for allergy treatment? I'm thinking of the nasal steroids for instance.

 

[Bicicleta]

Can these guys take any drugs for allergy treatment? I'm thinking of the nasal steroids for instance.

Ask AleJet.

 

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't they be able to get a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for that stuff.

Although for me, when I have bad allergies riding my bike or doing other intense physical exercises helps me a lot. But once I stop it sometimes comes back.

 

[theswordsman]

Slightly off the topic, but I was looking up some old articles about Contador's allergy for another thread, and because a lot of people who haven't heard about it before are wondering if it was an excuse for a bad day. Realistically, if you look at the two races he's won, and see how he performs at Castilla y Leon in a couple of weeks, the Radio Shack camp should be a bit less excited about the vulnerability. The rest of this is copied from the Criterium International thread. I'll try to find a few more articles and add them to this post.

There was an interview at AstanaFans a couple of months ago saying his problem is European Poplars when they're in bloom. I think the version translated from Russian said "fluff" but Cycleopen found fault with that when I posted in mid-February. Contador said at various times that he was lucky during his unplanned Giro win because of the rain. There's a reason why he races the months he does, avoids April and May, and gets his vacations during that time at the beach.

Diario Vasco April 6, 2008 via http://www.albertocontadornotebook.info/media.html

There’s another important factor for Alberto Contador: the allergies that affect him in April. “Last year they bothered me in the stage that Beltrán won. It was miserable, I could hardly breathe. In the last stage I also had problems. Those things can work against you, depending on how the race goes.”

From the Giro: http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/346977/giro-d-italia-contenders-suffer-in-dolomites.html

Alberto Contador (Astana) lost 45 seconds to Menchov but is still the best placed of the overall contenders, five seconds behind new leader Gabriele Bosisio of LPR. The 2007 Tour winner admitted he struggled with a pollen allergy.

"I didn't have the day I was hoping for. I've been struggling with allergies and it really affected me today,” Contador said.

“My legs couldn't respond as they normally would have. To be five seconds from the maglia rosa is disappointing. I'm not happy with how things went at all."

May 24, 2008 http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=3410827

Alberto Contador of Spain, the 2007 Tour de France winner, struggled with a pollen allergy and faded on the steep final two miles up to the finish. He lost 45 seconds to Menchov and his teammate Andreas Kloeden of Germany lost 1:09.

June 5, 2009 http://www.roadcycling.co.nz/TourdeFrance/contador-on-tour-de-france-form.html

When asked about the Dauphine Libere competitors he will face in the Tour, Alberto said, "Those from Giro or racing in Switzerland were not here. I saw a very strong Evans, sometimes better than me. Valverde came here with a lot of competition rhythm. I was glad that with two months without competition, I could follow him."

"Every day I was better. Moreover I still had some allergy problems, but the most important thing is that I found back my good legs and that I did good TT's," he said.

 

[arvens]

Wouldn't they be able to get a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for that stuff.

Although for me, when I have bad allergies riding my bike or doing other intense physical exercises helps me a lot. But once I stop it sometimes comes back.

I can ride while allergies are bothering me, however I usually don't ride at 100% or even close to it when allergies are affecting me or even when they are not affecting me.

But a nasty 'tickle' cough when done exercising that persists for hours.

 

[Publicus]

Wouldn't they be able to get a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for that stuff.

Although for me, when I have bad allergies riding my bike or doing other intense physical exercises helps me a lot. But once I stop it sometimes comes back.

Curious, do you race and if so have you raced while have an allergy attack? Serious question; I neither race nor have allergies, so I have no idea how to judge what AC says but your comment seems to suggest that he should be able to ride fine.

 

[hfer07]

Can these guys take any drugs for allergy treatment? I'm thinking of the nasal steroids for instance.

To get a treatment that really works, it must be customized to the athlete upon the cause of the allergy and the severity of it-so the meds likely contain components banned by the UCI, which requires a TUE for approved consumption. the downside of it is that no matter how good the treatment is, the meds alter your performance in order to fight the allergic reactions and sometimes the levels of pollen reach unbearable levels that counteracts the effect of the meds.
Simply is wise to take time of during that period & resume afterwards.

 

[DavidVilla7]

Curious, do you race and if so have you raced while have an allergy attack? Serious question; I neither race nor have allergies, so I have no idea how to judge what AC says but your comment seems to suggest that he should be able to ride fine.

Yes he should be able to ride fine, but not on pro level.

 

[cyclopeon]

Curious, do you race and if so have you raced while have an allergy attack? Serious question; I neither race nor have allergies, so I have no idea how to judge what AC says but your comment seems to suggest that he should be able to ride fine.

No to both the first 2 questions.

From the relatively little that I know of pollen allergies, the degree of impact on performance will depend on how the rider's body reacts and how much of the allergen is in the air. In some people the little air sacs in the lungs get inflamed and this reduces the absorption of oxygen into the bloodstream; in others, it may cause swelling of the major airways so that less air is taken in with each breath (which also happens when the air sacs are inflamed). Itchy eyes, runny nose are more common but minor symptoms, comparatively. Then there's the issue of fluid retention, which I didn't know of until this year's CI but i can see as a side-effect of all the inflamation.

In extreme reactions, a person can barely get enough air to walk without gasping; the other end of the spectrum is just the itchy eyes and runny nose with no cost to aerobic performance. From looking at Contador's breathing on the tv those last 10km or so (final climb, CI2010 stage 1), I'd guess -- and I'll be the first to admit it's only an uneducated guess - he was perhaps running at only ?80-90%? of lung capacity, which is a pretty big hit for anyone.

 

[CiclismoDeCalifornia]

I can ride while allergies are bothering me, however I usually don't ride at 100% or even close to it when allergies are affecting me or even when they are not affecting me.

But a nasty 'tickle' cough when done exercising that persists for hours.

I also have this issue, I can ride but I tend to struggle because of the poor air intake due to my nostrils swelling-up, not just that but my eyes get Itchy, my nose gets runny, continuous sneezing and a cough that goes on for hours.
I've tried many medications including nasal steroids (Don't use those!, I experienced bad side effects), than My Doctor gave me a prescription for ASTELIN nasal spray (an antihistamine that is steroid-free).
I've used ASTELIN for some time now. When I don't forget to spray before I ride during allergy season, it alleviates my allergies long enough to do a nice long training ride. With proper diagnosis and treatment, you should be able to enjoy riding your bike if you suffer from allergies.

 

[franciep10]

Never had pollen allergies, the only allergy I have is latex(imagine how I found out about that one) but a friend of mine has pollen allergies so he takes claritin about an our before our ride and he's fine, but different people different reactions

 

[Publicus]

Wasn't pollen after all. AC came down with a case of the slows....

http://velocitynation.com/content/toto/2010/toto-turns-176

 

[Anonymous]

Curious, do you race and if so have you raced while have an allergy attack? Serious question; I neither race nor have allergies, so I have no idea how to judge what AC says but your comment seems to suggest that he should be able to ride fine.

No, but I have played all types of competitive sports all my life and I know what works for me. Hence my "Although for ME" part. Any suggestion that AC should be fine was unintentional. As others have stated everyone reacts differently. And believe me, whether you can clear it out like me or suffer like AC, allergies just plain suck at any level!

And like I had mentioned earlier, it sometimes comes back when I finish. But during this time of the year it sucks for those of us that have allergies. I wish i were like you and had no allergies.

Sorry if I was not clear in my post.