Running with lung disease

[DinkyB]

Eight years ago, I was dx'd c Emphysema. I had had my second bout of pneum. in a year. Since, I have quit smoking (3/03), I started exercising and walking as often as I can. I still get sick 1-2 x's/yr; takes me a bit to recover. But over all, 8 years later, I feel better than I have in years and years. A year ago, I started working out with my wii. This past year, I lost 40#.  In Jan, I started running in place with my wii.  I've increased my outdoor walking to 5 miles/day, several times a week. In June, I decided I wanted to start running and started running in intervals. Because I've done it gradually, I have built up good leg strength. Currently, my FEV1 runs about 59-65%.
My question: When I've run about 3 min, it begins to feel like my lungs will explode, my heart rates gets very high, my breathing becomes less effective. So, is this because I haven't trained enough?  Can I overcome it with continued effort? Or, is this just the nature of the disease; something that is always going to prevent me from running like I want to? The rest of my body feels great when I run. I so want to do it. I appreciate your input. Lynette Butler

[David Tinkelman, M.D.]

Greetings,

You are to be commended for doing all the right things, to help yourself.  And the results are outstanding.   Running is strenuous exercise for anyone of any age and the symptoms you experience, “I've run about 3 min, it begins to feel like my lungs will explode, my heart rates gets very high, my breathing becomes less effective” are most likely a reflection of your not being conditioned enough to run.  Generally an FEV1 of 59-65% indicates that one has enough lung power to run but here are three extenuating circumstances to consider:  1)  lung capacity, as measured by the FEV1, does not tell the whole story.  It is possible, even in the presence of good air flow for a person to experience a fall in blood oxygen level, with exertion or, 2) you could have exercise-induced bronchospasm (asthma) so that with exercise your bronchial tubes constrict, resulting in greatly increased work of breathing or, 3) the shortness of breath and rapid heart rate you’ve experienced with running could be on the basis of heart disease rather than being caused by lung function impairment.  If your heart is the cause that could be on the basis of either an abnormal heart rhythm or on the basis of heart (pumping) failure or both

I suggest that you temporarily stop running and arrange with your doctor to have a medically supervised exercise test with monitoring of heart (heart rhythm monitoring) and lung function (including arterial blood oxygen levels) to determine which of the preceding possibilities is responsible for your shortness of breath with exertion.  Without identifying and treating the cause(s) running could be a dangerous activity.  

You have made a remarkable comeback that should continue for years to come but this is not a time to jeopardize your progress by running that is causing symptoms of the severity that you describe.  Please do not run again until this matter is resolved, with the assistance of your physician.

Good luck.

[DinkyB]

Thanks for your response to my question. Of the 3 possibilities you menitoned, I think #2 may be the thing. That's what it feels like. Like my airway just closes up. I will make an appt with my pulmo.