Am I really out of shape or is something else wrong with me?
 

This is a problem I've had since childhood. Now, I'm 20 years old, 5"1, about 125 lbs.
I usually work out 6 days a week, either lifting, walking on the treadmill, or riding a stationary bike. I walk on the treadmill because if I jog or run for more than a minute or two, I'll feel like I won't be able to breathe anymore. My chest gets really tight and my heart thuds like crazy, even when I'm NOT tired. But this only happens during certain exercises: jogging, jump roping, basically anything where my feet come off the ground. I'm fine with biking, rollerblading, swimming, etc. I can do these activities for hours, sweating like a horse, and be fine. But why can't I run? I don't think it's psychological, because everytime I try, I don't really expect it to happen. Another thing which might be unrelated is that I can't exercise or walk quickly without getting cramps if I don't wait at least 4 hours after eating a small-medium sized meal. Some people have told me this is odd, but I dunno. So, do I just need to try running more often, breathe differently, what? Please help me. :(

First, try working up gradually. Gradually (over the course of a few weeks) walk faster on the treadmill, then start jogging, and see if you can work up to running from there.

If that does not help, you should see a doctor. Sounds like you could possibly have a mild form of asthma or something along those lines.

That does sound just a little bit like something that hubby had trouble with. As you said, he also could bike without problems but other times he would have trouble with the pain in his chest. In fact he went to the Dr several times thinking it was heart problems. They checked his heart and it was fine and they treated him for heartburn which did nothing either. They just sent him home with anti-inflammitories thinking it was a pulled muscle or something. Finally he found a Dr who tried the asthma thing and treated it as such. He hasn't really had trouble since.

Hmmm, sounds like raeanna may be on the right track. Your legs aren't tired or fatigued but you are having chest problems. Could be asthma. My brother has this problem, but it was diagnosed when he was a yound teen, before working out and strenuous exercise was beginning. He had Chronic Bronchitis and running for even a short distance cause his chest pain.

Thanks for the quick replies. It seems I should go see a doctor then. One more question - if I was diagnosed with asthma, is there any way medication, say, a pill once a day, would help? Or would I need to carry around an inhaler?

I'm doing my asthma unit in school right now and what you've described sounds very similar to it. Exercise induced asthma is the mildest form, and sometimes only affects people when they are doing certain exercises.

It'd be a good idea to go to your doctor.

There are long term medications to help in reducing athsma, but its usually recommended that you have the prescribed inhaler with you in the event that you have an attack. I've done it for years, and its become second nature.

Hubby and I both have inhalers for excercise induced asthma. It seems that since we started using them instead of letting things get out of hand that we have had less trouble. I haven't used my inhaler in 3 months.

If you do get a steroid inhaler just be sure to rinse your mouth afterwards very thoroughly. The steroids encourage fungal growth in the mouth and throat causing thrush if you don't rinse the steroid out well. Mom-in-law experienced that.

Having lived with an severe asthmatic for several years, I just figured that I would second the earlier comments suggesting that it sounds a lot like asthma. I would guess that being on the appropriate inhaler would help immensely.

Thanks for the help, guys. I went to go see a doctor and he gave me an inhaler to use before I exercise, and it helped tremendously. It makes me much happier to know that I have asthma and that I'm not just really, really out of shape.

Glad to hear everything worked out ok. With all of the crap floating around in the air today, the number of athsmatics is overwhelming.

I know the feeling. Mine started in Florida.