confusing

Last week on Tuesday I kept coughing after exerting myself swimming, and I felt like my lungs were congested. It was the first day I was bothered by pollen, so I figured my mild allergic reaction to the pollen was putting me into exercise induced asthma. I am prone to chronic coughs after a cold and my doctor had said that was a form of asthma and prescribed an albuterol inhaler. I used the inhaler before exercise the rest of last week and the first part of this week, and was fine. I was just depressed at the idea that I have another chronic disease--I didn't really count the cough problem as asthma despite what my doctor said.

Yesterday turned into an impromtu experiment. I was hurrying out to run about 4:30 in the afternoon, wanting to do a long run and get back by supper time, and I forgot to use the inhaler. I realized it when I started running, but I decided to see what happened. I was fine; I ran 6.2 miles at a pace just under 12 minutes a mile--significantly faster than I have done before. I didn't use the inhaler this morning before swimming either and I was fine (though a bit draggy after the long run).

I was supposed to have a doctor's appointment today, but I had to postpone it (for female reasons--it was my annual checkup). I was looking forward to asking the doctor about this whole asthma thing. Am I allergic to a particular kind of pollen that has gone by? Did I just overreact to something random? Did my lungs settle back down with a week of less irritation? I have good air purifiers at home and in my office. It is confusing.