I developed EIB a few years while commuting to work during the winter. Once onset, I would have it for months and could at times be almost debilitating (not being able to climb a flight of stairs).
It’s the cold (<5C) and humidity which sets it off. Last year it was a really foggy day in October which led to months of grief. It probably developed because I used to really hammer my commutes, basically red light to red light all-out sprints all the way.
After years of the Dr. repeatedly saying it’s seasonal asthma – even after I went for an asthma test which came back negative (I actually got better numbers as the test progressed!) – I decided to really look into it. That’s when I came across EIB.
The reason Dr. adamantly diagnosed it as asthmas (and subsequently prescribed asthma inhalers, which were useless except for the side-effects), is because EIA and EIB have the same triggers and the same symptoms and thus are lumped together as the same thing by the medical community. They are treated as being the same, yet the underlying condition which is triggered is different in each case, which is why asthma meds don’t work in treating EIB.
Research is still light concerning EIB, but I read that one symptom of EIB is that is really ramps up the production of histamines in the body. So I thought I’d give anti-histamines a try. I started taking regular allergy meds once a day (10mg I think) and supplementing that with a straight anti-histamine (25mg) before more intense workouts (Threshold and above). It seems to be doing the trick.
I have also stopped sprinting my way to work on the commutes, as well as wearing a mouth covering at all times during the winter months = lower intensity and warmer air.
Good luck!! 