Seriously, this Ipratropium stuff is AMAZING

@Nate_Pearson mentioned it in one of the podcasts, but I didn’t take note until the short video about nose breathing. I’ve always suffered from exercise induced rhinorrhea (that’s a runny nose fyi), and it’s crazy bad in cold weather. It gets to the point where I have trouble drinking even light sports drinks like Skratch, because I’d end up with all this mucous in my throat making it hard to breathe during strenuous efforts. Also, I’ve had occasional issues with small skin infections around the base of my nose from constant dribbling/wiping with my glove causing irritation. Ipratropium is an anticholinergic, so when used as a nasal spray, it temporarily stops the mucous glands in the nose from producing mucous. Basically you take a couple sprays 15min before riding, and the runny nose is VERY significantly reduced. I’ve only used it for two days so far, but it has made a world of difference. I’m not sure how long the effects last officialy, but yesterday I used it just before doing a couple hours on the bike in my just-above-freezing pain cave, and then went out for a 2 hour ski. It seemed to last all the way through the bike, with slowly diminishing effect through the ski. So, that was about 6 hours total, I maybe should have topped up before the ski. Funny enough, my partner is an ENT, and I asked her why she never told me about this stuff. Apparently I hadn’t complained enough about my runny nose for her to know it was such an issue… She also tells me that Ipratropium has a low level of systemic absorption, so it doesn’t move well from where it is sprayed into your bloodstream, which is a good thing. Basically it only effects the area it is applied to. Also, I did a search on the WADA banned substances list, and don’t see it, so as far as I can tell, all good in that regard.

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Interesting. I often struggle with similar issues. I checked Global Dro and its not prohibited.

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Oh cool, I wasn’t aware of that site!

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@aarontator are you still using this stuff? Curious if your body gets used to it or not? I have been trying to figure out how to handle this same thing and I have been trying Claritin without much relief.

I’m prescribed it to take before bed to prevent post nasal drip. I have issues between sinuses and my ears. Does it make a difference? Maybe. Pseudoephedrine was the most helpful, but destroyed my appetite unfortunately.

Is this something that had to be prescribed or can you get it OTC? I had a cauterization done about 5 years ago that helped quite a bit, but I do still have some level of nasal drip that sometimes causes a gag feeling on longer threshold stuff

I’m not sure. My pro tip: I hang my head upside down after I spray it, for a couple of minutes. If you start to notice it running down your throat, try to rinse it out. It gives me stomach aches if not.

Hah, again not sure it’s worth it, I have a ENT appointment next week, maybe they will have a different idea.

I only have an issue with a runny nose in the cold, so I only use it on cold days outside. Basically for me, my nose turns into a faucet at anything below 10c, so that’s when I use the stuff. Because I only use it for part of the year, and only a few days a week, there hasn’t been any tolerance built, or any negative side effects. I asked my wife, who is an ENT if she is aware of any rebound effect or anything like that which can happen with decongestant nasal sprays, and she said no, she hasn’t come across that issue with any patients… It can cause nasal dryness though, so if you are prone to nose bleeds, keep that in mind, and be sure to use a nasal moisturiser. It’s also important that when you are spraying it up your nose, you point the tip away from your septum, towards your ear on the same side as the nostril if that makes sense. Doing it that way reduces the dryness and likelihood of nose bleeds.

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thanks for the info. I am going to see if I can get my ENT to prescribe it for me. It sounds like it could be a good solution to what I have been struggling with.

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