It started during a regular training session. Mid-drill, my breathing suddenly collapsed — I couldn't get air in, my face went pale, and I was drenched in cold sweat, barely able to stay on my feet.

An allergist ran extensive allergy panels and diagnosed me with exercise-induced asthma. I was given an inhaler to bring to every practice. I used it faithfully — and it did nothing. The episodes kept coming.

The turning point came when I went looking for answers myself. I found a video of a basketball player describing the exact same symptoms. Her diagnosis was Exercise-Induced Laryngeal Obstruction — EILO. I watched it and thought: that's me.

My family contacted an ENT, who ran a full workup and referred me to a respiratory therapist specializing in EILO. Treatment was intensive — breathing retraining, voice therapy, and specific techniques for high-intensity movement. It worked. I returned to fencing fully recovered.

EILO stands for Exercise-Induced Laryngeal Obstruction. That's a long name for something that basically means: during intense exercise, your voice box partially closes when it's not supposed to — making it hard to breathe in, even though your lungs are fine.

It sounds scary, but it's actually really common in young athletes. The problem is that most people — including a lot of doctors — haven't heard of it. So when it happens, it usually gets called something else.

The symptoms show up fast and feel intense: sudden throat tightness, a high-pitched sound when you try to inhale, and sometimes that awful feeling where no matter how hard you try, you just can't get enough air in. Then you stop exercising, and within seconds — it's gone. That's the part that confuses everyone. Asthma doesn't do that.

If this sounds familiar, you're not imagining it. And you're not being dramatic. EILO is real, it's treatable, and most athletes recover completely once they get the right diagnosis.

The tricky part is getting there.

1. Notice where the sensation is. Throat tightness points toward EILO. Chest tightness points toward asthma. Tell your doctor exactly where you feel it.

2. Track how quickly symptoms resolve. If breathing normalizes within seconds of stopping, that pattern is more consistent with EILO.

3. If an inhaler is not helping after several weeks, say so. A treatment that provides no relief should prompt a reassessment, not just a change in medication.

4. Ask about EILO by name. Request a referral to an ENT or pulmonologist with experience in vocal cord dysfunction. EILO is treatable — most athletes recover fully.

Røksund, O.D. et al. (2017). Exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction. Breathe, 13(2), 120–130.

Christensen, P.M. et al. (2019). EILO: a common cause of exertional dyspnoea in athletes. British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Halvorsen, T. et al. (2017). A comprehensive categorisation of respiratory conditions in young elite athletes. BJSM, 51, 401–406.

Patient video: a student athlete's experience with EILO

This page reflects my personal experience and publicly available medical literature. It is not medical advice. If you are experiencing symptoms, please consult a qualified healthcare provider.