TargetTalk

Any tricks to perform in a match if you have the flu. If any, what kind of medication do you use? Are there common flu medication that are on the black list?

Stay home unless your plan to win is by infecting everybody else.

Your pulse rate will be up, your muscles will tremor more than normal, your ability to focus will be reduced and your vision will suffer because of reduced oxygenation and hydration.

No drug will eliminate these physiological issues, and the ones that make you feel better will probably make them worse. So do yourself and everyone else a favor and stay home, rest and push the fluids.

Sounds like Mom was right afterall!

The question was not should I take part to a competition, it was about flu medication and side effects.

Let me reformulate the question:
You are travelling to a competition that is far away from your home. You paid your entrance, plane tickets, hotel room, and took 3 day off to go there. You are not about to die but you are sneezing a lot. You know you are not at your best, but you deside to compete anyway for the sake of experience and fun.

Is there a medication that would help you removing flu symptoms with minimal effects on target holding and concentration. Has anybody have a competition experience with the flu that he/she would like to share with us.

OK then, let me reformulate the answer. Stay home. The hotel will refund any deposit you have given. You have already admitted your performance will not be up to par, but you insist on doing it for "experience and fun." Take a moment and consider other people's "experience and fun." They will have the experience and fun of bringing your disease home with them to say nothing of the distraction your sneezing will be on the line. If you absolutely must go, wear a surgical mask. It will contain most of your pathogens and give fair warning to other shooters that you may be hazardous to their health. Don't forget to wash your hands frequently with soap and hot water, and decline to shake hands with anybody you meet.

Sylouell wrote:Is there a medication that would help you removing flu symptoms with minimal effects on target holding and concentration.

Apart from aspirin or paracetomol I can't think there are many anti-flu drugs that are not on the banned list.

William : I understood your point of view the first time. Thanks.

Here up north, flu symptoms are a very common thing during winter and we can't pay ourselves the lux of staying home every time our nose is runny a little bit. Yes we wash our hands and avoid shaking or kissing everybody we encounter, but life continues. If you go to the CANADIAN AIRGUN GRANDPRIX in Toronto this weekend, probably between 20%-40% of people you will meet (shooters, organizers, spectators) will have flu symptoms to a more or lesser extend. It is more than likely that some shooters who were healty when they left home will get flu symptoms developing before the finals on the third day. What can they do to minimize these symptoms (at the exception of withdrawing and going back home).

Sylouell wrote:William : I understood your point of view the first time. Thanks.

Here up north, flu symptoms are a very common thing during winter and we can't pay ourselves the lux of staying home every time our nose is runny a little bit. Yes we wash our hands and avoid shaking or kissing everybody we encounter, but life continues. If you go to the CANADIAN AIRGUN GRANDPRIX in Toronto this weekend, probably between 20%-40% of people you will meet (shooters, organizers, spectators) will have flu symptoms to a more or lesser extend. It is more than likely that some shooters who were healty when they left home will get flu symptoms developing before the finals on the third day. What can they do to minimize these symptoms (at the exception of withdrawing and going back home).

There is a difference between a cold and the flu. Lots of people will have cold symptoms but hopefully very few will have flu symptoms (if 20%-40% had the flu that would be a major epidemic). If you do have flu symptoms you probably should stay home. If you got a cold thats a different story.

You keep saying flu but describe cold symptoms.

As for what you can take go the the WADA site there is a compreshive list of what is banned, I wouldn't take the advice from anyone here, doctors have a hard time figuring it out.

http://www.wada-ama.org/en/

The safest bet is if it works its probably banned.

Sylouell wrote:What can they do to minimize these symptoms (at the exception of withdrawing and going back home).

It depends what level of banned drug use the organisers will accept.

David Levene wrote:

Sylouell wrote:What can they do to minimize these symptoms (at the exception of withdrawing and going back home).

It depends what level of banned drug use the organisers will accept.

HUH?

If you go to the Canadian Anti-doping site there's more info including a link to the drug information datbase, you just fill-in the on line form and it tells you if the agent is banned in you sport.

http://www.cces.ca/forms/index.cfm?dsp= ... =46&lang=e

http://www.didglobal.com

Dave the organizer of an event can't knowingly allow any level of use of a banned substance. That being said shooting is a low risk sport in the world of doping (the opposite end of athletics) so the likelihood of testing is slim to none especially if you are not a top ranked national athlete. That being said the guy is asking a question and is concerned about fairness so I don't think its proper to dismiss his questions ( the question is a far site better than what's the best pistol, pellet, rifle ect which seems to be the norm for this site anymore).

Thanks Richard, thats the kind of information I was looking for. You are right, I meant cold. As you could have guessed from my english writing, english is not my first language and apprarently I wrote flu while I was meaning cold (now I know the difference).

Richard H wrote:

David Levene wrote: It depends what level of banned drug use the organisers will accept.

HUH?

Depending on the level of competition, and the drug itself, some match organisers will accept obvious illness symptoms while others may require a letter from a doctor or even a full TUE certificate.

Sylouell wrote:Thanks Richard, thats the kind of information I was looking for. You are right, I meant cold. As you could have guessed from my english writing, english is not my first language and apprarently I wrote flu while I was meaning cold (now I know the difference).

Yes what is it in French "Le Grippe". That being said I'm going to be at the Grand Prix so if you're sick stay away from me ;) Your english is better than my Ontario High School french, unless you have a dog named Pitou and want to go to the hockey game or Ma grande jaune crayon (never really found much use for telling people that my pencil is big and yellow).

The sites I gave you are pretty good, many top level athletes have found themselves in trouble just by taking OTC cold remedies (ie one of our top rowers awhile back). The DID site is nice its a quick check but like the warning at the start says they aren't responsible it all comes down to the athlete.

Richard H wrote:Dave the organizer of an event can't knowingly allow any level of use of a banned substance.

That's not actually correct Richard. If the match is not actually an ISSF approved event then the organiser can do whatever they want (obviously within the law).

I would agree however that whatever they accept for their competition, the onus is still on the competitor to comply with the regulations. If, for example, the competitor is at international level and liable for out-of-competition testing then he could be tested 365 days a year.

Having said that, I know several ex-internationals (myself included) who will never be tested again but would rather withdraw from a match than shoot whilst taking a banned substance. The rules should be there for everyone, not just the people likely to be caught by them.

David Levene wrote:

Richard H wrote:Dave the organizer of an event can't knowingly allow any level of use of a banned substance.

That's not actually correct Richard. If the match is not actually an ISSF approved event then the organiser can do whatever they want (obviously within the law).

I would agree however that whatever they accept for their competition, the onus is still on the competitor to comply with the regulations. If, for example, the competitor is at international level and liable for out-of-competition testing then he could be tested 365 days a year.

Having said that, I know several ex-internationals (myself included) who will never be tested again but would rather withdraw from a match than shoot whilst taking a banned substance. The rules should be there for everyone, not just the people likely to be caught by them.

I think the attitude that you expressed at the end of the post is exaclty one of the reasons the shooting sports are a low risk sport for doping. Shooting is as much a sport of the athlete against himself as opposed to other competitors. Its the same reason why if a shooter is having equipment problems that another competitor will lend him equipment (even at the top level). We all like to win but I think in shooting none of us wants to win because of cheating or someone elses misfortune. It's one of the things that makes shooting great ( another reason is the fact that there really isn't any money in shooting so you'd have to be pretty stupid to justify jepordizing your long term health for nothing)