drug taking in sport

[Wheeze]

Triamcinolone is a pretty heavy duty hammer to hit allergic rhinitis with. It is licensed for use in this condition and asthma but in normal life, its not something I would expect to see used except in extremis. Perhaps being just about to compete in TdF counts as extremis!
I had a jab of the stuff once to treat acute tendinitis in a back muscle. It worked a treat. Cured the pain and made me feel like Rambo for 48 hours!
Whether that was relief from pain or a side effect, who knows???

[Mike T]

Triamcinolone is a pretty heavy duty hammer to hit allergic rhinitis with. It is licensed for use in this condition and asthma but in normal life, its not something I would expect to see used except in extremis. Perhaps being just about to compete in TdF counts as extremis!
I had a jab of the stuff once to treat acute tendinitis in a back muscle. It worked a treat. Cured the pain and made me feel like Rambo for 48 hours!
Whether that was relief from pain or a side effect, who knows???

High dose steroids are powerful drugs. 40 mg of triamcinolone is enough to make some people go mad - I saw this many times with hospital inpatients - some required sedation; most were just weird - agitated, aggressive, a touch paranoid - for a few days. I can see that some people might feel temporarily invincible. To need this 3 years in a row for "asthma/allergic rhinitis"? You might think this is a bit of a coincidence - or, if high dose steroids were really needed, that it reflects poor management of the underlying conditions - I could not possibly comment.