Anyone else have copd?

[gizmo1979]

What do you use to ease the symptoms?I haven't had much luck with inhalers of all sorts.I'm open to suggestions.

[Warpy]

1. I hate to be pessimistic, but those inhalers are about the best

we've got, along with some oral medications you might ask your doctor about.

The key to living with COPD is knowing your limitations and allowing yourself to rest during periods of activity (not that you've got much of a choice). The real key is to start the rest period before you find yourself gasping for air, that way it'll be a shorter rest and you'll be able to pace yourself much better.

For younger (50-65) people with COPD, a procedure called lung volume reduction surgery is being tested. So far, the results are mixed. I know one person personally who has had it, and s/he claims to have been stabilized after a period of steady worsening. If you live in a big city with a big teaching hospital close by, you might check into it. It is still considered experimental, so insurance plans will balk at covering it unless you're able to fight them.

It's miserable watching your activity tolerance go bye bye. The key is to recognize it's part of the disease and you're unlikely to get any of it back through pushing yourself to the limit of endurance. The key is learning how to pace yourself doing what you can still do.

[gizmo1979]

2. Thanks for the info.

The lack of stamina really is the worst part of the deal.How fast does it usually decline?

[onecent]

4. I would like some more info on this disease also. My husband

was diagnosed with this last week...He stopped smoking 32 yrs ago after years of smoking 3 packs unfiltered camel cigs.

I am so worried about him. He is 68 and it's just been a few months that the cough began...and NOW it's really getting dreadful.

He is on 2 breathing inhalers or w hatever they are (they are pills) and one will dialate his eyes if he touches his eyes.

Is this a progressively fast thing....I do know it's not reversible.

I also have a friend that cannot or will not quit who has been diagnosed with early emphysema....I stopped 5 years ago...(due to a
h ealth scare thank goodness..for that I am thankful.

[gizmo1979]

5. Here's a web site that

might help.http://www.papapoo.com/

[REP]

3. Atrovent, QVAR, Albuterol

I avoid prednisone; I don't react well to it.

[NorthernSpy]

6. have you tried Spiriva (tiotropium br.)?

I've heard good things about Spiriva. It's much longer-acting than Atrovent -- you take it just once a day, I think. It comes as a dry powder inhaler (which releases medication only when you are actually breathing in), so you can get it into your lungs even if your inhaler technique is shaky.

Speaking of which... how long have you been using inhaled medications? Sometimes, people who are not totally used to the pressurized MDIs have trouble coordinating their inhalations enough to get the full benefit of the blast o' medicine. Heck, even with perfect technique, over half of the medication never reaches your lungs anyway.

If you want to make your inhalers work better for you, you could try using them with a (valved!) holding chamber attached. You just spray the dose into the holding chamber, then you inhale it -- with more than one breath if necessary. The chamber can keep the mist suspended for several seconds. Holding chambers usually cost about $15 to $25, and for some people, they really make a big difference.

You might also want to try taking meds via a nebulizer. With the nebulizer, it takes several minutes to finish inhaling each dose (tho some medicines can be combined, which speeds things a bit), and you have to fanatical about sterilizing it on a regular basis. But on days when you don't seem to have much lung capacity to work with, nebs can help.


(edit: proofreading)