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Do You Have Mild (Stage 1) COPD?

Posted , 11 users are following.

Ram2645
Ram2645

Hey all !! I'm looking for others who have been diagnosed with mild copd to talk about our symptoms and our meds.  Thanks ! smile

 

1 like, 19 replies

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  • jude65855
    jude65855 Ram2645

    Posted

    No-one has ever diagnosed me as "Mild" which is just as well, because I would've promptly asked them what that meant, it's far too vague a term   I do however believe mine would be called mild:  I have lost 30% of lung fuction but it has stayed at the same level since diagnosis 3 years ago, thanks to rehab and medication.

    I use Spiriva every morning and Symbicort (2 puffs) night and morning:  the latter medication has been almost miraculous in terms of stopping the all night coughing.     

    I'm about to ask my practice nurse for another spirometry test because I think it's possible I've even reduced the loss:  certainly I can walk much further than I used to be able to without getting breathless, but that may be due to a non-prescription home grown herbal remedy I've been using in biscuits.

    I've had pneumonia twice: hospitalised once because I thought the chest pain was from another heart attack and the second time my GP managed to keep me out of that dreaded dangerous place with frequent monitoring and antibiotics.

    So what's your story?

    What's your lung percentage loss?    I 

    • fern
      fern jude65855

      Posted

      Sorry I meant to send the last reply to you.
  • fern
    fern Ram2645

    Posted

    Hello, I have just read your reply and I wondered if you would share your herbal remedy. I hate having to use inhalers so much and am trying different natural remedies to help my condition. I seem to be taking one infection after another and am on antibiotics at the moment due to catching a family members cold.
    • jude65855
      jude65855 fern

      Posted

      If you can find my email from my profile (I don't know how to do it) and email me privately I'll reply in the same way.  Substance is illegal so if I name it my post will be taken down
    • michaelfhope
      michaelfhope jude65855

      Posted

      Click on the graphics on left of box to go to your PROFILE.

      On the top line you will see MESSAGE.  Click on this and it will open a dialog box "Send Private Message".  It will not reveal your email address but it will be private.  Do not put your email address (or any other link) in the private message or it will be automatically bounced.

      Michael

      Michael

  • Pussy9
    Pussy9 Ram2645

    Posted

    Hello, I used to be termed "mild" but am now "moderate".  My lung function has deteriorated steadily over the past 5 years, despite trying all sorts of inhalers etc.  I am now on Budesonide 2ml nebulised once a day and Formoterol inhaler twice daily.  I can honestly say that nothing I have tried seems to have much, or any, beneficial effect on my breathing.  It is SO FRUSTRATING!!  I am 64 years old by the way.
    • jude65855
      jude65855 Pussy9

      Posted

      Rehab?  Breathing exercises?   Unfortunately deterioration is what COPD does eventually, but that can be slowed down in most people even though in the end it's not curable.
    • Pussy9
      Pussy9 jude65855

      Posted

      I have recently attended rehab classes which were well run but didn't result in an improvement in my breathlessness!  I have never been offered breathing exercises.  Is this done via physiotherapy?  My consultant is baffled as to what to try me with.  It is suspected my condition is actually congenital, as I remember never having as much breath as my mates when I was young.  It has only really become an issue over the past 10 years or so.  I have been told I don't have emphysema or smoking related COPD, and do not have asthma - so my narrowed airways are an unpleasant, but real, issue.
    • jude65855
      jude65855 Pussy9

      Posted

      What on earth did rehab offer if not breathing exercises?  You can find them on the internet apparently on youtube, I haven't needed to access them but others on here have suggested that option.

      If done correctly and regularly they WILL make a difference:  I find that if I don't do them for 2 or 3 days I immediately have more breathing issues..

  • PGtips11
    PGtips11 Ram2645

    Posted

    Please stop worrying. I am 66 years old. Diagnosed with moderate COPD. Lung age 90.. Prescribed an inhaler to use " as and when" Lung function 60%. I soon realised that any symptoms of breathlessness were psychosomatic rather than physical. and don't use the inhaler. I keep active and love walking. I can easily walk about 6 miles. I get breathless going up hil
    • jude65855
      jude65855 PGtips11

      Posted

      If you have COPD breathlessnes is NOT psychomatic, it's a result of reduced lung capacity.   Lung age is meaningless, but if you have only 60% lung function and can walk  6 miles you're doing well.

      I have 70% lung capacity, use two inhalers and now way could i walk that far, which just proves how variable a conditioj it is.

      Don't assume that what works for you (ie believing your breathlessness isn't physica) works for anyone else 

    • jude65855
      jude65855 PGtips11

      Posted

      PS:  I assume yr COPD is asthma related?     As far as I know there is no as needed inhaler for emphysema related COPD, which is what I have, but of course for asthma related COPD ventolin would work when needed.
  • PGtips11
    PGtips11 Ram2645

    Posted

    Sorry post not finished. . If I get breathless I just pause until I can carry on. Doctor says exercise including hills is the best thing I can do. If I hadn't been diagnosed ( after a TV advertising campaign to tell the doctor if you've had a cough for 3 weeks which led to a spirometer test) I probably wouldn't have known I had COPD. So please don't fixate on it. I did at first but then realised I was winding myself up.
    • jude65855
      jude65855 PGtips11

      Posted

      It's not "fixating" on it to manage it to the best of one's ability and to use whatever works.  I agree worrying does help but being aware of the condition and doing one's best to live a good life in spite of it does, also taking advantage of medications and rehab and specific breathing techniques.
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