Age 29 and just found out I have COPD

Hi Becky, sorry to hear this and hope that with regular exercise and proper eating your health will improve. A strong body is a big help to this disease. I was in my fifties when I was diagnosed but had been treated for Asthma since I was 28. I don't hink they went in much for COPD at that time but I reckon that was what it was. I hope the doctor will be of help to you, especially since the pains want soring out. June

Hi June,

Many thanks for your reply. Sorry to hear you were also diagnosed with the same condition. Ill be going for my Spiro test this afternoon so ill know what stage its at. I'm eating so much healthier now and working out most days, eating blueberry's as I type lol....

Becky

that's a good thing to do Becky, in a couple of minutes I will be tearing into blueberries, blackberries, red grapes and then salad on ryvita. I have severe COPD but then I am 77. I am hopeful of a much better outcome for you. hugs and stuff, let me know what they say this afternoon. June

Hi June,

Thanks again for your reply. I don't blame you tearing into those colorful fruits, I love blueberry's and strawberry's...... there my favorite :-)Well results came back better than I imagined. I only have the very, very early start of COPD...My sprirotest came back fine and I only have it very mild, looks like I have caught it at the right time. and obviously the smoking stopped last Monday so been Cigarette free for a week now...

So sorry to hear you have it severe, I do hope you are getting the right treatment and support you need and you have many people and family members to speak to about any concerns you may have. You sound like a fighter to me :-) Thanks again June for your reply's, they truly helped me. Love and hugs xx

Hi Becky I am delighted with your news. I figured it would be like that but good to have it confirmed. I am confined to a settee and a wheelchair unfortunately, but I have a wonderful son who looks after me. I ran a pub for 15 years so on top of my own smoking I got everybody elses, but yes I am a fighter. Also I read all I can about what is good to do and eat. You have had an early call when you are young and strong enough to save yourself so please never go back to smoking. The consequences are horrible. Lots of luck and hugs, June

Hi I'm warren, I'm 32, went to see a nurse at the doctors on Monday just gone, she said that just by the sound of my voice she can tell I have copd ha, I've smoked for a long time, quite heavy too, I mean I do feel some damage and my chest wheezes now and again, I cough regular but doing my job as a delivery driver I'm always up and down people's stairs but I feel fine. Maybe I'm at the early stage of copd, I've got the spirometry test next Tuesday, we'll see, didn't have a fag at all yesterday but I have today :-/ I'll try again tomorrow but I will quit now knowing that I've done some damage which I understand isn't reversible but won't get any worse if I quit, we'll see! But 32, oops, stop smoking warren :-)

Hi warren,

Sorry to hear you also have what sounds like COPD. I've now not smoked since the 8th November and can feel the benefits also. If they have caught it at the very early stages then count your self lucky as Oddbiddy above you was diagnosed at around 50 and by that time its progressed to quite severe. Ill never look back at smoking now, I kinda needed something like this to give me the kick up the back side and make me stop and in a way, this is a massive wakeup call. I hope your spirometer test goes to plan, I was quite shocked at how well my lung function was!!! so lets hope yours is the same and they have caught it at the right time :-) xx

Hi june,

So sorry ive not ben on for a while, I hope you are well. OMG about the pub!! it just goes to show how passive smoking can play a big part! I will defo not be looking back now. xx

Like I say I feel alright but, just a bit shocked that I'm 32 but only got myself to blame, just need to stop smoking, see how this breathing test goes on, it feels alright, obviously can't breathe like I could when I was 20 but I'm hopeful, well done not having a fag since the 8th nov, you've done really well :-) xx

Thanks Warren. It was a total Shock to me when I found out and still is now. When I first found out, I asked the doctor how long id got to live I was that scared lol. Doctor just laughed and said that I could lead a normal life as long as I stopped smoking. Smoking makes the disease progress quicker so by stopping smoking you are slowing the progression down dramatically. When I think back now, if it wasn't for the Lung cancer advert about the cough for longer than 3 weeks, I think I would of turned a blind eye to it but with the cough not going after so long, I knew something wasn't right and I thought I may have lung cancer so that's what prompted me to go and see the doctor. So glad I went now. I think anyone diagnosed at an early age and stage are given another life line and its something that can be changed around if you help yourself. xx

Aww bless you ha, I'm a bit of a worrier myself but yeh, need to stop, you just stay off the fags and you'll be right :-) I'll let you know my results on Tuesday, I'm expecting mild to moderate but we'll see :-) xx

Hi Becky and Warren, my guess you can both lead a normal life if you want to. Becky has stopped smoking and should recover by thinking about her health. so Warren it's up to you. When I was young nobody had heard of this disease, so at 28 I was diagnosed with asthma. Well most of the women in our family had that so I just thought it was my turn. None of the others smoked though, so I think I never had asthma and if I had known that I MIGHT have been more sensible. Well hindsight has perfect vision and you have both been given forsight in time to save yourselves from this horrible nightmare. It is also known as slow strangulation and we are strangled from the inside. I can't do anything much , I am tied to an oxygen machine, or bottle if I go out, in my wheelchair. Anybody who wants to join me just carry on smoking. I do hope not. Good luck to you both. June

June thankyou for commenting and I'm so sorry you're in the situation you're in, I feel for you darlin! I was born in 1981, I can remember experimenting with smoking when I was 9 years of age, we moved to another town when I was 10, I won't say I quit cos I was too young to know what quitting was! I just didn't smoke, took it up again around the age of 12, started to buy my own packs everyday when I was 16, I'm 32 now, I've got high blood pressure which I'm on lisinopril for cos I like a drink :-/ so went to the nurse for a check up and she said I can tell by the sound of your voice that you have copd, I mean I've always had a deep voice anyway, but without any tests she seems to think I have copd, I probably have June, I cough, my chest wheezes from time to time, although I breathe in and I can fill my lungs quite well, I'll see what happens at the spirometry test, I can sometimes hear my chest wheeze while I'm eating ha, we'll see, anyway, like I said to the young woman before, whatever result comes back, believe me, I've smoked enough fags to confirm it's all self inflicted!! hope you're ok xx

well sometimes these people just like to show us how much they know. the tests are what will give the answers. I guess you are a live life large kind of a guy. Used to be a bit of a party animal myself before they clipped my wings. Ran a pub for 15 years just to compound the felony. Ah well it seemed fun at the time and now to pay the piper. I am 77 so I haven't done badly, 49 years of chest complaints. I know a lot of people worse off than me, course I do they are old too. One good thing, a pack of Christmas cards lasts for years now. Be nice to your body, it's precious. June

June you're a gem love, I will quit smoking I know I will I have to, I've already damaged my lungs, I'll get the test done and will see the damage, til then I shouldn't really comment, only that I hope all is ok with all I've spoke to today and I'm only a message away :-) xx

good plan Warren. see you later, off to bed soon. june