C.O.P.D

Hi Laila,

I know exactly how you feel, I really do. I am 74 but I'm underweight. I can only get from one room to another before having to rest, I can't do chores but thankfully my husband does all that. I even dread going to the loo as it's such an effort to get there even though we have a bungalow!! When I get breathless I inhale for one or two seconds through my nose then purse my lips and breath out for four to six seconds or as long as possible. I also count out loud while I'm walking. I feel very fatigued all the time and I would love to hear from you fellow sufferers as to how you feel and cope. All I think you can do Laila is to take your time with everything , there's no rush and try to accept things the way they are.

Take care and I send my love and best wishes.

Deanne

Hi, I have severe COPD, and was diagnosed some years ago. Unfortunately, it is a progressive condition, and I too find it impossible to do any chores around the house. It seems as though I take two steps forward then three back, all of the time, because it takes so long to do anything at all. Becoming breathless increasingly does stop any thoughts of doing a good old fashioned clean, down on the hands and knees. Those days are truly past-tense. If I did manage to get down there, I would have to stay there, Forever probably! I get so breathless just walking from one room to the next that the inhalers aren't adequate to cope with it. To a stranger I might even appear as though I had just completed a marathon, from the dripping on my brow, the heavy breathing, and leaning on furniture to try and catch my breath again. I should remember to put on my trainers, and that way I could pretend it was a marathon I'd run, instead of ambling from one room to the next. While shielding, I too piled on the pounds mainly because it was a very strange world to live in, although not much different from my normal life, it just included so many other people staying home so it did seem strange. I have managed to lose some of the weight, but not from exercise, or being good and dieting, no instead I was poorly and didn't even want to eat. It must be the only time I've been grateful to be ill. I have found the worst thing to do is punish myself for being unable to do all of those wonderful things I did when I was younger. There is no point to being unkind to yourself, it won't make it any easier, that's for sure. Take each day as it comes, and use only that day for doing a small amount of something, like setting off the washing machine, or dishwasher. Feel proud of the small things, and the big things can wait. Unless you have plans for the Queen to visit you for tea, there isn't any point in making yourself upset because you haven't managed to do the vacuuming. I haven't always been this calm, in fact the opposite was true for a while. But, once I realised it was only making me upset, I stopped myself and gave myself a lecture on how not to feel bad about the things I cannot do anymore.I find it easier to laugh at myself, and imagining myself disappearing under the layers of dust. If you set yourself a target do it within reasonable attainable possibilities. A bookcase with say, four shelves, could get cleaned over the four days, one shelf at a time. That is within reason, and a small level of expectation from yourself. It is not failing, if you cannot manage it, it is being kind to your ailing body which needs a rest more often than it used to. There is another day, and that can be the day you start again. I hope you can see a way to being kinder to yourself, and I hope some of my tips will be useful to you. Take Care.