confused

Because the blue inhaler is a ventolin standard treatment and people (not just me) often refer to it as blue rather than auto inhalers ventolin for short.   It's a short cut which I assume everyone with lung diseas knows what it is.  Obviously you don't but you are the only sufferer I have known who doesn't!   

Why don't you look up all the technical terms and exactly what each inhaler does and post it on here for us so no one makes the same 'mistake'  in future? 

 

I've already tried that with  no success.   I have COPD and I know the names of the medications I'm using.  Ventolin was tested when I had the spirometry tests to diagnose emphysema and it doesn't make any difference to my condition, and I was told this is the case with anyone whose COPD isn't caused by asthma.

I don't see why it's up to me to research what other people are using and the point I'm making is that using such vague terms as "blue" or "purple" doesn't give anyone else enough information to do any research.   

If I stated on here that I use a white inhaler and a grey one and how they affect me, that wouldn't be helpful to other people without the actual brand names, would it?

Hi I just  want to say use Ventalin inhaler I have asthma copd ,

That is exactly what i  am afraid of, being told its asthma when its the start of COPD and not being treated correctly.  I don't know if having asthma affects your breathing all the time or just occasionally?  Thinking of your health is nerve wracking!

I don't think the problem is necessarily with the spirometry test but with how yr first gp interpreted it.  When I had the test the first time and it showed diminished lung function, the nurse immediately repeated it with ventolin to check if asthma was the cause.   The ventolin made no difference, so asthma was ruled out and the diagnosis was emphysema.

Thank you for that basic interesting information, it sounds totallyh logical to me.   As I understand it, in emphysema we can't breathe out fully because carbon dioxide gets trapped in the damaged aviolli, which leaves less room to breathe in the next lot of oxygen.  

I'm assuming this is the reason why the pursed lips breathing, forcing the air out, is so helplful for our general wellbeing and why taking deep breaths in doesn't help.   The only time I take in deep breaths is when I do an old yoga exercise I've found improves my breathing for the rest of the day:    I fill my lungs as full as possible and pant it out through pursed lips, at least 20 pants and sometimes I can get up to 40.   I discovered this by accident last year:  the exercise works on the diaphragm and was supposed to result in a flat stomach, which definitely hasn't worked for me after more than 40 years of doing it!

Give it a try you emphysema people out there, I'd be really interested to know if it works for other people too.  I"m def not imagining it, I've monitored how much further I can walk without getting out of breath compared to when I haven't done it that day.

Jude. thank you for sharing that...I would love to find something to make my stomach flatter..lol! 

Yes, with pursed lip breathing, we breath in through our noses, for a count of 2, but when expelling the air that we breathed in, we expell it for a count of 6.

I really do think it helps to push out the CO2 too. My doctor says that this can't be done, that once the CO2 is inside our lungs, then it does not leave. That is scary, and I prefer to believe what my re-hab has taught and told me..lol.

One time while visiting my doctor, my blood test showed that my CO2 level made a significant improvement. He didn't know what to say about why that happened. All I know is that I began Pursed Lip Breathing every day, just like my re-hab tech informed me to do. I did it many times a day too, since she informed me to, and she was right too. 

Also, my she taught me something that not only helps CO2, but also helps strenghten the diaphrame. Sh told me to add something to the purse lip breathing technique, and that is, whenever I expell the air, to also pull in my stomach. Pull in the stomach every time the air is expelled. I have been doing that and I love it, since I feel like my respiratory muscles work better or something.  

I am going to try what you referred to, because I mostly want it for relaxation, plus the diaphrame. I did try it, and you are right, it is sooo relaxing..ty! 

You've confirmed what I've believed for a while, that rehab people know HEAPS more than most doctors:  so does he really believe whatever CO2 was in our lungs when we contracted emphysema is still there?  That's ridiculous!

If you do the breathing the way I described, the stomach & diaphragm contract without you having to do it:  presumably that's why it's supposed to flatten the stomach which it definitely didn't do for me - hope you have better luck, but I've decided stomachs weren't meant to be flat anyway, so no point worrying about it!

 

Yes, he informed me that once the CO2 was in our lungs, then it will be impossible to remove. He told me to try and watch that it doesn't escalate over normal to really high range, due to organ damage. I was scared, since I tended to believe him, but my re-hab tech told me differently. I got the feeling from what he said about other patients, that these other patients did not do breathing exercises. I did her (re-hab tech) breathing exercises, and they worked great. Also, the Doctor that said this to me is a General Practioner, and not a lung specialist. This Doctor deals with all systemic diseases and conditions, and only takes care of blood work, and make's sure our organs, etc. are within all their normal ranges, etc. I will be visiting a brand new Pulmonary doctor at the end of this month. My other one had retired. 

I did your breathing exercise that you described, and really enjoyed it. I can see how it may flatten the stomach..LOL...because it seems like the stomach muscles are in action, especially when huffing! I can get up to about 10-13 huffs so far, and will try to go further in count.

LOL....I agree too, that there is no point really worrying about stomach's, but the only thing is if it gets too large, then the diaphram becomes effected, especially whenever we sit. 

I don't think this is true, asthma and COPD both are obstructive disease and cause a wheeze on expiration. They are very hard to distinguish from each other on the basis on listening to the chest.. Reversibility is the key difference between the two on PFT's.

I was passing on information another contributor had been given by a medical person refeerring to the difference between ASTHMA and EMPHYSEMA - not COPD, which covers both those conditions plus some others.   The two conditions affect quite different areas:  asthma the bronchia and emphysema the aveioli..   It is of course possible to have both, in which case I suppose one would wheeze on both inhalation and exhalation.   If there's any doubt the use of ventolin for a spirometry test will easily prove whether it's asthma or emphysema because the latter doesn't respond to ventolin.

Please explain what you mean by reversibility:  emphysema isn't reversible and I didn't think asthma at the COPD stage was either?

     

Were never too old to learn ,,,,,I just learnt something from your comment above ,

Glad to hear it:  I learn a lot on this forum too

ck101, If you notice upon reading my comment, I did state that I was not certain if this was true or not? I really did hear someone tell me this though, and it made sense, due to the bronchiole's versus the avioli's (asthma versus emphysema). This is why I thought it was worth the hassle of stating about it. 

Also, COPD is an umbrella for all kinds of lung conditions that include obstruction. 

Yes, they are very hard to distinguish from each other when listening to the chest. Could it be, when taking the PFT, and given strong medication, such as a strong bronchodialator, they can tell if it is Asthma? 

Also, regarding Reversibility, are you saying that the only difference is due to Asthma can possibly be reversible whereas emphysema cannot? 

My doctor at first thought that I had Asthma, because he could not find anything wrong with my CT, but later on, due to my PFT, he said it was emphysema. It would be nice to figure out a way to distinguish between the two conditions. He even seemed distressed in doing so. 

The standard spirometry test should include a test without ventolin and then one with ventolin:  if use of ventolin shows an improvement you have asthma, if not, emphysema.    If your doctor didn't do this then sorry, he doesn't know what he's doing:  any respiratory nurse would know this

COPD isn't diagosed by listening to the chest.   Either condition at the COPD stage is not reversible but it's possible to slow down the deterioration.

Jude, I don't understand your statement? I already have said these things you are stating about previously. Nothing was said on my part, that implied about ventolin either, or weather I had a good or bad doctor either. If you read my previous comment, and read it really well, you will see that I know what you are writing about. I also know that COPD is not diagnosed by listening to the chest alone, simply because I've already been through it...also, that by taking medication and taking care of ourselves (etc) can cause slower deterioration (yes, I know that too..lol).