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Emphysema and persistent cough

Posted , 7 users are following.

Brilliard
Brilliard

My wife was diagnosed with moderate emphysema (COPD) last year and takes Salbutomal,Seretide and Tiotroplum inhation powders.She is 74 and smoked since she was 18,even now she has one or two a day.She has had xrays and CT scan and these were OK. I am concerned about her cough which is persistant and night and to a lesser degree during the day.Is this normal with COPD in smokers,The cough worries me sick.

0 likes, 28 replies

28 Replies

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  • hypercat
    hypercat Brilliard

    Posted

    Yes it is normal if she is still smoking.  I have moderate copd too (very high moderate) and still stupidly smoke and my cough is dreadful.  x
    • Brilliard
      Brilliard hypercat

      Posted

      Be interesting to hear if anyone who had a persistent cough as well as COPD found the cough disappeared after they stopped smoking also was it very long after stopping.
  • sandy58386
    sandy58386 Brilliard

    Posted

    Hi abhi!  I was diagnosed incorrectly in 2009 by way of a spirometry.  At that time, I was told that I "probably" had asthma.  In 2012, when I was very breathless, dizzy, and my blood oxy was 72, a different doctor sent me for a CT scan because he felt that I never did have asthma.  It was the CT scan that confirmed the COPD.  I was actually diagnosed at the age of 70, I am now 74.
    • jude65855
      jude65855 sandy58386

      Posted

      Spirometry is almost always done twice:  once with ventolin and once without and if the result is better with ventolin then you probably have asthma.   If results are low and ventolin makes no difference you'll be given a diagnosis fo COPD, as I was.  

       If the second doctor had done a spirometry test you would've had the correct result rather than the expense of a CT scan, which is hardly ever necessary to diagnose COPD.

      You do realise longterm asthma can lead to COPD?  

    • abhi3112
      abhi3112 jude65855

      Posted

      Jude, how long do you think it takes for asthma to become COPD?
    • hypercat
      hypercat abhi3112

      Posted

      Hi it is not inevitable that asthma leads to copd.  It can and probably will if you smoke and don't stop.   This is what happened to me.   Having said that my doctor said that smoking didn't cause asthma but it may have triggered it off.   Lots of people have asthma and don't and have never smoked and I think it is very unlikely that they would ever be diagnosed with copd.  x
    • jude65855
      jude65855 abhi3112

      Posted

      Sorry, I have no idea, as I've never had asthma.  I have emphysema/COPD from smoking for decades.
    • jude65855
      jude65855 hypercat

      Posted

      Smoking may not cause asthma, but it wouldn't be very good for it, would it?    I've seen asthmatics have severe attacks from exposure to other people's smoking.  

      Long term asthma, with or without smoking, CAN result in COPD eventually

    • hypercat
      hypercat jude65855

      Posted

      I am not saying it is very good for it.  The point I was making pure and simple was that asthma doesn't eventually have to lead to copd.  This is still true.  It is not inevitable.    

       

    • jude65855
      jude65855 hypercat

      Posted

      But not worth the risk, surely?  That's all I was saying, not that it's inevitable
    • hypercat
      hypercat jude65855

      Posted

      I didn't mention anything about risk.  I just said it wasn't inevitable.  We agree on this from what you have said so can this be an end to it please.
  • sandy58386
    sandy58386 Brilliard

    Posted

    Yes, Jude........the first doctor DID test twice and the ventolin did not make a difference......I was still diagnosed by that doctor, with asthma.  When my second doctor ordered the spirometry, and followed through with a second test after using ventolin, the second one AGAIN did not show a difference. That is why my second doctor ordered the CT scan to confirm AND to rule out cancer, because as he said, "there is something going on and we're going to find out what it is".  Since cancer is abundant in my family history, I feel my doctor was VERY proactive in what he ordered and that the CT scan was not a "waste of money". And yes, I do realize that long term asthma can lead to COPD.

     

    • jude65855
      jude65855 sandy58386

      Posted

      Fair enough I guess, but lung cancer was ruled out in my case by trying COPD medication and from the positive response it was obvious I had COPD and not cancer.    

       

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