Have your symptoms been steady or deteriorated?

Hi Pam,

I am 49 with two daughters who have just started primary school, so retiring to sunnier climes is sadly a long way off! Guess I left things a bit late in life.

Reading Sue's comment about pollen (I used to get hay fever pretty bad until my late 20s) is giving me hope of some respite this autumn / winter. Fingers crossed.

Dave

sorry Dave I did not think this answer had shown. that is why I put a shorter answer later lol.

Cheers Pam. Yes, all comments have been helpful and I have plenty of ideas and suggestions now that I can air at my consultation. An inhaler that works would be good - as I'd like to avoid antibiotics until I really need them. We'll see.

Hi Louise,

Thanks for that helpful reply - I will seek out the book you recommended.

I really hope you start to improve despite the recent downturn. The fact you mention 20 years of relatively normal life gives me hope that I can be an active father to my twin daughters and at least get them through school and hopefully to university.

Cheers,

Dave

Hi Dave:

That is great, you can take a yoga class at your job. It is good to have exercise you can do at home when it is tough to do so outside. I have been doing yoga for some 25 years and it has helped a lot with my health. At first I did Astanga Yoga, an intense kind which they now refer to as flow yoga. Now I do a more sedate version, Ayengar.

I recently had to stop the exercise classes at my gym because of lack of breath but I now found a place where one can do cardio-type exercises while receiving oxygen. It is a kind of physical therapy where you get a certain number of sessions that are paid for by insurance. I am starting on Friday and I am hopeful it will help me be less short-of- breath. I hate being attached to tubes and dependent on machines for air to breathe. Let us know how you do with the yoga and the mucus clearance.

Best,

Louise

Hi Louise,

I missed the taster session but the Yoga classes begin in early October and will be every Friday. I have never tried Yoga in my 49-year life so I have no idea what to expect......I've always done weights or cardio exercise, although the routine was hit hard once my kids arrived!

Dave

Hi Debbie,

I'm already on the cough drops while I wait to be prescribed some 'proper' medicine. Do you use a flutter device or do huffing first thing in the morning to clear your lungs or do you rely solely on cold meds?

Thanks,

Dave

Debbie, the muscle action and internal vibrations set up by talking help loosen the phlegm & make it come up. If you did breathing exercises or even at least 5-10 minutes of loud humming a couple of times daily, that would help. As would regular huffing or use of any acapella or flutter device so long as those have been set properly for your lungs & you've been taught how to use them effectively.

You mentioned that you use a cough med to dry up your phlegm. It is possible that this makes your life harder in that dryer mucus is much harder to cough up.

You might want to mention to your medicos that things have changed in terms of coughing & more phlegm.

Hello ,,,Never heard of humming or never shown exercises . ..... and I do not use a flutter device.. never found it worked.

Cough med works great. Helps me stop coughing and I can breathe much better. I seem to cough worst in the evening.. so I pop a cold med (if I need, not something I do ever day) then. I don't cough up that much phelgm. I used to have Dry Broch. Never coughed anything. Its only been the past couple of years that I now have phelgm. I see my lung Doc. every 6mos so she knows what is going on and is fine with the cold med.

Fyi :Cold med type is for dry cough and stuffiness.

😃

My cough is also a late afternoon / early evening pain in the........! But I seem to be much better when horizontal at night (which suggests pleurisy, but the CT scan didn't reveal any fluid). Good to hear a case where simple meds controls the condition, as the mucus clearing routine does sound daunting to me if I'm honest.

I asked my Doctor about when being horizontal at night seem to be so much better. He said that is common and they don't really know why. Just being that position seems to ease/calm everything. Being able to get a good nights sleep is important. I guess in the end... everyone finds a tip or trick to help ease their condition and enjoy life. My mother once read that singing is good.. as it strengthens the lungs. 😃

Hi Debbie

I sleep on a wedge pillow, eases acid reflux for me. I hum to myself in the car, not on oxygen when driving, it helps me regulate my breathing and breathe from the diaphram and keep from over breathing I choose Phil Collins song as they have a good rythme and I like his voice, have the CD on repeat.

'Take Me Home' is a good one to get me singing........and relevant to half my car journiea too! 😃

The humming is something i know about from professional narration and voice over work & all the pro actors/acting teachers i worked with. i have 1 college friend whose doc in Bisbee AZ (Podunk USA) told her to hum, but that's it. If you're narrating/acting, you've got to do everything you can to clear your lungs before you start. (i can't do voice work any more -- damage from all the phlegm coughing before i got to cureent doc.)

An Acapella has to be set to your situation by a medico, and you need in-person coaching to do it correctly & to build the muscle memory of how correct usage feels. They're supposed to be replaced twice yearly, i believe. Zero experience with other similar devices.

Some folks in the UK get Pulmonary Rehab & learn breathing exercises there; very few Americans get it unless and until they're at 25% lung function. The rest of us learn breathing and clearance exercises online.