spiro test from 71 to 66 in 2 years

Hi I feel for you! I am a carer of my hubby,who is 67 and disabled with chronic osteoarthritis deaf and severely sighted in both eyes! He too a very heavy smoker! Also has e CIG! Much safer but will not tell me why he will not use it!! I smoke but am trying my best to cut it! Stress! Regards Amanda

He's has it all to lose at this point. It's vital he stops right now, its up to you to force this. Sorry but who else will.

When I smoked there was no such thing as the web with all the facts or places you could input your spirometry results to see what damage you were doing.

See whyquit.com for further info. A few hours surfing the forum of efforts or COPD international may put things into perspective for him.

Gosh, tell me about it 'Lolotte'!

My husband is exactly the same and everything I say just goes in one ear and out the other. I gave up the cigs over a year ago after being diagnosed with COPD, and every time I mention his cough, warn him of the damage he's doing to himself, and suggest he tries to give up, he accuses me of 'lecturing' him.

Wouldn't be so bad, but he's a diabetic and takes exactly the same attitude over that too .. bingeing on goodies and biscuits like there's no tomorrow. Makes me so sad .. and so flippin' mad too!

I swear, some men think they are invinceable .. especially if they're stubborn old men (and even more so if they hail from Yorkshire!).

Apart from suggesting he tries 'vaping' (much more effective and satisfying as a tobacco substitute than ordinary e-cigs) you can't really do anything. As you said .. you can't force him.

Maybe a (non-fatal) dose of double pneomonia might make him see sense. But lets hope it doesn't come to that.

Best of luck .. I SO understand where you're coming from.

Jo

 

Hi. Obviously the answer is for him to stop smoking but it is quite difficult and some people cannot just stop. I stopped 10 years ago , am now 65 , so at the age your husband is now. I did it by cutting down gradually until I was down to one a day !. I have had COPD for four years now and am still at the mild stage. Even so it still impacts on what l can do but would be a lot worse if l was still smoking. The decision is of course his but very frustrating and worrying for you. Best wishes. 

No-one can give you an accurate prediction about the rate of advance of COPD but one this is certain, it'll advance faster if he keep smoking.

I was already an ex-smoker (after 40 or so years) when I was diagnosed and my lung capacity hasn't decreased in the 3 years or so since COPD was diagnosed.

Obviously his condition is already changing for the worse and this will continue.to do so.

It's not true that he'll be miserable for the rest of his life if he stops smoking!  The withdrawals don't last for ever and there are so many different ways of giving up now:  gum, spray, patches, champix, hypnotherapy, Allan Carr's books and groups  .....   He's going to be very unhappy and very very ill with fast advancing COPD if he doesn't stop.

Does he go to a rehab group?  Seeing others with more advanced COPD may get through to him, especially the people who can't walk anywhere without dragging an oxygen tank behind them.   He'll have to give up when he gets to that stage or he'll blow himself up

You're right that you can't force him, but maybe you could tell him you want him around with you for as long as possible and the longer he smokes the shorrter and more restricted his life will be?    I assume he doesn't smoke around you?  If so he's endangering your health too

 

 

Hi lolotte,

I know you know that he is going to not have long if he keeps smoking. I understand his fear and quality of life argument but he CAN do it....have yall tried the vapor cigs? Some Dr's say no bc they don't have stats out yet about...some Dr's say yes bc at least you are not ingesting the carcinogens etc that you inhale with a burning cigarette. I was a very heavy smoker...over 35 years and had vowed I would probably never quit but on Sept 3rd 2015 I smoked my last cig bc on that day I was rushed to the ER and was diagnosed with COPD and the fear on my family's faces did it. But I used a vapor cig bc my son successfully quit using one. He will still feed the hand to mouth habit, he can even get then with or without nicotine so he can wien down in milligrams from that actual drug that's in the cigarettes as well as different flavors...including cigarette flavor. For a very heavy smoker I really recommend this. It doesn't feel cold turkey this way and I've gone from 21mg of nicotine to 8 now and I never feel anything lacking. The best part is...it doesn't seem to be affecting my lungs in fact quitting actually upped numbers and I ko longer need oxygen 24/7. This is very individual but I wanted to share bc I've been there...I'm 55 like him and I know how he feels. Please keep us informed and I'm praying for you both.

ladyjack51

Hi lolotte

sorry to hear your husband is still smoking I was diognoised with mild to moderate copd only a week ago I was gutted I had smoked for many years but haven't touched one in 6 weeks I'm using the vapour cigs I find them good

yeah some days I crave a real cig but I know I'm just kidding my self I won't get worse so I leave them alone what drives me is the photo of my beautiful grandchildren and all the fun days I want to have with them

my brother is 54 very server copd still smoking he needs oxegen but they are reluctant to give it him

my father died of the diesese many years ago it's so hard to watch some e at late stages

I hope your husband sees sense wakes up to his condition thinking about you both

take care x

Hi ,you say sometimes a mild cough in the winter ,,,you don't say if he's been diagnosed with copd etc ,,,so all I can say is this ,,,,at age 42 after many years of smoking 15 a day I to developed a slight cough ,,and carried on smoking as I enjoyed it. At age 46 I was blue lighted into intensive care for two weeks ,after speaking to the consultant while still in hospital he asked if I was a smoker ,,,yes I replied ,,,to which

he said " wrong answer the next one will kill you ". Needless to say I never had another cigarette ,,,,1 year later I had to retire ,,,as I got so breathless ,I'm now age 69 ,and have been admitted to hospital many many times since then ,X-rays showed back then damage to my lungs was already  done ,it was up to me ,,,not to do further damage ,and although I manage to live a god life ,,,,it's not perfect ,,,,I have a lovely hubby who takes care of me when I have chest infections etc ,and I'm under the care of the COPD nurses  who  are brilliant ,I go to the gym twice a week and do 2klm on the treadmill in under 26 minutes and 3 Klm on the bike in 10 minutes ,I can do this ,,,,,simply because I STOPPED SMOKING, ,,,one downside of smoking all those years is I can no longer fly away on holidays abroad ,,even with suplymentary oxygen as my oxygen levels drop to low,but we  manage to holiday in the uk ,,,,if I can offer some advise ,,,it would be ,,,DEFINATELY STOP SMOKING ,,,they ,,,,,will kill you,,,,

and ask your  GP  To refer your hubby to pulmary rehab course run by specialist copd nurses and physio's ,,,THEY ARE BRILLIANT ,I wish you both well , but read this to your hubby ,,and take note ,,at 42 years of age I to had a bit of a cough ,,,,,,then just 4 years later age 46 I was in ICU fighting for my life .now age 69 I feel healthier than I did when I was 46 .

Thanks so much for these replies. I need time to digest them. We only found out how bad things have got last week and I think I've been in shock for a few days. I've never joined any kind of forum before and its amazing how much useful advice I've recieved, but at the same time, I'm feeling so daunted and depressed by it all as the reality and enormity of it all is sinking in. We have a lovely life and I don't want it to end. He is taking it seriously to a certain extent and we've talked about it, and he's trying to cut down. But I know he's not worrying about it as much as I am. I think the main thing is he has to get his head around it and want to stop. He's not the sort of person who would go to a rehab group or research it online. Does anyone know of any short films that give a realistic picture of what will happen if you just ignore it? The vape cigs also sound interesting - he's tried e-cigs - I thought they were the same thing? And I'm going to look at whyquit? and COPD international. I wish I could just force him into giving up but when I tried that before it was a nightmare. He stopped for 3 months but he was so angry about it - he was like an animal trapped in a cage, because he didn't want it. I have to find a way to make him see what this will do to us. Thanks again everyone.