COPD :: Drastic Decline After Chest Infection
Jul 7, 2015
Looking for some insight for my dad who was diagnosed with emphysema some years ago now. Until Christmas 2014, he was coping very well, he was staying relatively active and was managing to walk a mile when needed (slowly and it was flat, but nevertheless he did it!). Just after Christmas he caught a rather nasty chest infection, which the doctor diagnosed as a virus. That stayed around for 3 months or so and was obviously very distressing at the time and really affected his ability to breath. He has been clear of any infection now for 2 months but we are not seeing any improvement in his breathing ability. To give an indication of the decline, he is now unable to walk the 8 metres or so to the bathroom without oxygen. There are further complications in that his heart is also playing up and his ankles are terribly swollen. The doctor has ordered a heart rate monitor for him but I'm not sure when that will arrive. I have two questions for any friends out there who can provide the benefit of their experience. 1) Is it reasonable to expect that my dad should recover a little better than he has so far - that he should get closer to his previous breathing ability. 2) I'm convinced that the heart and water retention round his ankles problem is caused by a lack of oxygen in the blood due to his poor breathing. Is that a reasonable deduction and is there any advice out there, (I'm in the process of convincing my dad to use his oxygen more).
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So spent night in hospital for chest infection on Tuesday night. Been on 50mg steroids and 500 mg Co amoxiclav three times a day.
Pulled my back muscles coughing yesterday so taking diazepam as doctor prescribed for it as asthmatic so can't take ibuprofen.
However today when woke up my lower right lung area is swollen and have acute sharp stabbing pain when cough and constant pain which is dull. Anyone any idea what it is? I'm wondering if diaphragm or maybe need to see doctor for 3rd day this week.
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I'm 60, had asthma for just over 3 years, which started after a persistent bout of bronchitis. I take Seretide twice daily. I try to run regularly when I'm able, but I'm never quite sure how I should respond at the onset of normal cold symptoms. Once I have any degree of cold infection, I regularly experience chest tightness and discomfort immediately, almost before any cold symptoms have established. I'm not really sure what the best strategy is to get rid of the chest tightness, prevent the cold developing and enable me to continue exercising. I try increasing my inhaler dose, take extra vitC, etc but without great success. I'd really value hearing how others deal with this, is it just a case of putting up with it, or should I be able to nip it in the bud?
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My GP has given me Oxytetracycline for a chest infection... just thought I'd have a look on here as I'd not been prescribed them before and it appears that they are to treat acne and other skin conditions?
Has anyone been prescribed them for a chest infection or similar?
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I have had a viral chest infection for 10 weeks, have just gone back to work part time after 6 weeks off sick. My cough went weeks ago but I still feel unwell (which varies day to day) with lung pain (worse when I lie down, walk, bend etc) and ringing in the ears.
I am worried about how long it is taking to get better, the Doctor gave me nothing apart from painkillers and said it is just a nasty bug. I am also worried whether going back to work was the right thing, do you think it will make it worse?
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I've been on 20mg of cit for just over 4 weeks now almost 5, and at first it was great. My mood picked up, anxiety went way down, and my OCD drastically went down. But now, I've been on a steady decline for almost 2 weeks and i feel like I'm at square one again. High anxiety, OCD, panic attacks, and no appetite and depression all over again. Obviously I need to something differently but I'm wondering if I just need an increase or just try a whole new med?
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I am experiencing the sensation of food being stuck in the throat/chest, as if you swallowed a large pill and it is resting there. I have had acid reflux issues and take Zantac for it (previously Prilosec) and neither of them helped much. It's difficult to swallow and I also feel like I need to burp to relieve some pressure build-up in my throat/chest.
I woke up out of sleep last night and felt this sensation severely along with stabbing pain in my upper abdomen the radiated up to my chest. There's dull pain in my lower back as well along with nausea, trouble getting a full breath. It's extremely uncomfortable and concerning. It seems to hurt more when lying down, but I feel it when I'm upright too.
I'm waiting on a referral to see a Gastroenterologist to discuss my very extensive list of symptoms.
I understand that it anxiety could add to the pains I'm feeling, and I do have extreme anxiety when it comes to my health, but what I'm worried about is that I woke up out of my sleep with this pain to where it can't be directly caused by anxiety. I've been to the hospital for chest pains a couple of occasions and they ruled out everything but anxiety. So trust me, I know what anxiety can do.
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I'm 29, mostly healthy, unfortunately I'm a cigarette smoker but I am a hypochondriac and suffer from bad anxiety. The past 6 weeks have been tough. I just recently got off Xanax after 5 weeks of daily use for panic attacks and sleep. I was taking about .25 to .5 a night. Quit last Tuesday only withdrawal symptoms was insomnia and a little night sweats. Head feels a lot clearer and I feel better. I'm now taking lexapro which I've now been on for 3 weeks. I do feel it's helping a bit and I also up the dosage from 5mg to 10mg. I'm taking trazodone for sleep also. But In the past 2 weeks I have been getting some chest cramping. Tightness in the center of my breasts, little pains here and there but I can't figure out if it's heartburn, acid indigestion, or what it can be. I know anxiety can give u tightness in the chest which I have felt many times but the cramping and tightness freaks me out! The hypochondriac part of me keeps thinking I'm having lung issues or heart issues. It's like if it ain't one thing it's another with me. And I hate it. Does anyone have anything like that from meds? I need some reassurance. I'm going to call my doctor tomorrow to make sure it's just from the meds.
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I have something swelling below my right chest and I really don't know what it is. My friends told me that it is just a lymph node. Is that true?
I have already observed this for several year already and it seems that this is growing to about a corn-sized.
I hope you could help me about this and I really need your professional advice regarding this matter.
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I have COPD along with CHF. My blood pressure is normal. Have only 20% use of mitral valve. ( Cardiomyopathy). I was put on 60 mg of Furosemide (Diuretic) then 2.5 mg. Then after 2 months I am now at 7.5 mg.
My question is I have a constant cough, pulling up mucus. It starts with a real itchy throat and then the coughing. There is no relief. It goes on for anytime 7 to 15 minutes stop and then starts again. At night it is worse.
I am afraid that my COPD will get worse. Please let me hear from you if you have the same problems.
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I am a carer for my Hubby, who has Pleurisy at the moment. I am his carer & I am meant to be going into Hospital for a hip operation. I am full of acute Anxiety myself as I need to get my Husband better. He is on antibiotics and strong painkillers as well. He also suffers from arthritis and also is deaf & severely sighted.. I am giving him hot fluids as much as possible.
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I am a 27 years old male and have been suffering from some left chest pain for the past two weeks. The pain worsens when taking a deep breath, exercising, lying down, and even talking. Along with the the chest pain I get a sharp stabbing pain in my back when doing all the same activities. The weirdest thing is I have a hard lump on my chest that is painful to touch. It doesn't get better with ice or heat and pain medications don't seem to help either.
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I know a lot of people that have cold extremities and they don't have COPD. My adoptive Mom was one of those people. Her hands and feet were always freezing cold and she did not have COPD. I've had cold feet and hands all of my life long before the diagnosis of COPD.
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I was diagnosed with copd two years ago and use a serovent inhaler twice a day and have a ventolin for back up. This is my second winter since being diagnosed and the cold weather seems to be affecting me more this year. My spiro test in January showed a slight improvement but generally l feel more breathless and l wondered if maybe l should ask for a change of inhaler. Does anyone know of an alternative to serovent or is it just the weather making me feel worse.
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i was lying down on my back last night and suddenly felt my whole chest (lungs maybe)inflate. Does anybody know why this happened as its happened quite a few times recently? This left me really gasping for breath.
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i was diagnosed with Emphysema in February and am having further tests. This has all come at me so quickly and caught me off guard. Is anybody else suffering with these headaches?
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i am 25 years old, i have been suffering from breathing difficulty or not able to take deep breath problem.. all day i feel like taking deep breath. but when i try for it.. am not able to take deep breath. during night time i sleep normal.
what could be the reason. anybody pls help.. my Xray CT scan all normal.
could this be psychological problem. doctors trying to say that also. if so. how to recover from this.. it feels like i don't have any life without solving this problem.
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Anyone get sore throat? I have a bad one. I read that it could turn into strep? Or just common? Remedies at all?
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I foolishly went back to smoking a while back because I feel BETTER when I smoke. I stopped, but get tempted because my breathing is much better when I do! I know it is insane, but has anyone experienced this? When I quit My breathing was much worse. I think it has to do with waking up your lungs, clearing them out, so you become sob. But I swear when I did smoke, I felt fine! So crazy.
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I gave up smoking at new year, just over two years ago. My dad died from emphysema when he has 60, and i always said that if i ever got a cough that reminded me of my dad i would quit. It got to the point where i was coughing myself to sleep each night, and i realised this wasn't just a cold that was going away, so i set myself a smoking deadline of new year (this was in the autumn) and did just that. Well 90% of my cough went away virtually overnight, but i was left with a niggly throat clearing thing, which wasn't too much hassle. Felt pretty good, and pleased with myself. So anyway, a couple of weeks ago i was doing a meditation app, and the instruction was to take a deep breath and hold it. It kind of took me by surprise, and the next day my back was hurting. So i made an appointment for the docs and she booked me in for a chest x ray and prescribed me a peak flow meter and some ventolin. 3 times a day i have to do a best of 3 reading, take two puffs of ventolin, then twenty mins later do another best of 3 reading. After three days of doing so i'm feeling constantly breathless, worse than i ever did, i still have that pain in the left side of my back, and i am sure now that indeed i have emphysema like my dad. I feel like crying all the time yet i'm putting a brave face on for everyone. I don't have any kids, and my boyfriend still smokes in the house. I try not to be around it, bit it's only a small house and difficult to avoid. He didn't see the long horrible death my dad had, both his parents are still fit and healthy. My morning peak flow reading is 350 and the other two (noon and night) are roughly 370 with hardly any difference from the ventolin except i think its giving me a dry throat. I guess my question is, has anyone else had COPD from age 40 and still lived a long time? How bearable is it? Because my dad carried on smoking quite far into his (he gave up when he went on oxygen) i'm finding it hard to expect anything different than he got. Also is it possible for the peak flow tests to be making me breathless?
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Had chest xray done .I have no cough slight out of breath has I have asthma. doctor's have now told me I have mild change if my lung copd.when I asked does this mean I have the decease she said it might just be from the damage from smoking all those years ago.am so worried and stressed. does this mean this is the beginning of a death sentence? not sleeping or eating.
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