As a paramedic, I have had several patients who were suffering from emphysema or COPD, so I am familiar with it. Of course, I was more familiar with it at a stage where it has become debilitating. I don't know what advances may have come up in the treatment of COPD in the last couple of decades. I believe my younger brother suffers from emphysema, having smoked for most of his adult life. I am glad that I never smoked much (half pack a day) and quit in my early 20s.
@Gloria Mitchell OK, my own experience with it, obstinately imponderable and not understandable. About 2005, living in Missouri Ozarks, I started having trouble exhaling......inhale normal, stuck with it in my lungs. This kind of came and went, but was always there. Went to my Doc, he diagnosed COPD, prescribed Albuterol inhaler, use 4 times daily MAX. It worked (for awhile). One Saturday night, it suddenly got so bad, I found I had to bend over the back of my recliner, standing up, to exhale at all. Almost a whole night of this, I was guzzling the Albuterol every 20 minutes, without effect. Before morning, I told my wife run me to the ER. They shot chest X-rays, something my Doc had preferred not to do, gave me a steroid shot in the ass, and slow IV of Albuterol over about 30 minutes. This got me breathing at about 50%, I went home. It came back, I went to a new Doctor in Salem (MO); she sent me to Rolla to an Allergy Specialist, a Middle-Eastern lady who had her technicians administer hundreds of scratch test spots on my forearms. Results negative. Her diagnosis: "Exacerbation of Childhood asthma". IOW, worsening of asthma I never knew of before. Never once had ANY breathing problem as a youngster. Went to another doctor, he was a heart specialist, he listened intently to my heart, pronounced the cause as "Left Ventricular Thickening". Supposedly limited blood flow to the lungs, BUT, why exhaling only? No answer. Back to first Dr., our family guy, to renew prescription. This time he diagnosed Emphysema! I doggedly kept walking my several miles daily, sometimes stopping to catch my breath dozens of times. After many months of gradual improvement, I finally gave all my unopened inhalers back to the Dr, asked him about the emphysema: That DON'T go away. He shrugged. No clue. By then we had internet, and I began studying. COPD occurs when the tiny muscles surrounding the lungs' airways constrict them smaller, blocking partly the air flow, the body's response to sensing the presence of foreign material, dust, debris, pathogens, funguses. This process is called "Broncho-spasm". That induces production of Histamine, the presence of which brings hordes of white cells there to gobble the invaders. Meanwhile, MORE mucus is produced, which paradoxically blocks off the already squeezed-down passages. COPD is thus REVERSIBLE, can come and go, like asthma. Emphysema is permanent scarring of the lungs, never improves. Our area had tremendous amounts of molds in the air. Counts were called out daily, on the radio, number of spores per cubic meter of air, sometimes hundreds of thousands! Thus each breath drew in countless thousands of mold spores into the lungs. They had to be brought back out via the mucus. What if many caught hold, and stayed in the lungs, reproducing there? Yep, happens, the Docs don't even address it. The commonest spore around there was Aspergillus, present in the soil. See: Aspergillosis: "Aspergilloma, a "fungus ball" that can form within cavities such as the lung" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergillus#Aspergillosis I questioned why in the hell didn't all these doctors investigate this possibility? Check my mucus for spores? Few answers, I decided since they all were mainly from elsewhere, fairly new to the area, they just didn't know. I was convinced. My neighbor got the same symptoms, we learned it was a common complaint among the "locals". Slowly, I got better. Quit making sure the inhaler was in the car, like the smoker who unfailingly checks his supply before going anywhere. Been over 10 years now, completely symptom free. Wonder why my respect for doctors, at least the ones I've seen, ebbs? Frank
@Frank Sanoica - Thank you ! Very informative. I think doctors often just assume and go with the norm, versus checking out other possibilities.
@Gloria Mitchell There are a few additional things I wanted to be certain you knew, and chose to not drag out my tales of breathing woes above. There are 2 basic kinds of inhalers used to treat breathing difficulty, COPD, as the symptoms seem to vary, depending on what crap is in the air we are breathing at the time. One type are called "RESCUE INHALERS". These are used as needed, as symptom s flare up, and are called "Broncho-dilators", "dilate" meaning stretch or open up. Typical usage may be one snort every 4 hours. A common drug employed is Albuterol. Others are available, based on tolerance for Albuterol. These act quickly, usually freeing-up breathing within minutes. They are relatively harmless for long-term use. The other type are STEROID type inhalers. These are employed to treat and reduce the irritation accompanying the illness. They act to reduce INFLAMMATION. Steroids, however, are not to be used like candy. The normal operation of the body depends on it's own production and use of steroids internally; upsetting that internal balance is not to be taken lightly. Many steroidal preparations are two-component drugs. One commonly advertised and seen is known as "Symbicort", a combination of the drugs known as Budesonide and Formoterol. These are considered support medications and do NOT provide actual perceptible relief, but rather "ease" the breathing difficulty long-term. Usual dosing is one or two inhalations twice daily. Continual use of the steroids is not a good idea, and should be avoided if possible. I used Symbicort when I was gradually getting better for about two weeks, then stopped. By then the Albuterol had been assigned to a drawer someplace, not used at all. Apparently, as I told above, I am lucky to have had an unusual problem not associated with any of the usual causes, IF the fungus diagnosis is correct. I made that one myself, no doctor was involved. I also got over it myself, and have been symptom-free and drug-free for years now. I am very fortunate, and appreciative. Frank
My brother has COPD so I did some research on alternative treatments came across a couple that might be of interest. Natural supplement NAC the US National library of Medicine [NCBI] web site has 2566 entries of NAV and COPD. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/?term=N-acetyl+cysteine+COPD Also 13 entries on COPD and PEMF- Pulsed Electromagnetic Field https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/?term=COPD+PEMF&cmd=DetailsSearch If anyone wants to make a machine to do that let me know as I have made a few. There is also ozonizes which can make ozonized water to drink this puts oxygen into the blood through the digestive system and not the lungs to ease the lungs demands. Hope this helps
@Martin Alonzo I actually thought about purchasing an Aqua-6 since it's much more affordable ($70) than the bigger models ($400). After my TIA, it helped tremendously just to drink lots of water and even though I'm fine now, I still diligently drink water all day for oxygen sake. It makes all the difference. @Gloria Mitchell The ozonized water has really helped people who have oxygen problems. Maybe you could also use something of this nature to help.
@Martin Alonzo Good points about ozone. Inhaled, it is toxic; such practice is to be discouraged. However, I found little reference to consuming liquid having ozone dissolved in it. Ozone is unfortunately very unstable, and quickly reverts back to plain old oxygen. Oxygen molecules exist as O2 pairs, while Ozone is O3. Frank
Sorry just noted a spelling mistake I had in my post. I put NAV instead of NAC a keyboard error. There is also good news on stem cell regeneration of lung tissue.11780 studies published by the NIH https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/?term=COPD+stem+cell
I mention a PEMF for help with COPD it is also good for blood circulation, pain. and some forms of cancer. I posted how to make one years ago. https://www.seniorsonly.club/threads/pemf-home-made-machine.732/ I have had people visit me with back pain and in a few minutes it was gone. A lady credit me for curing her cancer she came back home went the doctors told her they could do nothing more she had not had any sleep for two days because of pain. I gave her a machine I made and she had the a good sleep. This was many years ago and she is still alive. Have fun
@Gloria I retired wih Emphysema August 1 1996, so I have had this problem several years and some doctors have told me I should have been dead years ago. A year or so after I quit work I was diagnosed with COPD, an umbrella cover for several lung diseases.I was diagnosed as moderate severe,stagre 3. After trying several medications, I was finally given Tiotropium Bromidfe, often called Spiriva, which made a difference, gave me some real relief. I have been on Spiriva about twelve years. I keep an Albuterol puffer in my living room, my office, and my bedroom. Instead of taking it every four hours ahours or so, I take it PRN, or as needed and that may be once or twice a week when I have difficulty coghing upthe phlem that seems to block my air way passages. I play a harmonica daaily and that seems to do the same thing as the Albuterol. I also usej a puffer called Budesonide/ formoterol, which is not a quick relief like Albuterol but assist in opening and keeping open longer your airways so that breathing is easier and less noticable. I use it twice a day two puff each, morning and nioght. That is standard for COPD patients. I also know no medication will work for all patients. Most doctors do the best they can. I have gone through a four month Pominary Rehab course that helped me greatly. Lung Doctors tell me I am doing all the right fthings but have also told me four years ago there was nothing else they could do for me so keep doing what I am doing. I have been in last stage for a number of years. Howevver I feel i have been on the cutting edge as far as taking care of myself. Doctors agree. I also have a feeling doctors have a tendency sometime to diagnose COPD when they can find nothing else to call a problem, many times misdiagnosing a lung problem. Ihope you get along fine and not suffer greatly from this lung problem. Take care.
@Bill Boggs , this may be a stupid question, but would blowing up children's balloons work similar to playing the harmonica?
@Beth Gallagher, No maám, I've tried blowing up baloons. I can't blow up baloons but can play the harmonica, even when I'm short of breath because I play with my diaphragm, but that is an intelligent question.
@Bill Boggs In my own case, I had developed sudden inability to exhale. Curtailed my daily walks, could not catch my breath after walking 50 feet. Bunch of rural doctors consulted, that's all we had, was sent for allergy tests (negative) which specialist diagnosed "exacerbation (worsening) of childhood asthma. What bullshit! Always very athletically active, outran even the long-legged guy, never any respiratory trouble. COPD was diagnosed (of course), and finally emphysema. Worst experience happened over a Saturday night, wound up bent over the back of my recliner, gasping all night, thought I would die. That night I was gulping Albuterol every 15 minutes! About 5AM I asked my wife to drive me to the ER. They shot a chest X-ray ( about the third by then), gave me two steroid shots in the behind, and Albuterol to take home. No final relief, I gasped along, forcing myself to walk our road, a bit at a time. Gradually, it improved. I consulted with a Dr. friend who practiced out of Sun City, AZ (we were in Missoiuri) after researching molds. Learned our area of the Ozarks was extremely rich in mold in the air, spore counts often exceeding 500,000 per cubic meter of air. I reckoned human adults inhale a cubic meter of air every few hours; I was inhaling 500,000 spores into my lungs maybe every hour or two! My Dr. disagreed; in fact, none of them thought testing my phlegm for spore count was worth the cost (I had no insurance). The mold suspected is Aspergillus, which causes Aspergillosis in susceptible folks, not everyone. Very common mold found in soil. After a year, I was walking the 2 miles daily normally; the "emphysema" had disappeared. I asked my regular Dr. about this; he shrugged. There were several bouts of recurrence, much milder and short-lived. A walk-in clinic refused to prescribe Symbicort, nurse-practitioner, (which is incidentally Budesonide-Formoterol steroid combination). I bought some generic clandestinely, snorted it once daily, and the symptoms disappeared in about a week. This was about 6 years ago, no recurrence since of any respiratory symptoms until the kidneys quit, a year ago. Frank
QUOTE="Frank Sanoica, post: 472217, member: 243"]n my own case, I had developed sudden inability to exhale. Curtailed my daily walks, could not catch my breath after walking 50 feet. Bunch of rural doctors consulted, that's all we had, was sent for allergy tests (negative) which specialist diagnosed "exacerbation (worsening) of childhood asthma. What bullshit! Always very athletically active, outran even the long-legged guy, never any respiratory trouble. COPD was diagnosed (of course), and finally emphysema. Worst experience happened over a Saturday night, wound up bent over the back of my recliner, gasping all night, thought I would die. That night I was gulping Albuterol every 15 minutes! About 5AM I asked my wife to drive me to the ER. They shot a chest X-ray ( about the third by then), gave me two steroid shots in the behind, and Albuterol to take home. No final relief, I gasped along, forcing myself to walk our road, a bit at a time. Gradually, it improved. I consulted with a Dr. friend who practiced out of Sun City, AZ (we were in Missoiuri) after researching molds. Learned our area of the Ozarks was extremely rich in mold in the air, spore counts often exceeding 500,000 per cubic meter of air. I reckoned human adults inhale a cubic meter of air every few hours; I was inhaling 500,000 spores into my lungs maybe every hour or two! My Dr. disagreed; in fact, none of them thought testing my phlegm for spore count was worth the cost (I had no insurance). The mold suspected is Aspergillus, which causes Aspergillosis in susceptible folks, not everyone. Very common mold found in soil. After a year, I was walking the 2 miles daily normally; the "emphysema" had disappeared. I asked my regular Dr. about this; he shrugged. There were several bouts of recurrence, much milder and short-lived. A walk-in clinic refused to prescribe Symbicort, nurse-practitioner, (which is incidentally Budesonide-Formoterol steroid combination). I bought some generic clandestinely, snorted it once daily, and the symptoms disappeared in about a week. This was about 6 years ago, no recurrence since of any respiratory symptoms until the kidneys quit, a year ago. Frank[/QUOTE Now I can't remember what I read earlier this year: something about mold growing outrageously more , dangerously for people's health in the USA, without much being advertised about it. (but doctors making bukko bucks treating the problems it caused/ causes). It was about something in the soil, or added to the soil, causing or allowing a billion times increase in mold(y) growth/ spores/ etc affecting people every day in many cities and states. Doctors (regular licensed AMA ) in the USA it seems almost never advise about coconut oil, garlic, vitamins, and so forth - the things needed and necessary for breathing and keeping the lungs healthy, or improving the health, or improving the breathing/ oxygen the body gets. The Doctors (Naturopathic, Chiropractic, Kinesiologists, Iridologists) who let people know what can almost always help without any side effects, and at a low cost, are not supported much by the world system, and not permitted even in many places. The drugs only treat symptoms, and without nutritional support when needed, might not be helpful at all when compared to the side effects of the drugs (side effects which include seizure, heart attack, death, and so on, oh - and worse of all considering everything. More trouble breathing.). Using the drugs sometimes helps get thru a season , or a part, of life, but using good honest truthful practical testing, to see what is the cause of something and address it, is helpful for everyone, thru all life.