5 Signs Your COPD Treatment Isn’t Working
Although there isn’t currently a cure, you can find ways to live with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)—thanks to bronchodilators, steroids, pulmonary rehabilitation, and supplemental oxygen. The trick is finding the right treatment plan for you.
“COPD can come in a few different varieties. Some people have just emphysema, some have just chronic bronchitis, and a lot of people have little bits of both,” says Elliot D. Backer, M.D., a pulmonologist at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, in Lebanon, New Hampshire. So what helps one person manage their COPD may not work for another person.
It’s up to you to monitor your symptoms and note when things start to worsen. “If you experience a progression of symptoms, and these are persistent, that may be an indication that you don’t have adequate control of the disease,” Dr. Backer says. “That’s a good opportunity to see your primary care provider or be referred to a pulmonologist to look at the medications you’re on and see if areas for improvement can be offered.”
In particular, be mindful of these five signs, which may indicate it’s time to make an appointment to revisit your care plan.
1. Persistent shortness of breath
COPD makes it difficult to breathe because of one or both of following:
The air sacs in the lungs (which exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with the blood) can’t expand and contract like they used to
Inflammation and mucus narrow the airways
Both of these mean it’s harder to move air in and out of the lungs. People with COPD often don’t notice any difficulty breathing when they’re sitting or lying down. But when they walk a flight of stairs, they may feel like they can’t get enough air in their chest or are suffocating. Or they may discover their stamina isn’t what it used to be, and they have to cut short their normal outdoor walks, or mow the front yard one day and the back another rather than doing both the same day.
For any of these scenarios, “this could be a sign of a flare-up; it could also be an indication that your therapy isn’t working for one reason or another,” explains Nathaniel Marchetti, D.O., medical director of the Respiratory Intensive Care Unit at Temple University Hospital, in Philadelphia. “And in people 60 and older with a history of smoking, there may be other disease processes, such as heart disease or lung cancer.”
Read the full article on Prevention.
Originally published May 28, 2024.