Hi, I have a question/ concern which maybe someone can help or advise.
I have severe COPD and had a flare up a couple of days prior to Christmas, I took antibiotics and steriods as per usual, but since then I have been really breathless even walking from one room to another and all i seem to want to do is sleep. I have an appointment with my consultant on 4th Feb but don't want to make an appointment with my GP as I don't want to waste their time. I have sleep apnea but I have never felt this tired and breathless before. Thanks
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Carroll
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Please see the GP asap, you should get a priority appointment with your severe Copd - you most certainly won't be wasting their time and it's your right to have treatment
If you still have an infection and sob it won't get better on its own and you may end up in an ambulance!
Make that call first thing in the morning won't you. P
hi carol i had exactly the same as you,starting on xmas day. but finished up with a double infection, i should have known this earlier, and contacted the g.p sooner, anyway after two lots of steroids and two lots of different antibiotics, i still feel a wee bitty weaker than normal, i feel this is taking longer than usual to clear up,
i should have known at the very beginning to get my g,p sooner, i feel now this would have saved me all this extra bother i'm having.
i seem to have been left with a rotten cold, and not sure i like the look of my sputum, if this does not improve any in the next day or two i will contact the g.p again.
i think you should contact your g.p , you are most certainly not wasting their time.
Hi Carroll, I'm so sorry you are still feeling bad, I think you may still have the infection, if I get a bad one it usualy takes two lots of AB's and steroids, please get checked out as soon as poss, I know its the weekend now so don't be afraid to phone first thing for an emergency apt., don't leave it, please let us know how you are tomorrow, hugs huff xxxx
Doctors now! Don't take chances with your lungs. Any exacerbation no matter what the cause needs to be taken seriously. Please do asap. Your doctor would far rather you went than not if you have any worries. x
Sometimes change in temp. Like cold weather can have that effect, stay warm,eat well,look after your self,you first,if it's too cold to go out,use the phone instead,they come to you,so times it's just better to relax and enjoy ,no panic......
I think there have been infections which have left ppl with breathlessness this year (more than the usual ones i mean). Ive had this and its only now Im managing to get off the steroids, been on them for four months solid, never happened before.
Perhaps some of the probiotic drinks may help with the tiredness, antibiotics tend to strip your system of everything and something like that might help replace it all.
I would suggest a GP for the breathlessness though. Good luck and hope you feel better soon x
You may have fallen victim to one of the most common complications of an infection.....inactivity. We tend to take to our beds along with our meds when we are unwell but it is the worse place possible. Your SATS will be at their lowest because you body cuts down on demand, the fluid intake, which we should increase in fact decreases because it becomes all too much of an effort to crawl out from the covers, prop yourself up and drink, you will be surrounded by a sea of used tissues and your appetite will be shot....you haven't used any energy so you've no need to replace it. The answer is, spend a s much time as you can, sat up in a chair, drink plenty of fluids and keep moving. Exercise is still vital, even more vital, when we have an infection. I don't mean run a marathon or any thing like that but basic, easy chair based exercise and breathing exercises. It won't make the infection go any quicker but it will ensure your fitness recovers at a fast rate because it hasn't dropped down to zero. Infections usually last 6 to 8 weeks plus add on the same period after before you are meant to do any breathing testing...16 weeks. If it hadn't been an infection but say a broken leg, would you expect that leg to perform exactly as before if it has been in a plaster cast for 16 weeks? No, you would expect it to be very week and need building up with physiotherapy etc. Exactly the same for our lungs but there is ONE big difference. Our lungs have not been put in a plaster cast by hospital staff....we have said "We aint going to use you for 16 weeks"...so the change is in our hands.
Thanks for all your advise I will ring the doctors and never thought about the probiotic drinks before, I will give them a try, I wish you all a peaceful happy weekend xx
We have a viral infection going around at the moment I got it from my husband I started to take my emergency meds yesterday and will go to the GP towards the end of the course and you should go we are very vulnerable with COPD. I know what you mean about having no energy when you have a flair up or flu it takes so much out of you and it seem to take a long time to get over it and we never recover fully
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P
Fed up and tired! 
I am fortunate that my COPD is at present only mild
So tired 
so tired
