Confused

[Kimsabb]

Hi, my name is Kim and I am 57 years old.

I'm hoping that someone can help me understand my pulmonary lung function test.

In July of 2017 I had a spirometer test and it said moderate restriction. In Feb of 2018 I had a pulmonary lung function test that said moderate airflow obstruction with gas trapping and high resistance with normal diffusion no restriction. Moderate fixed obstruction. If someone could explain this to me that would be great. Thanks

[Katinka46]

You must go to your doctor to get an explanation. It is confusing, the two results appear to contradict themselves. The PFT being a more thorough and detailed test is probably more accurate. You are entitled to an interpretation.

[Kimsabb in reply to Katinka46]

Thank you for your reply. I talk to my NP this week and hopefully she can tell me something.

[Hidden]

Hi Kim

You will find an American health government link below with a definition and explanation of terms:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Regarding your specific diagnosis it is better to ask your consultant.

What treatment have you been given??

That should help you to find out what is being treated.

For example I have severe asthma which affects my airways but no definite obstruction after the reversibility test, when you have to take the inhaler a few times, wait and try again. So that diagnosis was never confirmed.

However after a scan some years back they discovered cysts blocking my airways, and so there was restriction and obstruction. Don’t worry it is due to a rare disease called LAM.

Air trapping is when old residual air builds up in your lungs and you can’t exhale it properly, probably because of mucus and inflammation blocking the airways. Mine is slightly elevated which means I tend to be breathless easily.

Good bronchodilators, pulmonary physiotherapy teaching breathing exercises and going to exercise at pulmonary rehabilitation helped me with those problems.

Good luck with your diagnosis and take care x

Fran

[Kimsabb in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for your reply. I haven't been given a diagnosis but have had issues with my throat being plugged with mucus and getting breathless by doing the smallest thing like bending down to pet my dog or walking at work. Hopefully my NP can give me some idea as to what's going on .

[Bad4me]

Hi my name is Bill. I'm 74 years old. I have pulmonary fibrosis and have had it for 4 years now and there's been no major difficulty. Things are going well and I attribute the success to this to the discipline of exercising 3 hours a week using short-term and medium arerobic exercise...try it!

[mrsmummy in reply to Bad4me]

Good advice Bill.

[Bad4me in reply to Bad4me]

We have a lot in common bill! My name is Bill, I'm 74 years old, I write a mountain bike 3 hours a week and swim a mile and a quarter a week I have had this fibrosis now for 2 years. I have no major problems with it at this time. Aside from an occasional cough everything seems to be functioning well. I think that your use of your aerobics skills are working well for you as they have work for me. My diagnosis have been really great. The choices we make are the choices we live by. Congratulations.