I was reading the natural history of COPD, found couple of studies subjects that once you are diagnosed and you took care of the disease it doesn’t progress and in some cases it’s getting better.
I’m very interested to know of your experiences if anyone saw an increase in FEV1 or decrease in the range of normal annual rates to none COPD patients which is around 20-30 ml/year
I know of couple of members here got their FEV1 increased and read from fair amount of members that their stage kept the same
FEV1 shouldn’t stay the same in healthy or people with COPD , the absolute FEV1 number is always decreasing with different rates , averages are in normal 20 ml/year , while its higher in people with lung disease , but these studies are saying that it’s not that big difference comparing to people without COPD provided they quit smoking and follow healthy life style. There was also exceptions in those studies for people with bigger decline , but more than half stayed at same severity level , although their FEV1 is declining but not so far from normal people declining rate which kept their stage in place comparing to their predicted numbers.
I really have no experience and didn’t read a lot of stories , I’m trying to read journals and research on this disease. The more I’m reading in getting to understand it’s managable but it’s very scary to most people including me
Hi there are no certainties with a progressive disease like copd. By leading a healthy lifestyle you have much more chance of holding it steady for years but some people will still get worse than others regardless. A lot depends on how good your lung genes, whether you have any other illnesses etc. Even if you suffer from depression or anxiety over your health.
A good example of this is I was a heavy smoker for 44 years and despite being diagnosed mild 10 years ago am still mild despite only giving up smoking last summer. Ergo I obviously have some good lung genes as well as bad. Somebody else could have got to the severe stage by now. It's like playing Russian roulette with your health and I know I am very fortunate.
The damage to your lungs is permanent and can't currently be cured, just managed. You can however improve your fitness levels so you need less oxygen for everyday tasks. This can improve your FEV1 but it won't repair damage already done. x
Hi tamariki, have been diagnosed with stage 2 . I am 66 and also have arthritis in both knees. Would like to know what exercises people do to help,as never been advised
Interesting, admittedly my lung capacity is fairly stable since diagnosis. But I do not suffer many flare ups. It appears to me that the amount of infections makes a difference to the progression, so motto is still try to keep as healthy as possible.
The stats that we usually get on Dr Google are frightening but Light years away from the now era truth. Those stats are old and was collected when they did not know how to manage the disease. According to the Internist, Pulmonologist and Cardiologist that I visit annually the newest stats show that on average if one stop smoking and stay away from pollutants the decline of your Fev1 will within 2 years stabilize to the same rate of decline as anyone else's provided that you do not get serious lung infections or other damaging occurrences. Some people even showed a improvement after stop smoking. The average declining is 1.2% Per Annum an 1.9% if you don't stop the smoking habit. I know this is not true for everyone but an average stat.
I retiired at 60 after 20 years of COPD and in an active employment during which time the disease didn’t prevent me from any activity I wanted to do. I found myself going downhill during my early 70s through lack of activity so I decided to bite the bullet and get moving. I personally found the best method of holding back the progress of COPD has been excercise . I use the Gym cardiac machines and walking and along with my meds I’m still reasonably ok. Everyone has good and bad days and I’m no exception, it can be demoralising. Some of the posts I read on this forem are upsetting so I can only wish you all the best and don’t give up hope
This is encouraging to hear, because I've read a lot of horror stories and my body has been telling me some as well. I'm truly one of those who has good and bad days. The other day I got up and mowed my lawn, edged it and cleaned everything up with the blower. A little later I went to the gym for an hour and a half. A couple of days before that I spent most of the day in bed with no energy at all. During my last pulmo visit, I blew FEV1 of 71 percent and my lung doc said she thought we could get to 80 percent. That would be an improvement, of course, and I didn't think improvement was possible. Really, I thought she was just trying to boost me up, because I don't handle this disease well mentally. But maybe she was telling me the truth. She does have a good reputation at a major hospital here on the Gulf Coast. I would be thrilled to see no further decline, as would everybody else. I had quit smoking many, many years before my diagnosis and am exercising pretty diligently.
Yes I believe you are right that the actual FEV1 in litres declines in normal people and those with lung disease but the percent of predicted FEV1 can remain the same, because as your actual FEV1 declines so does the predicted.
Fev1 declines as one ages regardless if they have lung disease or not. Natural aging. Copd from smoking or as I have genetic alpha one is a progressive disease ending in death no matter how slow the course. I was diagnosed ten yrs ago at stage 3. Fev1 42%. Had 12 pft over the past ten yrs. some gains, some losses. I am now at 25% fev1%. Im quite active. Normal weight. Work full time. So I’d say there is no of completely stopping the beast.
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