Alternative medicine or zephyr valve advice please

[Silentsupporter]

Hi everyone, my partner is getting more frequent exacerbations of his COPD (emphysema). The doctors just keep increasing his meds and inhalors. Has anyone had any success with alternative medicine or devices please? I also recently saw a zephyr valve option, has anyone had experience of this please? X

[Troilus]

I’m afraid I don’t know much about this, as I am fairly new to it all. However I have been looking into NAC.I put a post up yesterday which you will find further down. I included some of the research articles I found, but you needn’t read it all, just scroll to the end of the article to conclusions.

It would seem that 1200 mg a day of NAC can reduce the amount of exacerbations experienced by people with moderate to severe copd.

This might be something you would want to look into further and maybe discuss with your partners consultant.

Just thought I’d give it a mention.

[Silentsupporter in reply to Troilus]

Thank you! I have just found your post and looked at the article. It sounds really interesting and certainly an option to investigate further.

[CDPO16]

Zephyr valves are only suitable for a small number of people and the possibility needs to be thoroughly assessed by a respiratory consultant. I have very severe emphysema and underwent tests for valves in 2017 but wasn't a suitable candidate. Over the years my inhaler doses have been increased too to try and keep things stable.

[Silentsupporter in reply to CDPO16]

Thank you for sharing your experience. My partner has had his inhalors changed over time as symptoms have worsened. He is now using 2 puffs of trimbow twice a day. Still really struggling but i don't ghink there are any stronger ones?

[CDPO16 in reply to Silentsupporter]

There are a lot of different inhalers. I have Fostair which is a combined bronchodilator and steroid inhaler. It works fairly well for me but doesn't suit everyone. It is also less effective than it was a few years ago. I have found over the years that it has often been a case of 'try it and see'. When one has helped, it has often been at least a month before I felt the full benefit. Conversely, others have made me feel worse within a week.

The only thing I can suggest, if your husband feels the Trimbow isn't helping, is for him to talk to his doctor or nurse about it. There may be other things for your husband to try that may help.

[Silentsupporter in reply to CDPO16]

Thank you