I am Johnsel's wife, not sure if I am allowed to comment but would like all your advice. How long does it take to come to terms with this horrible illness, John as he said previously was diagnosed with COPD just over a year ago and although was horrified he had this found it quite manageable, ie only walking up hills and stairs made him breathless, now it is even difficult for him to walk from one room to another. He also has an hiatus hernia (7 cm) which is also interfering with his breathing. Everything we have tried never seems to work. He is on a very high dose of predisone 40 mg which has changed him completely, mentally as well as physically. The main problem why I came on here is I have been reading the replies to John's post and what a lovely bunch you are, so cheerful under the circumstances. John is so low and depressed, even though the doctor put him on antidepressents.
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Johnsel
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welcome to the group , its fine for carers /partners to post its often them that needs more advice then the patient ,most of the attention is focused on the patent often forgetting how much it also affects the carers/ partners , sorry to hear john has got worse so quickly ,
you will find the replies Johnsel got a couple of days ago. I hope they are of some help to you.
I have had copd for a few years now and i find if i do thinks slow very slow then i can do things but only a round the houes garden no not even pots as i think it it the damp soil cooking no as steam that is but if cook on low heat then not to bad in my bedroom i have a machine on all the time which taks water form the room but now i do not get any attacs in the morning sins i have put one in before that i was geting one most mornings but he will get use to it but it will take time a long time and he will allways find a diffrent way to do thing much easyer
Hi to you and just want to say that l do empathise with you as carer fur my husband Pete. He has sarcoidosis (26 years) and COPD (bronchitis 7 years). It ya hard to see the person you love being dragged down by illness and steroids. I remember how Pete changed when he went onto 30mg per day in the early days. He still takes 10mg now.
With the correct meds and lots of support from family, doctors and HU hopefully John will improve a little. I do wish you both well and do stay in touch. Xxxxxx
Thank you Sassy for your reply and sorry Pete has been so ill for so long, and yes it is hard to see them deteriorate like that. Did Pete's side effects from steriods get better on a lower dose? xx
Of course you can post your concerns about your husbands health...You are caring for him every day, and must be just as worried about it as him.
Please feel free to come on here anytime, the members are a great bunch and will give you support and advice 24/7.
Tell your husband...It does take a long time to come to terms with, ... " you have to slow down and listen to your body "....Once you accept that...Life hopefully won't be so stressful.
COPD can rule your life, or you can make adjustments, and carry on the best you can make it.
Hello, I'm afraid I missed John's post but just wanted to say you're as welcome here as he is. It sounds as though he was adjusting well and feeling a bit better until he started work on the bathroom. That probably isn't progression of his problems as much as aiming too high and trying to forget he had them. It will take time to get over it all.
Hi, of course it's alright to comment, I think a lot of us have felt like John does at some point. Hard though it seems sometimes we need to find some positives. Johns a lucky man to have such a caring wife for one. We need reminding that these lungs of ours affect our nearest and dearest as well as us, so thank you for that. Let's hope he can get his hernia sorted soon, I'm sure that would help him. You take care and post whenever you feel the need. Love to you both. S Xx
Truly hope he's feeling a little bit better soon.All the best.
Thank you for your comments and yes John had a hospital visit at the end of last year and was told his lungs had slightly improved and because he felt so good started demolishing our bathroom and lifting heavy objects which of course he knows now he should not have done. Since then he has got much worse, even spending a week in hospital. Hopefully he will improve a little in time. He is on a very high dose of steroids and is having all the side effects which doesn't help. Thank you again.
My daughter was on steroids about 18 months ago, this girl is a deputy head so not in any way easily disturbed but the steroids drove her to madness!! She said she had hallucinations and felt totally out of control of her thoughts and deeds...she has pretty bad asthma and terrified she may have to take them again...she developed pleurisy just prior to the birth of her 1st baby 7 weeks ago and had to take another course...she wasn't quite as bad this time but having watched and feared for her I think if I were you I would be asking for some alternative or perhaps s'thing which could stop the dreadful mental side effects. I also think that when there are stressful times in the home/life of the patient it appears to worsen the overall effect of the steroids mindwise. Hope you get some answers and I sympathise deeply with you....knowing someone for a long time & then watching the person you knew become so different is unbearable...All the way from Ireland , Evelyn .
Had 50 mg prednisone first time when in hospital,with pneumonia. I remember seeing a devil on the ceiling with his claws moving out to me -only 3or 4seconds . Didn't happen with the other 2doses. I realised months later that was an hallucination!
I too hate steroids for very similar reasons. When I was recently in hospital I had them for only two days and my anxiety levels were dreadful. I was so stressed out by them that my blood pressure rocketed and I refused further steroids. The docs gave me IV hydro cortisone instead and that seemed much better. Maybe your daughter could try that next time Evelyn
Hello Evelyn thank you for your comments and I am very sorry to hear of your daughters experience on steroids and glad to hear it was not so bad second time. We live in Spain and I thought maybe that is how they do things here but obviously they prescribe strong steroids in the U.K. Just hoping that each time we go back to hospital they will reduce them gradually. Thank you again and enjoy your grandchild.
Hi I came across your message, I can tell you on what I went through with my experience of how long it roughly took to come to terms from my experience. I hope you can get something from this 🌸.. It took me a few years, the more I read up on my illness the more I began to understand it, but feel I went a bit obsessed with it because I didnt want this to beat me up am not ready to let it get me. So I got to know about what's going on inside my body, then the exceptance gradually came. I could then give my mind a rest along with rest on my body. And started to go natural with most of my medication as medication was killing me. Take care to you both 🌸
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A long wait but finally got there I think
Update - I saw rheumologist today 
I wonder - Do I need Oxygen.
What A Birthday I Had !
