COPD & Meds

[iloveboxerssss]

Hi,
I'm new on these boards. I have questions regarding my mom, she was diagnosed with COPD in Feb. 1999. I am concerned that she is not on the right meds. She has progressively gotten worse, she goes through inhalers like they are candy. She is only 56 and can't even go to the restroom without using her inhaler twice. She has gotten depressed since my dad passed away in August 2002, and her breathing is even worse now. Recently she came to visit and one of my children caught the Flu and then my mom caught it. It turned into Pneumonia and I had to force her to go to the hospital. Her Oxygen sat was 68. Doc immediately addmitted her to the hosp. Even on 3liters oygen her sat was only 84. They said she is a CO2 Retainer. I did some research and learned of the Pursed Lip Breathing and taught her, it helps a little bit. When she goes to her doc. for regular visits her sats are only 78 and up to 82 on room air. He prescribed Oxygen (her Blood Gas was 53) but told her only to use it when short of breath. She is using Combivent and an Albuterol inhaler. She is going through 1 combivent a week and also 1 Albuterol a week. I was wondering if anyone knows of a better medication or what exercises she can do with such a limited ability to breath. She has gained 27 pounds (since quitting smoking in Feb. 99) which she says makes it even harder to breath but can't breath well enough to exercise. She is caught in a vicious circle. Any advice or opinions would be greatly apprecited.

Thank You,
Eve

[jerrie97]

Originally Posted by iloveboxerssss

Hi,
I'm new on these boards. I have questions regarding my mom, she was diagnosed with COPD in Feb. 1999. I am concerned that she is not on the right meds. She has progressively gotten worse, she goes through inhalers like they are candy. She is only 56 and can't even go to the restroom without using her inhaler twice. She has gotten depressed since my dad passed away in August 2002, and her breathing is even worse now. Recently she came to visit and one of my children caught the Flu and then my mom caught it. It turned into Pneumonia and I had to force her to go to the hospital. Her Oxygen sat was 68. Doc immediately addmitted her to the hosp. Even on 3liters oygen her sat was only 84. They said she is a CO2 Retainer. I did some research and learned of the Pursed Lip Breathing and taught her, it helps a little bit. When she goes to her doc. for regular visits her sats are only 78 and up to 82 on room air. He prescribed Oxygen (her Blood Gas was 53) but told her only to use it when short of breath. She is using Combivent and an Albuterol inhaler. She is going through 1 combivent a week and also 1 Albuterol a week. I was wondering if anyone knows of a better medication or what exercises she can do with such a limited ability to breath. She has gained 27 pounds (since quitting smoking in Feb. 99) which she says makes it even harder to breath but can't breath well enough to exercise. She is caught in a vicious circle. Any advice or opinions would be greatly apprecited.

Thank You,
Eve

Does she use any nebulized medications? She may get a better effect from them, since the nebulized meds go deeper into the lung. The nebulizer equivalent of Combivent is DuoNeb and the albuterol is albuterol. The next time you go to the doctor, you could ask for one. Insurance usually covers it.

Does she exercise regularly? Many people with COPD use their oxygen during exercise. A stationery bike may be a good exercise to try since she can stop when she needs to.

[confusedbody]

She may be overusing her meds, which can cause them to be ineffective. Combivent actually contains albuterol, so she's really double dosing on that. Sometimes when albuterol becomes ineffective Xopenex (levalbuterol) may help,it's more potent but it's EXPENSIVE! There is also Serevent-12 hour duration, with stronger anti-inflammatory effect,but she'd still need a rescue inhaler, because Serevent takes a long time to kick in.Does she take any steroids(like prednisone)-that may also help. Even a leisurely stroll can help weight, along with watching calorie intake. This may not work for your mom, but it may be worth a try.

[jerrie97]

I just noticed that. Inhalers usually have 200 doses in them, and if she's going through one Combivent inhaler and one albuterol inhaler a week, that's 400 doses. Most pharmacies don't allow you to refill meds any more than every 30 days either to prevent overusage of meds. Have you considered anxiety to be causing problems on top of COPD? Anxiety can leave anyone feeling short of breath, especially someone with emphysema/COPD. Also, has she recently had pulmonary function testing done?

[gingersnap2476]

I have COPD. I get up in the morning and I use one inhalation of Advair diskus, then 4 puffs of atrovent and 2 puffs of albuterol and I take one 300 mg. of theophyllin.
Every 4 hours I do the atovent and albuterol inhalers and check my blood pressure, heart rate, and peak flow. At bedtime I do the Advair diskus again and take another theophyllin and a Singulair. When the inhalers are not working I use a nebulizer with Xpenex. The albuterol will raise your heart rate. I am not on supplemental oxygen and my oxygen saturation is usually around 97 unless I have an exacerbation. Hope this helps. If your mom is disabled by the social security administration guide lines and she gets social secirity disability medicare will pay for the Xpenex and it can be delivered to her house.