Asthma or COPD?

@mpeters- Who is this question for?

It was meant for the gentleman who wonders if he might have COPD.

600mg vs 1200mg (extra strength). There is also extended release, dm, am/pm...:) My pulm md would rec take it along with asthma meds and/or oral steroids whenever there is a flare

I'll be looking next time I'm sick! Thanks again.
Merry

I have allergic asthma, and I have symptoms like yours. I have never been a smoker, but I have a lot of phlegm and I have seasonal allergies. What helps is to treat the allergies that are creating the phlegm. I do allergy shots, and use over the counter antihistamines. I also had food allergies and intolerances, and foods can also influence how much phlegm you have. It's easy for my allergies to build up enough phlegm that it crosses over into a bacterial infection, and I think this is common for asthma because the phlegm sets up a good breeding ground for bacteria.

Thinning the phlegm helps you expel it and generic Mucenex works well for that. For me, it usually starts as sinus congestion first before it moves into my lungs. Doing a regular saline nasal wash does help prevent sinus infections. It may be beneficial to work with an allergist, and treat a potential bacterial infection. My doctor gave me some anti-bacterial ointment and I use a bit of it in my nose at night when the infection is starting. After a few days, it clears, and this does generate phlegm while the lungs are flushing out the problem, but after that my lungs are clear. You can be walking around with a low grade bacterial lung infection and not know it. One of my signs is that my resting heart rate goes up a little bit when I have a lung infection so I notice it when I stand up or go up a flight of stairs.

I also use HEPA air filters in my home and avoid my asthma triggers. Those include fragrances, smoke, and allergy triggers like seasonal molds. Molds have been found to cause swelling in the airways in addition to an allergy response, so they affect me a lot. We are careful to ventilate bathrooms after showering so the towels will dry and not mildew in the humidity. You may want to investigate any potential places for water leaks such as a wet basement, or excess humidity in your home because that can affect you without your being aware of it. Also if you miss an apple in the kitchen that goes bad, it can grow some mold too. The spores are everywhere just waiting to land on something moist where they can grow.

Keep exercising because your lungs need to move to be able to expel phlegm. Some of my issues are physical because one side of my chest wall is too tight and doesn't move as much, and when I get a chest infection it always starts on that side. Some of my phlegm had also come from an unusual source because of an immune response to foreign materials in my body from dentistry and surgical plates for a broken ankle. When those things were later removed, and I no longer had metals in my body, my asthma improved a lot and I had a lot less phlegm in my lungs. There are doctors who treat things like that called environmental allergists and here is a link to a provider search: https://www.aaemonline.org/ You can look at this website to learn more: https://www.ehcd.com/

With allergies, everything adds up, so if you reduce what you can, it helps. Do you have any thoughts on what changes you can make that may help your situation?

Thank you so very much. All the information you provided is helpful and I am grateful for your detailed suggestions. I will definitely consider each of your suggestions and I will book with my doctor so I can be referred to an allergist. I found one product to clear phlegm and am noticing a difference already, but I have a ways to go. As you indicated, working on each contributor one at a time. Warm wishes

@mariac One place in the kitchen that I have found can easily harbor mold is the garbage disposal because it can spray food particles that stick to the walls that don't get washed down the drain. It took me a long time to figure that out.. out of sight.. out of mind. I take a kitchen dish washing long handled brush to scrub the disposal walls and make sure to scrub the rubber gaskets too. I didn't think about a lot of things like carpeting harboring dust and dirt because we have a house with all hardwood floors that we built because of my asthma. Dust causes allergies too and triggers asthma and accumulates everywhere. This link can explain a lot of places that mold can hide. Beware of harsh cleaning products too because the chemicals and fragrances can trigger asthma. We don't use cleaners that leave heavy fragrances behind.

Here is a link. https://molekule.science/11-common-places-check-mold-home/

Another supplement that thins mucous in the lungs is N-Acetyl Cysteine which you can get at a health food store or vitamin shop. It is an antioxidant and a pre-cursor to glutathione which is the master antioxidant in the body. I have taken it before and noticed my breathing get easier because of less phlegm. Here is a link about NAC.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/nac-benefits#TOC_TITLE_HDR_12
Thank you. Good luck on your detective work. Be well!

Thank you Jennifer !
It is so true its all starts in sinuses ! I feel congestion before asthma flares up.
I worked with my allergy md and ent and have meds to address to prevent or lessen symptoms. Sinus rinses are golden for me. Md added budesonide to sinus rinses to keep inflammation down. Its the same budesonide solution that some people with astma use in nebulizer.
Its all summarized well about hepa, mold control, cockroaches, humidity levels during winter/summer, exercises, allergy shots, foods we eat. If any one interested i came across "The Asthma Cure" by Tarika Ahuja. Its about Ayurveda to enhance immunity and heal lung-related conditions. I picked this book on amazon after reading an article by the same author.

Thank you,
Lena

No I have not had spirometer testing, only a preliminary test into a tube. I will be following up with my doctor to get a referral as the inhalers do help a bit but not enough to make it go away and this definitely increased my fear that something more serious is going on. The symptoms phlegm seems to be almost gone at moments, and then other moments fills up, and seems to move up to my throat. Ultimately, looks like I am just going to need further investigation and testing.

I have severe eosinophilic asthma. It took us two years to diagnose. I had to find a pulmonologist who is in private practice. Do you have a pulmonologist? At first when I showed up the doctor was not convinced I had asthma. All my testing was normal except a low lung volume which was not enough to prove asthma. We had to do the methacholine challenge test to prove it. Have you had that test? Also my asthma is triggered by allergies and my eosinophil count. but there are biologic injections that really help me. I get Fasenera injections every two months. There are several depending what asthma you have. Did they check your eosinophil count in your blood? I know they think you have asthma. so my journey is different but there are several different types not just a generic one.

Have you tried a nebulizer machine? It can help when your lungs feel really tight - it delivers the asthma medicine through a tube and it takes about ten minutes. It really helps me when my lungs are tight or I panic about my breathing. I have one I can use at home or take with me when I go out or travel. Some of the machines are large and heavy but you can also get a smaller portable one.

As far as COPD, it runs in my family and so does lung cancer and hat concerned me so I asked the doctor if he would test just to make sure since my uncle had COPD and he had to be on oxygen. They did a CT and tested specifically for COPD which there are specific tests and blood work they did. Have they done a CT or just an x-ray? I don't have COPD or lung cancer thankfully. but I am sharing all this to let you know to keep asking questions.

One other thing you could try is to check your oxygen levels when your lungs feel tight. You can buy an oxygen device at Walgreens or.a similar store. It is fairly cheap. It is called an oximeter maybe. You put it on your finger. It checks your pulse too. Sometimes oxygen levels only go low when your chest is tight. So even if they check it at your doctor's office unless your lungs are tight it might read normal. Just something else to consider. Hope they figure it out!