What is the life expectancy with COPD? When did you start Oxygen?

Posted by tinagf @tinagf, Jun 15, 2022

Hi. My mom, 73 years, has COPD (bronial and emphisema) for 30 years, now she has: lung function 63%, FVC 46%, FEV1 38% which I guess is stage 3 heading to stage 4, not on oxgen yet, kCO 47%. She is 170 cm and 68 kg, she can walk for 500 m and then stops a little.

How much time do we got cca? 🙁
Thank you
Tina

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@caryjay

Try Wellbutrin... that worked well for me, the generic... the key is to take that and smoke only 2 cigarettes a day, one in the morning and one at night, before you go to bed.. than after a month or two, get rid of the one you at night, by that time your nicotine level has dropped 90 percent of you were formally a pack a day smoker... and you are almost there. The withdrawal symptoms will almost be non existent... it took years of smoking to get here.. so it isn't like most people can just stop one day... It's a day at a time...this uses rewards... so you don't panic..I also kept the cigarette in my glove compartment of my car, so I physically had to go get one...I also got a vape pen and low level nicotine that I would hold onto when I was driving, which was a trigger and would take one or two puffs if I felt the need . much better than smoking a whole cigarette... I got rid of the one in the morning with my coffee after 2 months, that was the hardest one... and I haven't smoked since September of 2022... and have no desire to ever smoke again and can't stand the smell of cigarettes anymore.. good luck. Keep trying.

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Thank you so much for your reply. I am trying your approach and so far so good. Keep your fingers crossed and I will work on my patience and dedication to eliminate this killer from my lifestyle.

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I think you can do this, I tried several times over the years to quit, I did quit for almost 2 months in the early 2000s, but I had a lot of stress after the September 11th attacks and was out of work for a while and went through a relationship break up, so with all that stress I started smoking again and was probably smoking more... I was a much younger man than... I'm 59 now and can't mow my lawn anymore, so I had to quit...I was using a inhaler and thought I had moderate COPD, but I got covine-19 and it got worse after that..I was smoking only half a pack a day.. but after that I decided it was counter productive to use a inhaler to put more toxin in your lungs... you know it and I know it.. I do like the fact that are running new commercials on TV these days , that show people with COPD and other health issues from smoking, so young people see this... and not the Marlboro man, Joe Camel or Virginia slim...

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@dealmejacks1

Thank you so much for your reply. I am trying your approach and so far so good. Keep your fingers crossed and I will work on my patience and dedication to eliminate this killer from my lifestyle.

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The Wellbutrin should really help..I used the generic and it was free from my insurance...I had tried chantix, but that didn't work and it has also been taken off the market... The cravings after you eat and other triggers all go away when you get down to 2 cigarettes.. when you get rid of the one at night, you will be able to sleep , because the nicotine levels have dropped... plus you know that one in the morning is waiting for you... so that is the reward.. at that point it is just a matter of when you decide you no longer want to smoke, because when you get down to 2 cigarettes a day, a pack of cigarettes will last you 2 weeks.. when you get down to one.. that pack will last you a month... and you will notice you have more money... because you are not paying over 10.00 for a pack of cigarettes. Hundreds of dollars that are wasted..... and you will be able to walk away from that one cigarette with almost zero withdrawal symptoms..

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@dealmejacks1

Thank you so much for your reply. I am trying your approach and so far so good. Keep your fingers crossed and I will work on my patience and dedication to eliminate this killer from my lifestyle.

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I also changed it up at work as far as the breaks and lunch and did other things like look at my phone at my desk or go somewhere.. don't hang out with your smoker friends at work, and hopefully your significant other doesn't smoke, because that can make it challenging... my significant had a stent put in , because of a 80 percent blockage in a artery to the heart so she had to quit, obviously I couldn't smoke in front of her. So it was more than just my breathing issues why I had to quit.

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@dealmejacks1

I smoked for over 50 years when I was diagnosed with COPD. I tried Chantix but ended up going back to smoking after a few months. My doctor recommended I try Varenicline 1mg. I believe it is generic chantix. You can smoke until it starts working and It took about 3 days to kick in and I haven't had many yearnings. When I do have one I take an extra 1mg tablet and the urge to smoke fades away in about 20 minutes. Tell her all us former smokers find it difficult to quit but we need to just bite the bullet and keep trying.

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I have COPD too I will be asking my lung Dr about the verenicline thanks

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