c.o.p.d

i have just been diagnosed with this disease in the last month. i know a little bit about it but only from my own research, not from the drs, they just told me i had it and said my life span had already been reduced and would go faster if i dont stop smoking, which i have done and sent me on my way with a serertide evohaler. but research is saying different things on different sites, and not one of them has said anything about my inhaler only bronchildilaters and bronchil inhalers. (sorry if spellings wrong). can anyone help me,

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regards nextasy

Hello Nextasy, nice to meet you, wish it was under better circumstance!
I would have to agree with your doctor in that quitting smoking would help reduce the
damaged that smoking did to your lungs. (this is just my opinion as I'm not a doctor)
However, has your doctor mentioned Chantix. Chantix is a new medication used in the U.S.A.
to help stop smoking, but you also have to want to stop as well. Anyways its something you
can bring up with the doctor at your next appointment!
Have you tried:www.yourlunghealth.org
or www.medhelp.com
these are good website with lots of information and you can ask doctors questions
at both these sites, that's what makes them so nice, but think carefully on what you wanna ask.
Cause you might only be able to ask one question...
Someone might come along to help give you more information soon.
I have asthma and pretty much had it all my life, and I've been on all kinds of inhalers..
but not the one you mentioned. with most inhalers you might need a spacer device, read the
instructions that came with it, you might also need to rinse it out. With inhalers you must get
used to rinsing your mouth after using your inhaler to avoid throat infection. I gargle with water
after using my inhaler.
Sure hope this helps,
Good luck to you and lots of soft hugz........

thanx for your help. knowing if i carry on smoking its gonna kill me faster is alll the incentive i need to stop. i'm already down to about 20 over three days that only taken me 2 weeks. but

NEVER LEAVE YOUR DOCTORS OFFICE WITHOUT THEM ANSWERING ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS!!!
Many people are intimidated by Dr.'s and don't ask questions, or feel they are taking up too much time and don't want to inconvience them...Hogwash!! Diagnosis, treatment and patient education are what you pay them for and if you have a Dr. who is unwilling to provide all of these services without making you feel uncomfortable you need to change Dr.'s. They should also have given you all information with regards to side effects of any medication they have prescribed. I am not familiar with the med's you have listed but am concerned (due to you spelling error comment) that one of them may be Serevent. You need to fully understand this drug and how to take it. This drug has been "black boxed" by the FDA for some time. It is still prescribed but it is my understanding that it must be taken with an inhaled steriod. I have taken this drug for years and continued taking it even after the black box until recently without problem but I had been fully informed and discussed this issue with my Dr. at length. I only recently switched to Symbicort, to replace Serevent and Pulmocort (an inhaled steriod). This switch was not made because of a problem with Serevent but just to try something else to see how it worked. By the way Symbicort has a similar drug in it combined with an inhaled steriod. Please contact your Dr. to discuss all of your medications until you are completely confortable with the medications you are taking.

Hey, hey, Allura, nice to meet you.
But Serertide is a inhaler medicine used in New Zealand, it's not a spelling error.
I agree with you that nextasy65 should've gotten more info from her doctor, but when you
first get dx, everything can go in one ear and out the other. Please take it more easy on
newer members, okay.
nextasy65, you should make another appointment with your current doctor and get
answers to your questions if you can, Allura was right in that regards.
I wish you both well and lots of soft hugz.
and nextasy you might wanna ask your doctor if you need to see a pulmonary doctor now.
make a list of questions and take them in with you to the doctor, okay.
It sure helps me when I have a list otherwise I'd forget...

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* Asthma, Allergies, Osteoarthritis, Spinal Stenosis, Degenative Disc, Fibromyalgia, Gerd, Enlarged Pituitary Gland
******** "We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world" from Helen Keller *********

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thank you chartreux and allura. the spelling comment was due to the type of inhaler as mine is called a evohaler and id never seen it before. it is seretide i have been given and it is a steroid and a proctector, i have now found out from one of the sites you gave me chartreux. i havent got another app at hos til feb '09 but am trying to get an app with my gp because breathing is getting worse and im having problems seeing properly and having some trouble getting my words out. and im so exhausted a lot of the time and cant sleep, but this could be the fm or my heart condition. things just seem to be getting worse in this last month. i will keep you updated. and i really wish to thank you specially chartreux for taking such an interest in a complete stranger, you have made me feel slightly more positive since you started talking to me. thanks again

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regards nextasy

Excuse me for being blunt but what's it going to take for you to go to the hospital???
You can's see, can't speak, can't sleep and your breathing is getting worse and your explaination for all of this is maybe it's "my heart condition"??????

Sorry Chartreux, I don't believe Nextasy needs "soft hugz" I think he needs a huge reality check and a swift kick in the behind.

GO TO THE HOSPITAL!!!

hi allura, i have a hospital app to go to and i am going to drs  today, to get inhaler changed or adjusted as i only been on it for 5 wks and my dr told me i had to try it for that long and if i had probs i was to go back to my gp. which i am doing today. lt as lot of health probs and there are similar symptoms for  each. the probs i wrote about the other day are all side effects of the inhaler as well, which is why i going today to see dr today

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regards nextasy

When Chantix came out Drs touted it but there is a black box warning on it.After I read more about it I thought,I don't think so............Wellbutrin is better.......

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SnowyLynne

my inhaler is called seretide, and i dont know what blackboxed means. i do think i am having side effects from it. allura i think there has been some sort of misunderstnding, i have fm which makes me unable to sleep, it is one of the symptoms. i can see it just that reading smaller things has become difficult since starting the inhaler, and my tongue has also got sore which is making it a bit harder to get my words out, the inhaler can also cause rapid heartbeat, hence that why i said i didnt no if it was my heart or not. i have been living with fm for 6 years and the heart condition since i was 17. believe me i do realise when i have to get to the hospital. im sorry if i made you angry but obviously i didnt explain myself properly. also i've had a lot of trouble with hospital that supposed to be dealing with my heart which i am fighting with to be transfered to another hos, because of the way they have been dealing with me. we r in the prosess of making complaints to medical board.

my husband bought me a book called copd for dummies which is full of all the ins and outs of the disease and loads of information for family and friends and lots of websites. i have been to drs again and have been told i have 2nd stage copd. have tried avoiding people who have colds and flu, but my granddaughters have colds and have been round and my friend locked herself out the other day so i couldnt leave her on the doorstep. after shed been here bout a hr she said she had a chest infection. i was only just filling her in on my disease. i ave cut down to 5 cigarettes a day. i now have chest infection but cant cough so the copd book explains how your partner can do physio to help cough. i also have app for flu and pnumonia jabs on 1st nov. just thought i'd keep u posted

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regards nextasy