I Am Having a Copd Flare Up Was Breathing Fine Before Will I Breathe Ok Again

Managing COPD flare-ups

A flare-up – sometimes called an astute exacerbation – is when your COPD symptoms go peculiarly astringent.

Call 999 if you're struggling to breathe or take sudden shortness of breath and:

• your chest feels tight or heavy
• you lot accept a pain that spreads to your arms, back, neck and jaw
• you feel or are being sick

You need to exist seen urgently.

Signs of a outburst are:

• your breathlessness gets worse and this goes on for some time without getting amend
• you cough more than
• you produce more sputum
• there's a alter in the colour and consistency of your sputum

Flare-ups can be triggered by an infection or there may be no apparent reason. Sentry out for changes in your chest symptoms if y'all get a cold.

Make sure you have an action programme that you've agreed with your health intendance professional person so y'all know what to do if you lot take a burst. Take a look at our checklist below.

If your breathlessness gets worse, but y'all have no fever and your sputum is normal for you lot, the first step is normally to employ your reliever inhaler more. Make certain yous know how to make changes – such as increasing the dose or how to take your bronchodilator medicine – to assistance with your symptoms. Many milder flare-ups will respond to this.

If your symptoms pass and don't develop into a outburst, retrieve to tell your health care professional virtually your experience.

Your flare-up plan may include a rescue pack of drugs (antibiotics or steroid tablets or both) that you keep at home. To be certain that you have a flare-upwardly that needs this medication, it'southward usual to first rescue drugs later using your reliever medication for a twenty-four hours or two. But you must discuss your item situation with your health intendance professional person.

Make sure you know when:

• yous should start to take steroid tablets. These help you to get meliorate more quickly, but information technology's important non to employ these too frequently, because of potential long-term side effects.
• you should get-go to have antibiotics. This volition usually exist when, likewise as being more breathless despite taking reliever medication for some time, you produce more than sputum than usual or it has changed colour.

Let your doctor or nurse know

• if y'all accept your rescue pack medication
• if things don't improve within 2 days of starting the rescue pack.

Near people tin exist treated at dwelling house if they have a flare-upward, but you may need to become to infirmary depending on how severe your symptoms are. If you use the ambulance service, make certain to say you accept COPD, and so yous get the correct oxygen treatment.

Information technology normally takes a few weeks or even months to feel completely back to normal after a outburst.

Stopping smoking

If y'all're a smoker, stopping smoking volition help you to live longer but can besides reduce or cease flare-ups completely.

Multiple flare-ups

If you have more than iii flare-ups in one yr that require your rescue drugs, get a review with your GP or nurse. It may be a adept idea to get samples of your sputum analysed to see if you have an unusual or resistant infection. These tin can include pseudomonas and atypical mycobacterial infections, such equally non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection (NTM).

Your md may order a browse of your breast to meet if there is an expanse of damaged lung that makes yous more susceptible to infections.

If y'all are susceptible to these infections, make certain y'all deed very quickly when you lot have a outburst and be aware your usual rescue drugs may non be constructive. Sometimes people who have frequent breast infections benefit from taking regular antibiotics. This is usually started by specialist teams.

Your flare-up checklist

Hospital at dwelling house schemes

Most people with COPD who take a flare-up do not need to exist admitted to hospital and can stay at dwelling house. Simply in some areas of the state, people who would exist admitted to hospital elsewhere, can also be treated at home. These local hospital at home schemes provide medication and visits by a specialist team. This means you tin recover at home where yous might feel more comfortable and tin be more active when you lot experience prepare. If you would prefer to be treated at home, speak to your doctor or nurse.

Concluding medically reviewed: September 2019. Due for review: September 2022

This information uses the best available medical evidence and was produced with the support of people living with lung weather condition. Detect out how nosotros produce our information. If you lot'd like to see our references go far touch.

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Source: https://www.blf.org.uk/support-for-you/copd/flare-ups