Hello all,
I'm almost 42, have never smoked in my life and have not any significant exposure to second hand smoke or industrial materials. No one in my family has ever had COPD. I never had asthma as a child or any breathing issues until about a year or so ago.
Last week I was diagnosed with "Severe COPD with Asthma", which would be stage 3 COPD as I'm sure just about everyone here knows.
I have my first doctor appointment since my diagnosis in a couple of days and have been doing loads of research on COPD but I'm a little unclear on a few things that make me think that perhaps the diagnosis isn't accurate.
My first big question, is how often would people in stage 3 experience the primary symptoms like shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing and things like that? Much of what I've read stated that people in this stage should experience symptoms most of the time.
For example, for the last two weeks (since just after the spirometry test I did, which was the only test I've had), I've been almost completely symptom free. Would this be considered normal for someone in this stage of the disease? I walk up four flights of stairs every day at work and rarely have any issues doing so. I work out four times a week and have only ever had issues with shortness of breath while working out one time in the last year and a half.
What prompted me to go to the doctor in the first place was that I would have infrequent "attacks" that would last typically 4-6 hours with pretty accute shortness of breath. These started out as a very seldom issue - once every three months or so beginning about a year ago, but became more frequent from around Thanksgiving through about Dec 22, when I experienced the "attacks" a few times per week in that span.
I've only had these attacks or exacerbations or whatever they should be called at home and 95% of the time they happened at night after exposure to dust or similar material earlier in the day. During the roughly month long period described above, I would sometimes wake up with minor shortness of breath that would go away by the time I got to work.
The other major questions are about the spirometry test itself. The morning of the test I woke up with minor shortness of breath which had not fully gone away by the time I started the test.
Also, when they had me use the inhaler in the middle of the test, I'd never used one before and dont think I received the right amount of medicine. Finally, the tech who conducted the test didn't have me wait any time at all (less than a minute) from the time she had me use the inhaler to the time she started taking the post-inhaler readings. I've read they should wait 10-15 minutes before taking the second set of readings. I actually felt much better about 15 minutes afterward for the rest of the day.
I plan to let the doctor know the info above, but I have to say I felt very rushed the last time I saw him (which was also the first time) and I'm concerned he might not be doing due diligence with my diagnosis.
To briefly go over my symptoms they are as follows:
Occasional shortness of breath, unrelated to exertion (used to be 3 or 4 times a year, more frequent recently)
Some coughing, very rarely produces anything
Wheezing during "attacks"
I'm not looking for a new diagnosis here, just some educated opinions on what else I should cover with the doctor and if there are other specific tests I should be asking for before starting a treatment program.
Thanks.