Hello Friends,
Well.... it seems as if I have unwillingly just joined a club that none of us wanted to belong too and I am scared to death.
As a 30 year plus smoker, time and the Marlboro's have caught up with me and 16 days ago I found myself in what I am being told is a "severe COPD flare up." I have never had a COPD flare up before, that I am aware of, and since I always seem to do everything full throttle or nothing, I was told by the Dr. this this first "flare up" started at the stage "severe." I have never had a "flare up" before and seemed to be fine until recently.
For the past 16 days, I find myself struggling for every breath sometimes, feeling as if my chest is tightening tighter and tighter, breathing fast, headaches, symptoms that make me question an heart attack etc. My pulse would skyrocket or plummet and then my pulse oxygen drop real low, when it went down to a 93, the lowest it had ever been, it was time to head to the Emergency Room.
Since then, I have been back and forth to the Emergency Room 4-5 times, each time, I was quite certain that death was waiting around the corner and was coming for me!
I cannot express enough how confusing all this has been. The Emergency Room basically said; "You're having a COPD flare up, take this and this, Good Luck!" and just discharged me every time I went!
It has been 3-4 days now on Prendisone and 2 days of around the clock Albuterol Nebulizer treatments every 6 hours that both, equally, make me have symptoms like I have never experienced in my life! I'm talking shaking to the point of tremors, headaches, heart palpitations, my heart beating very very fast, then my beating extremely slow.
Today, my Pulmonologist added Anoro to the mix. I do not feel any better, I'm actually feeling like sometimes the meds are making the chest tightness feel worse? If that's even possible.
They checked my heart and said that everything cardiac looked fine but to me it doesn't feel fine. The albuterol nebulizer causes my heart to pound at times so hard that my ears ring and I have only slept for 14 hours since this began 16 days ago. I am scared to death. I am sweating profusely and am extremely irritable.
And I know it sounds weird but I feel like my veins are constricting. I have two severe compression fractures in my spine at L-5 & L-4 and I recently had to decrease my pain medication to nearly nothing because when I would take it it felt like it made my chest tighten even worse.
It has been days and I am so scared that this is the end and that I am not going to get any better!
Would any of you be willing to share your experiences if you went through anything similar? I would sure be grateful.