Hello, stage one copd and asthma overlap, newish diagnosis so still learning. I have had a flare up of symptoms after being close to a petrol spill outside of my workplace. Despite noticably wheezing the doctor could hear nothing unusual with the stethoscope. I was told to watch for sputum changes. When colour change happened I was told thats an unreliable thing to watch for and to watch for rib pain on breathing. I know its very important to treat flare ups but also not to overtreat with antibiotics. How do others know when things are getting worse? Is it obvious?