Antibiotics and COOD
I had a surgical site infection that caused me to be on months of oral and now IV antibiotics with a PICC line. In and out of hospital, many Doctor visits. I will be off of them in a few days.
The main part I want to share is how these antibiotics even though they have side effects, have effectively helped my COPD.
My pulse ox is running 98 most of the time. I know we can't be on these forever, but there are studies of how they can make a difference.
My breathing hasn't felt this good for years. I know I could end up with an antibiotic-resistant infection, but breathing normal for a change is quite nice. I am ahead 5 extra rescue inhalers. I'm usually short on them.
I don't know why, when we are having exacerbations, they cannot give us these for a short spell. Any thoughts?
I think the first step is to talk to your physician and let them know that you believe that the antibiotics are helping. You may have to insist, especially if the current thinking isn't that antibiotics help COPD, but it is fine to be assertive with your docs as long as you are not rude. Beyond that I'd definitely do some research to see if anyone else also experienced the same thing. Other than that please let us know if you need any help and keep up abreast of the situation! Keep on keepin' on, DPM 
I think it probably depends a lot on what is causing the exacerbation in the first place. If it's not a bacterial issue, antibiotics likely wouldn't help -- but they can be used in some cases as a preventative for greater infections. I'm really glad you've seen such marked improvement, though! Appreciate you sharing your experience here, asking about antibiotics is an important question that's worth bringing up when you're struggling. -Melissa, team member
