Pain
I am experiencing a lot of pain: headaches, severe muscle cramps, Leg pain, back pain as if my ribs are aching.
Is this normal with COPD or is something else going on?
Hi Lexie, I can only answer by my own experience with copd, emphysema. I suffer with all these things you have mentioned I,m afraid. But you should really talk to your Doctor and mention this things as it could also be something else. I am member on this site not a Doctor or a professional on here. I am just going on my own experience.X
Lexie,
Like CopdGirl, I can only speak from my own experiences. Headaches, I don't get very often, but could be caused by lack of oxygen in your blood stream. Blood oxygen levels would tell a lot. Leg cramps could be lack of electrolytes in your system. Try some Gatorade, Pedialyte, eat bananas for the potassium, and contact your doctor as it could be magnesium deficiency. As far as back pain goes, coughing causes a lot of strain on your chest muscles. Depending on how hard you cough, this can cause pain in your ribs. Doing breathing exercises to strengthen your chest muscles will help. Also, so will specific breathing techniques. Please talk to your doctor about all of these issues. Also ask him/her about pulmonary rehab classes if they are available in your area. Take care and God Bless!
Hi
- thanks for your post - you've expressed a very real concern. As our good community member has suggested, it's always a good idea to reach out for one's physician when new (or existing) symptoms manifest themselves. This is especially so if the symptoms are persistent or getting worse.
When it comes to pain - there may be different types of pain that may be linked to COPD. However, various pains can be manifestations of other medical conditions as well.
Would you consider reaching out for your doctor at this time?
Please do let us hear back from you - we have a genuine concern for your good health.
Wishing you well,
Leon L. (author / site moderator)
I have COPD stage 4 and also have had all the symptoms you have with severe muscle cramps in legs, feet, ribs, and hands. I found out the it was the medications that were causing it in me. One was a Statin med, blood pressure med, and nebulizer med. I stopped taking all of them and now have no muscle cramps at all. I found one blood pressure med that works without causing muscle problems. I use natural herbs and such to control Cholesterol instead of a statin.
You can look up the Drugs you are taking at Drugs.com and then look at the side effects to see it they cause muscle problems, also read the reviews of people who use the medication and see how it either helped them or damage them.
Thanks for bringing up this important factor -- sometimes it's COPD related, sometimes it might be side effects from medication, and it can even be a combination of both. Either way, it's worth looking into. Of course, never stop a medication unless your doctor is aware.
Hi there. Sorry to hear you're in so much pain. I know it's hardly a comfort, but this is something that's pretty common and comes up in discussions here regularly. We have a number of articles about rib cramping and pain in our archives -- you can see them all by typing in "rib pain" in the search area at the top left of the site.
Here's one article you might find useful:
https://copd.net/living/relief-rib-cramping
We are here to listen and support you. Hope you can find some relief, please reach out anytime. -Melissa, copd team
Melissa, you said "Of course, never stop a medication unless your doctor is aware."
In my experience I was having many side effects from medications and when I told my doctors I was having a problem they never DE-prescribed any medications but prescribed more medications to cover the side effects of the medications I was taking. I was having many bad side effects from different medications and none of the doctors I'm seeing even thought it could be the medications I was taking. Each time I told the doctor of a problem they all just prescribed another medication. I didn't know that the medications I was taking were causing all my health problems until I started to look into the drugs I was taking. I couldn't take it any longer and made up my mind to stop the medications. After two days off the medications, I started to see all the side effects go away. I was off all medications for about 3 months and felt so much better. When I went to see my doctors on my different appointments, I told them I stopped taking the medications and they got upset. I explained to them and gave them a list of all the different problems I had from the medications and how all of them went away when I stopped taking them, they had no answer. It was only then that they had me try other medications and some of them caused problems within hours. I started taking herbs and other natural remedies for health problems and I can breathe much better, blood pressure in very good, etc.
I have lost my confidence in the medical profession in the last few years because of many of the things I've seen them do.
