Scary Parts of COPD
What are the scariest parts of living with COPD for you? How do you cope with the things that scare you?
The scariest part of coping with COPD was the inhalers. I was allergic to all of them. I had horrific side effects from the steroids with every one, so after 5 of them and a weight gain of 15 kilo , being unable to wear my clothes, having my neck swell up like the deceased Pope , and bloating that demolished my gastrointestinal tract...I quit all of them. I went on a complete detox with the help of my TCM Dr. .
using herbs and anti inflammatory diet it took 7 mo of no progress to finally be clean from the steroids. I began the Fast Metabolism Diet strictly and with committed discipline last Aug. and as of today i have lost 10 kilo and could wear my favorite skirt for the 1st time in 2 years. The most frightening thing was losing my body to the meds...being unrecognizable in the mirror... pissed me off. lol
For me, the scariest part of COPD is the thought of catching pneumonia again. After initially being in ICU for a week with mycobacterial pneumonia, and a year of antibiotics, I caught pneumonia again two years later. It wasn't mycobacterial this time, thank heavens. Another 3 days in the hospital. Every time I cough out mucus from my lungs, I have anxiety that it will contain blood and I will end up back in the hospital yet again. I just had CT Scan, PFT test, Bloodwork, EKG, and urine analysis done. The CT Scan showed areas of inflammation and possible infection. Yech! I gave a sputum sample to my doctor this past Monday and so far tests are negative. It will be a little while longer for petri dish growth to show up or not. It gets real old getting sick with COPD. If not caught right away and treated, it could end your life, and I am not ready to go yet! That is my biggest fear. Take care all and God Bless!
