difficulty breathing

i have difficulty breathing and it is making it hard for me to get around as exertions make it worse i was diagnosed with copd 3 years ago at my gp surgery after spirometry teste although my breathing was ok and no problem to me  i like singing and noticed i could not hit are hold the noughts the same then 3 months ago i had a chest infection and took antibiotics  my chest cleared but my breathing was bad since then i have had a spirometer test at my gps which was the best ever however un known to me 2 months prior to this my spiro test was moderate but just below severe but i did not have any probs then i have just had a spirometry and echocardiagram done that are normal next week iwill see the consultant but this is becoming atrait with me i had a single cabag done 9 years ago i went back to work and was fine for 4 years then i got chest pain and after angiogram was told tha my blocked artery had cleared and the graft was now redundant all 4 artries were full bore  i went back to work but over the next years i had to be off work many times and many tests were done that were all normal eventualy my company had to finish me on ill health that was 3 years ago i have had probs since and they are ongoing but it was put down to a brain responce iwas getting all these symptoms through my brain i know this can happen but i am now begining to think that i need to see a phychiatrist my own feelings are that something is wrong but the tets say not and i am a hardy chap not lent to imagination i can take and have took knocks in my life i am 62 years of age  do not suffer with anxiety other than about this  but this is destroying me my job was lost my working life finished and now my mobility and all tests are normal can you help put this into prespective for me as for copd i was nearly svere but fine now im bad im normal crazy

[allmymarbles]

I would like to help but am having a hard time understanding your problem. Can you try explaining again? You seem to be well and sick, well and sick, but it is not clear why. Are you located in the United States?

[bobhaw]

i live in England  its not tha i am well and sick i have pains in chest due to heart probs on a continuos basis but have learnt to live with it since finishing work i have had to adapt my life style although it is worse some times more than others and when its bad it leaves me fatigued for weeks after.     if ido something like the gardening ican get pains after i have finished that can be frightening then iam not well for a considerable time after sometimes weeks but ihave had every test done including the scientific where iwas injected with something that puts my heart under pressure and then left to get something to eat and put under a scanner for half an hour but they cannot find any cause.                  2 years ago i was diag nosed with copd by my gp after spirometer test and have had several spirometer checks since i was moderate copd but did not feel like ihad breathing probs apart from the affects of my heart probs when i would get breathless due to my tight chest although in the main my mobility was normal when walking the last spirometer test in jan 2012 was moderate just below severe but i was ok with my breathing.  how ever i had noticed that i was getting a bit breathless when going upstairs also i like to sing and i noticed over the last 12 months that i cant reach the high notes and my voice range was getting poorer .  at the end of march i was very bad with my breathing i went to see my gp who gave me antibiotics i went back 2 weeks later and my breathing and mobility was very bad my chest was clear of infection the gp gave me some more antibiotics different to the first told me to come back in 10 days i did  i told the doctor i was finding it hard to walk any distance  he then looked at my last spirometer results from january and said it was not good and just below severe my lungs were the age of a 85 year old i am 62 he sent for urgent appointment at hospital also a blood test and chest exray they were normal my hospital appoint ment came but for endof july  altho i had a spirometer done at my drs surgery and was told it was the best it has ever been a lot better that was crazy to me as i was now breathless and i was ok when it was done in january  my dr got me to go to hospital i did and they took more bloods gave me different meds and different inhalers i was having trouble sleeping i got 3 pillows and it was easier and i got a better sleep i camehome with a earlier appointment for hospital tests a spirometer that was NORMAL and a echocardiogram which the lady said was ok  i will see theconsultant next week but i am not happynothing ever shows why i am ill with my heart and now despite previous spiro results my breathing are copd which now i have probs is now normal

[allmymarbles]

Obviously COPD does not get better, then worse, then better, so something else is going on. They gave you antibiotics for your chest condition. Antibiotics treat bacteria, but more often than not, lung infections are fungal in nature, so antibiotics are useless. In fact, if fungi are involved, antibiotics are harmful.

The most common fungal pathogen is Candida albicans. Often people's COPD is made worse by treatment because the presence of candida is ignored (or not investigated). Candida feeds on antibiotics, prednisone, and inhaled steroids. Even albuterol, which the COPD patient cannot do without, creates a favorable environment for an overgrowth of candida.

I know whereof I speak because I am recovering from pulmonary candidiasis. Magically my COPD has improved. Well, actually it hasn't, but the candidiasis affected my lungs which made it appear a worsening of COPD.

If you have any questions, I may have some answers.

[bobhaw]

Sorry i have not replied earlier i have been to see the consultant  i was givenanother spirometry test and was informed it was 73% and the consultant said i had moderate copd and i should go back to see my gp and he was going to prescribe some different med inhalers i think but i had a hard time getting him to understand that my mobility was sevearly affected ie going ustairs leaves me breathless and walking 40-50  metres makes me breathless although i try to walk further but the result is it leaves me with a tight chest breathless for quit some time after i spoke to the consultant for 10 mins and it seemed a in and out and refered back to my own gp so that seems to be that but  i personaly feel like i am back to square 1 it seems i just have to get by because thats it and i have to live with it i realise that 73% is not severe but the affects i get are im no light weight i can usualy take lifes knocks but its hard with things like this

[allmymarbles]

The next thing for you to do, and for this you do not need a doctor, is to take natural anti-inflammatories. Of the vitamins that would be C and B6. Then you can try mullein, marshmallow, ginger, turmeric cayenne, boswellia, and on and on. Add one every two weeks to determine which work for you. Do some searching on the internet.

I take natural anti-inflammatories and they are very helpful. Cutting back on sweets and starches helps tremendously, by the way. The only prescription medicine I take is Duoneb (a combination of albuterol and ipratropium), in a nebulizer. I also take an over-the-counter antihistamine.

Losing weight would help, but you already know that.

[bobhaw]

thank you i will try some of them out and see how i go