CAN A 26YR OLD FEMALE HAVE COPD?

HI, I AM 26 FEMALE WHOM SMOKES MAYBE 4 CIGS EVERY 2 WKS R SO AND SENTS I WAS A YOUNG CHILD I HAVE HAD PROBLEMS BREATHING WHEN I AM AROUND CIG SMOKE, IT HAS GOTTEN WORSE IN THE PASS FEW YRS AND DR'S CANT FIND OUT WHY AND THERE SAYING THERE ISNT ANYTHING WRONG WITH ME, I HAVE CHEST PAINS AND I FILL LIKE I HAVE A PLASTIC BAG OVER MY FACE ALL THE TIME, I HAVE GONE TO THE ER 6 TIMES THIS YR,  AND I DONT NO WHAT ELSE TO DO AND ALSO I HAVE ALL THE SYSTOM OF COPD MY GRANDPA DIED THIS YR AND I WAS TOLD HE HAD COPD. I HAVE BEEN TOLD I DONT HAVE ASHMA

[ChelseaK85]

You can definitely have emphesyema or COPD in your mid twenties, although its supposed to be rare. I'm a 25 year old woman and I was diagnosed with early onset Emphyema a little over a year ago, its been awful: constantly feeling short of breath, wheezing, having difficulty walking very far, feeling sharp pains in my chest and lungs. And I know it will only get worse.

Even though I had pretty bad asthma growing up, I still started smoking when I was real young, and Ive been a fairly heavy smoker since I was a teenager, at least 2 packs a day for the past 7 ot 8 years. The worst is that I still cant quit smoking or even cut back no matter how hard I try because Im too addicted, which makes me more depressed because my Dr's have said that if I dont quit smoking now, I might not see my 30th birthday. But since all my efforts to quit have failed, I just give into my urge to smoke whenever I want and try not to think about it what I've done to my health.  

It sounds like you dont have a history of very heavy smoking, which is probably a good thing. Im no expert on what other lung diseases you probably have, thats what your Dr's are for, but it does sound like you very well could have COPD, maybe just the early stages. If you do have COPD, depending on what stage it is and your overall health, the good news is that you might have up to 10 more years to live, possibly longer. Thats what Ive read anyways, although in some cases like mine, you could have less time left. For your sake I hope its not COPD.

[lori3600]

Hi.     COPD.  means Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) its a medical term that health care proffessionals use when talking about lung conditions that cause difficulty inhaling or exhaling.  COPD is caused by or may be known as  1. chronic bronchitits, emphyema, and asthma.   COPD causes permanent damage to  your lung, making it hard for you to breathe. If you have asthma then your Doctor my say you have COPD.   Asthma is one of the lung diseases that falls under  COPD.  So yes if you have Asthma then you can say you have COPD.   You need to find a good asthma doctor, stop smoking, and avoid any thing that makes your breathing worse, like stress and anxiety, soking, air pollution, lung infection (get your flu and pneumonia vac.),dust and fumes.  Use a peak meter to help you manage you COPD.   Hope this helps.    Lori  nurse  RN.  

[lazurm]

I've started sucking my thumb again and, believe it or not, especially if you were a thumb sucker once, it really helps to cut down. I don't care about the stares; it's that important to me. Try it at least for 2 or 3 weeks, whenever you get the urge. It really works!