Confused

Hi-
I've been experiencing respiratory problems since mid July. My Dr. told me it was allergies and asthma and gave me advair and nasonex. Now it's Oct. and I'm still on Nasonex and my 3rd advair and the symptoms are not gone, just changed. I feel like I cannot inhale all the way, periods of shortness of breath all day, a tight feeling in chest, very dizzy/lightheaded for the past 2 weeks, also very tired(slept 12 hours last night, normally sleep 6-8), Tons of mucous in my throat(up until mid sept) then it turned to a productive cough(until now) with very sticky/stringy and clear mucous. I had a chest xray and it came up fine. I still have occassional sneezing. I'm at my wits end, any ideas? Is it COPD?
Thanks-
D

[National Jewish]

The term COPD is an abbreviation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  COPD is a general term used to describe the chronic lung disease linked with cigarette smoking and worsened by contact with industrial dusts and other toxins.  This is also called emphysema.  It is a disease that worsens over time.  There is a relatively irreversible decrease in airflow and permanent destruction of the airsacs in the lung.  If you have never smoked it is highly unlikely that this is COPD.  Pulmonary function testing (PFT) would clarify if you have asthma or COPD.

With asthma the basic problem is chronic inflammation along with tightness of the smooth muscles that surround the airways of the lungs.  Advair