COPD - information for patients

About your chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

COPD is a long-term condition in which the airways are narrowed and the lung
tissue is damaged, so air moves in and out less easily. It causes
breathlessness, cough and phlegm, and periods where symptoms get worse, which
we call flare-ups or exacerbations.

COPD does not usually go away, but a great deal can be done to help you feel
better, do more, and stay out of hospital.

The four things that help most

1. Stopping smoking. If you smoke, stopping is the only thing shown to slow
down further damage to the lungs, at any age and at any stage. It is difficult,
and most people need several attempts. Medication and support together give the
best chance, and we can arrange both. If you have already stopped, staying
stopped is just as valuable.

2. Pulmonary rehabilitation. This is a supervised programme of exercise and
education, usually twice a week for six to eight weeks. It improves
breathlessness, fitness and quality of life more than any inhaler does, and it
reduces the chance of being admitted to hospital. Many people are wary of
exercising when they are breathless. Being breathless during exercise is not
harmful, and the programme is designed around people who are.

3. Keeping active every day. Whatever you can manage, done regularly, is
better than resting. Breathlessness on exertion is expected, and avoiding
activity because of it leads to becoming less fit, which makes the
breathlessness worse.

4. Vaccination. Have the influenza vaccine every autumn, and the pneumococcal,
COVID-19 and RSV vaccines when you are offered them. Chest infections are the
commonest cause of a flare-up.

Your inhalers

Inhalers help symptoms and reduce flare-ups. They work only if the technique is
right, and a large proportion of the dose is wasted if it is not. Please bring
all of your inhalers to every appointment so we can watch you use them. If a
device is awkward for you, tell us, because there is almost always an
alternative.

Flare-ups

A flare-up means your usual symptoms get clearly worse for more than a day or
two: more breathless than normal, more phlegm, or phlegm that changes colour.

If you have been given a rescue pack of antibiotics and steroid tablets, follow
the written instructions we have given you, and tell your GP practice within a
day or two of starting them so your treatment can be reviewed and the pack
replaced.

Get urgent medical help, or call 999, if you are much more breathless than
usual and it is not improving, if you cannot manage to speak in full sentences,
if you have chest pain, if you are coughing up blood, if you become drowsy or
confused, or if your lips or fingers look blue.

Living with COPD

Feeling low or anxious is very common with COPD and is treatable. Please tell
us if this is affecting you.

Eating well matters in both directions: losing weight without meaning to is
worth telling us about, and carrying extra weight makes breathlessness worse.

If you are worried about money, heating or getting out of the house, say so.
Cold, damp housing makes COPD worse, and there is practical help available.

Further information: Asthma + Lung UK, www.asthmaandlung.org.uk, helpline
0300 222 5800.