← All guides · Doctor visits and check-ups
Living with COPD
COPD · smoker's chronic bronchitis · chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · smoker's shortness of breath
COPD is a lung disease that makes breathing harder. Treatment and lifestyle help slow it and ease breathlessness.
If a doctor found COPD, most often in people who smoked or breathed dust and smoke for a long time.
⏱ Duration: treatment is usually ongoing, with check-ups on a schedule
Be sure to tell your doctor
How to prepare
- Quitting smoking. This is the most important thing. Ask your doctor for help, which makes quitting easier.
- Inhalers. Show your doctor how you use them.
- Vaccines. Ask your doctor about flu and pneumococcal vaccines.
What to bring
- Your inhalers
- A list of your medicines
- A diary of how you feel
How it goes
- Use your inhalers every day as your doctor prescribed
- Move every day: walk at a calm pace
- Do the breathing exercises your doctor taught you
- When short of breath, breathe through pursed lips: in through the nose, a long breath out through the mouth
- Eat small meals, but regularly
- Avoid smoke, dust, and cold air
What you'll feel
- Shortness of breath when active is common, and training reduces it
- A morning cough with phlegm is common
Afterwards
- Notice the signs of a flare-up: more breathlessness, more phlegm, or phlegm that changed color
- In a flare-up, contact your doctor right away
- Ask about a pulmonary rehab program
Contact a doctor straight away if
- Severe shortness of breath at rest, or it is hard to talk: call emergency services
- Blue lips, confusion, or drowsiness: call emergency services
- Chest pain: call emergency services
Common questions
Is there any point in quitting smoking if I already have the disease?
Yes. It slows the disease at any age.
Do I need oxygen at home?
Only some people do. Your doctor decides based on tests.