Scared

[carmen868]

First of all, I would like to state that tho i;m still not on O2, I am terrified of this disease and what it's doing to my body. Am losing muscle mass and my extremities are thinning away. I am afraid to do exercise tho I try. Since i've been semi-laid off it;s worse, staying home will kill me. And since i'm akll alone without family i get so depressed and lonely. I know you are the only ones who can undedrstand my plight. However, am able to sleep on my stomach at night and i consider myself lucky for tis is the only way i can sleep. How do the rest of you cope with staying indoors? Well i go out everyday even if i cant do much just to be with oter people. I want to have stem cell treatments but in this country it's kind of hard. Am trying to raise money tho and theres a dr here whos doing clinical trials but on lung cancer - hqve triede to contact him. Sometimes i think my life is not worth living but i knbow i have to go on. Is it true that if caught inthe early stages, the disease will not progress? I heard of Christy Turlington's case, and she seems to be thriving. I wish I had caught mine early on.

[barbara]

Carmen - You are doing the right thing by going out and staying active. Try to get some direct sunlight daily if possible. COPD is a progressive disease, no matter when you get diagnosed, however, you can take steps to slow down the progression. Is there a support group in your area of any kind? People don't have to suffer from the same condition to be able to understand each other's difficulties in life. Do you have a pet? Owning a pet is one way to combat depression in my opinion. My fur kids will not let me get down.
Do you have regulatory restrictions in the Philippines? If not, maybe Dr. Lucero would be interested in working something out with you if he is wanting to start branching out and treating diseases such as COPD. If you are the first one, then he would probably greatly reduce the cost so that he could study you. He was very nice when he sent me an e-mail. You could also let him know that you would be glad to let members and visitors to this forum follow you through the treatment. If the treatment helps you or stops the progression, I am sure there are a lot of others in your country that would want to go to Dr. Lucero.
When you say you are afraid to do exercise, what does that mean? Try starting out very simply. Use soup cans for weights. Don't overdo it either. I think some people think they need to exercise like maniacs and end up feeling a lot worse than if they never exercised at all. Go at the pace that works for you even if it is only a few minutes a day. You can work up from there.
Do you take any supplements? Something like SamE will help your mood.

[jgp]

don't be too discouraged, it is a scary thing i know i got so depressed i lost 32 lbs in 3 weeks. i didn't eat, but i started little exercise a little vitamins and i feel a lot better. were all with you, i hope you find a dr. were all for you , god bless

[Jeannine]

carmen

Last year I became very sick with ulcerative colitis and my legs became so weak I was unable to walk. As you can imagine, this made my breathing even worse. I was determined to be able to go back to work and climb stairs.

First I started by getting out of bed and while leaning on the bed I would simply stand there for 5 minutes and then stand on my tip toes for a count of 10. I would do that 5 times, then stand for another 5 minutes. Increase the number of tip toes by 5 each day until you can do 30. Keep doing that every morning.

I would also stand at my kitchen counter and read a magazine, newspaper of book for at least 10 minutes. I still do this every day for 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes when I get home from work.

These are tiny steps that will definitely strenghten your legs for being able to get out and walk more.

I was pretty much bedridden from Feb 14th - April 15th last year and by June 15th I was able to attend my son's high school graduation without any problems.

[steve hess]

Carmen, I have had copd for about 20 yrs and still do pretty good. Like you I get depressed now and then but doesn't last for long. I have always remained active, exercised and taken supplements. I for some reason don't need oxegon. I think doing all the above has helped me slow down my progression of this lousy disease. Don't dispare and keep a positive attitude.

[barbara]

Good for you Steve. I think taking care of yourself has probably enabled you to stay off of O2.

Carmen - This is a post on the COPDliving forum. I bought the DVD and it is easy going. You might want to get it. It states here that it is shipped to the U.S., Canada and the U.K., but they may ship it to where you live as well. If not, I could get you a copy and would be happy to ship it to you. It's not that expensive and the exercises are ones that don't exhaust you to the point you don't want to do them. There are good breathing exercises besides physical ones on the DVD.


(I-Newswire) April 3, 2010 - Suzanne Andrews, host of Functional Fitness on PBS TV, has medically documented the results of specific fitness and breathing exercises that focus on improving functional lung capacity. Using a pulseoximeter, a device that measures oxygen saturation and heart rate, Andrews has medically documented how specific breathing and pulmonary fitness techniques in a COPD patient can increase oxygen saturation up to 10 points and lower heart rate to a healthier range within 10 seconds. A healthy person has oxygen saturation of 90 and up. However, people with COPD fall below that line. Andrews often begins treatment with patients whose oxygen is in the 70 - 80's. Through specific pulmonary rehabilitation techniques, she has successfully increased peoples oxygen to that of a healthy person, enabling the person to live a functional life with more energy.

With an extensive background in pulmonary rehabilitation, Andrews states, ?Being functional with COPD and asthma begins with learning how your respiratory muscles help you to breathe. Your diaphragm, which covers the lower chest area, helps you draws air into the lungs. Your abdominal muscles work with the diaphragm when you exhale. And the intercostal muscles around your ribs allow the ribcage to expand when you inhale. With correct techniques people with COPD can learn how to strengthen their breathing muscles.?

Since not everyone with COPD has the option to attend pulmonary therapy, Andrews was prompted to produce Functional Fitness COPD as an excellent adjunct to a COPD patient plan of care and is available in doctor?s offices and online and is shipped throughout the Unites States, Canada and UK.
The DVD can be previewed at

http://healthwiseexercise.com/shop/c...mp;partner=278