Despite affecting more than 11 million people in the United States, many people do not understand COPD. Even people who have been diagnosed with COPD often have a poor understanding of how the disease actually works.

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COPD is a relatively complex condition and it affects different people in different ways. Not everyone experiences the same symptoms, which can be confusing for patients and lead to misconceptions about the disease.

Unfortunately, myths and misconceptions about COPD can be dangerous and misdirecting. They lead to false ideas about what causes COPD and how severe the condition is, and may even discourage people with the disease from seeking treatment or listening to their doctor.

If you or someone you love has COPD, then it's vitally important to have an accurate understanding of the disease and how to treat it. Without accurate information, you may not be able to make the healthy choices and lifestyle changes that are necessary for you to manage your COPD and live a good quality of life.

In this article, we're going to take a look at some of the most common myths and misconceptions that people have about COPD. Chances are you've heard a few of these inaccurate claims before, and now it's time to set the record straight.

Common Myths and Misconceptions About COPD

Myth: COPD is a Rare Disease

According to the World Health Organization, more than 65 million people worldwide suffer from moderate or severe COPD, and that number is steadily increasing every year. But because the disease mostly affects older adults and seniors, it doesn't get the same attention as other, more visible diseases.

However, researchers estimate that up to two-thirds of COPD cases are not diagnosed, meaning that tens of millions of people have COPD and don't even know it. That's because COPD symptoms can be very mild and difficult to recognize in the early stages, and many people assume they are just normal signs of aging.

However, symptoms like frequent breathlessness and fatigue during activity are not normal aging symptoms, and are often the result of early-stage COPD. But due to misinformation and lack of awareness about the disease, many of these people go without treatment until their condition declines.

What's more, the symptoms of COPD are not always obvious to others, so many people may not realize that a friend, family member, or coworker is suffering from the disease. Because of this, many people underestimate how common it is and assume COPD is a rare disease.

Myth: COPD is Just Like Asthma

While both COPD and asthma are breathing disorders, they are very different diseases. COPD happens as a result of lung damage that accumulates over time, while asthma often occurs in otherwise healthy lungs that are extremely sensitive to irritants in the air.

Asthma can be present from birth or show up later in life as a result of exposure to respiratory irritants. It can cause episodes of wheezing and shortness of breath, often known as asthma attacks, but lung function usually returns to normal after the attack subsides.

On the other hand, COPD is a disease that usually comes later in life as a result of long-term damage to your lungs. People with COPD have permanently reduced lung function and also experience episodes of breathlessness and wheezing, known as COPD flare-ups and exacerbations.

Interestingly, COPD and asthma are somewhat connected in the sense that having asthma may put you at a greater risk of developing COPD later in life. However, COPD and asthma are distinctly separate conditions, even if some of their symptoms are similar.

Myth: COPD is Just a Breathing Disorder 

While shortness of breath and difficulty breathing are the main and most common symptoms of COPD, they are definitely not the only ones. COPD can cause a variety of different symptoms including a chronic cough, wheezing, frequent respiratory infections, fatigue, depression, and more.

Although COPD primarily affects the lungs, it affects many other parts of the body as well. For example, your lungs are inextricably connected to your heart and cardiovascular system; because of this, COPD can lead to a variety of heart complications including cardiovascular disease and stroke.

COPD is also an inflammatory disease, and people with COPD show signs of elevated inflammation in their lungs, blood vessels, and elsewhere in their bodies. This alone can increases COPD patients' risk for a variety of other conditions including lung cancer and heart disease.

Myth: You Can Only Get COPD from Smoking

Although most people think of COPD as a smoking-related disease, it is not always caused by smoking. COPD is a condition that results from irreversible damage to the lungs, which can be caused by many different things, including air pollution, toxic gases, and certain health conditions.

Many people who develop COPD from non-smoking causes get it from exposure to chemicals in their workplace. For instance, people who work in manufacturing and construction can develop COPD from exposure to airborne toxins, dust, and other particulates in the air.

You can also get COPD outside the workplace from long-term exposure to things like cleaning chemicals, indoor and outdoor air pollution, and toxic gases. For example, Radon, a colorless, odorless gas known as the largest environmental cause of deadly cancers in United States, can also cause COPD.

COPD can also be caused by other medical conditions like asthma, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, and frequent respiratory infections during childhood. There are many different things that can damage your lungs throughout your life and eventually cause COPD, not just smoking as many people believe.

However, smoking is still by far the most common cause of COPD, accounting for approximately 90 percent of COPD cases. That means avoiding tobacco and quitting smoking are still the most important things you can do to protect yourself from COPD.

Myth: Only Very Old People Ever Get COPD

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Most people develop COPD in their 50's and 60's after a lifetime of exposure to smoke or other substances that are toxic to their lungs. However, it is certainly possible to develop COPD earlier, and many people do.

In fact, although it's rare, some people are diagnosed with COPD before they even turn 40. You are much more likely to develop COPD at a young age if you have another condition like asthma or Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

Myth: Only Men Usually Get COPD

In the early 1900's, COPD was considered a “man's disease,” mostly because men were more likely to smoke tobacco. However, the number of women smokers skyrocketed in the 50's, leading to a huge increase in women diagnosed with COPD in more recent years.

Studies also show that women may be more sensitive to the irritating effects of smoke and other airborne contaminates. Because they tend to have smaller lungs, women tend to get a larger “dose” of these harmful irritants, making their lungs more susceptible to damage.

However, that doesn't mean that COPD is a “women's disease” either; COPD is still one of the leading causes of death for both men and women in the United States. While your genetics do play a role in how susceptible you are to the disease, every person still has the potential to develop COPD from long-term exposure to smoke and other respiratory irritants.

Myth: If You Stop Smoking, COPD Will Go Away

Some people mistakenly believe that once you quit smoking, the symptoms of COPD will go away. While quitting smoking can reduce some of your symptoms, it cannot reverse the damage to your lungs that has already been done.

Unfortunately, there is no known cure for COPD; it is a chronic, life-long disease. Once you have COPD you are stuck with it, and the best thing you can do is seek treatment and try to prevent it from getting worse.

Although this is a heartbreaking reality to accept, understanding the severity of the disease is important for taking your lung health seriously. In order to prevent further damage to your lungs and maintain a good quality of living, you need to diligently follow your COPD treatment plan for the rest of your life.

The good news is that by following an effective treatment plan and taking an active role in managing your disease, you can minimize your symptoms and live an active life for many years to come. However, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to living a healthy lifestyle every day.

Myth: COPD is Not Treatable

On the opposite end of the spectrum there is the misconception that COPD cannot be treated at all. And, while it's true that there is no real cure for COPD, there are many medications, treatments, and lifestyle changes that can significantly reduce COPD symptoms.

In fact, early detection and treatment for COPD is vital for maintaining your health and quality of life. The sooner you get diagnosed, the sooner you can begin treatment and prevent further damage to your lungs.

Every person who is diagnosed with COPD should receive a detailed health assessment and a personalized treatment plan from their doctor. The standard course of treatment includes using inhalers, steroids, antibiotics, lifestyle changes, and sometimes supplemental oxygen to manage respiratory symptoms and infections.

An effective COPD treatment plan will help you keep your symptoms under control and can even slow down the disease's progression. You can breathe easier, be more active, and live a better quality of life when you work with your doctor to effectively manage your symptoms.

Myth: There's No Point in Quitting Smoking if You Already Have COPD

Even though quitting smoking will not cure your COPD, it can help protect your lungs from further decline. If you have COPD, you should try to stop smoking immediately to prevent the disease from rapidly getting worse.

It's never too late to quit smoking, and it has the potential to significantly improve your quality of life. It can also help reduce COPD symptoms like coughing and wheezing and lower your risk for life-threatening respiratory infections and exacerbations.

Research shows that people with COPD who quit smoking have fewer COPD flare-ups and are less likely to be admitted into a hospital for their symptoms. It also reduces your chance of dying from COPD.

What's more, quitting can improve your health in other ways that are unrelated to COPD. It can improve your exercise endurance, your cardiovascular health, and reduce your risk for other smoking-related diseases like lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke.

It's important to understand that, if you continue to smoke after your COPD diagnosis, then you are aggravating your disease and gambling with your life. Smoking can even make certain COPD treatments (such as corticosteroid medications) less effective, which puts your lungs and your health at even greater risk.

Myth: It Doesn't Matter if You are Overweight and Have COPD

Being overweight puts extra strain on your body, including your heart and lungs. It also puts extra weight on your chest when you lie down, which can make it much more difficult to breathe if you have COPD.

Maintaining a healthy BMI is important for keeping all of your organs healthy, including your heart and lungs. Studies show that being obese can also increase inflammation in your body, which can make COPD-related inflammation in your lungs and other organs even worse.

Obesity also increases your chance of developing other chronic conditions that can worsen COPD, including heart disease, diabetes, and obstructive sleep apnea. It also makes it more difficult to exercise and stay active, which is vital for keeping your lungs and body healthy when you have COPD.

Myth: Your Diet Doesn't Affect Your COPD

What you eat is directly related to your overall health, and this is especially true for people with COPD. Eating the right foods and maintaining a healthy weight can boost your energy levels and make it easier to breathe.

In fact, because they have to use more energy to breathe, people with COPD often need more calories and nutrients per day to meet their body's needs. On the other hand, eating too much can lead to being overweight or obese, which makes it both harder to exercise and harder to breathe.

The most important thing to do for a healthy, balanced diet is to eat meals full of vitamin-rich fruits and vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and lean proteins. However, you should limit the amount of carbohydrates you eat, because studies show that breaking down carbohydrates can actually put extra strain on your lungs.

People with COPD are particularly prone to malnutrition and fatigue, both of which can be combated with a healthy diet. Eating right will give you the energy you need to stay active and supply your lungs with the fuel they need to operate efficiently.

To learn more about how your diet affects your COPD, check out our previous post on healthy foods for COPD patients. You can also get some more useful diet tips from our article on foods to avoid if you have COPD.

Myth: Exercising is Dangerous if You Have COPD

People with COPD often experience symptoms like coughing and shortness of breath when they exercise. This leads some to believe that exercise is dangerous and that they should avoid physical activity.

In reality, though, exercise is one of the best things you can do to improve your health and quality of life if you have COPD. All good COPD treatment plans include regular exercise, and staying active can help prevent your COPD from getting worse.

While you shouldn't exert yourself too much and you should always give yourself time to rest when you feel extremely short of breath, exercise is safe and healthy for the vast majority of COPD patients. It can strengthen your heart, breathing muscles, and skeletal muscles, and reduce your chances of developing other age-related and COPD-related diseases.

If you are worried about exercising, talk to your doctor to see what kinds of activities are safe and effective for you to do. Your doctor can also help you better manage your symptoms, which can help you breathe better when you exercise.

There are even special exercise programs—known as pulmonary rehabilitation classes—that are developed specifically to help people with COPD learn how to exercise while keeping their breathing and other COPD symptoms under control. If you struggle with exercise and staying active because of your disease, talk to your doctor about enrolling in a pulmonary rehabilitation class.

Myth: You Cannot Have a Satisfying Sex Life with COPD

Many people believe that because COPD makes breathing and exercising more difficult, it will inevitably hurt their sex life as well. However, while it may make certain sexual activities a little more difficult, you can still have a healthy and fulfilling sex life with COPD.

Even if you struggle with shortness of breath, you can keep your symptoms under control with diet, exercise, medications, and other COPD treatments. You may even be able to attend a pulmonary rehabilitation class if you have significant trouble breathing during physical activity.

Also, it's important to remember that there are countless ways to experience sex and intimacy, and it's normal for your sex life to change as you age. That doesn't mean that it has to be any less exciting or satisfying than it was before; it just means you might have to be more flexible or willing to try new positions that are more comfortable with COPD.

Myth: Once You Start Oxygen Therapy, There is No Going Back

May COPD patients are afraid to start supplemental oxygen therapy because they fear that once they start, they will be tethered to their oxygen machine for life. While it is true that some COPD patients have to use Oxygen 24/7, this is not the case for most patients.

You might need to use oxygen occasionally as a supplement to other COPD treatments, or you may only need it for a short period of time while you are recovering from an exacerbation. You can also use supplemental oxygen to help you breathe when you exercise and reduce shortness of breath throughout the day.

Most patients start out using supplemental oxygen less frequently, and slowly increase their oxygen use as their disease progresses. For many patients, this starts with using oxygen during physical activities or at night to make it easier to breathe during sleep.

While some people see supplemental oxygen as a limitation, in reality, it can actually enable you to do more and improve your quality of life. Supplemental oxygen helps you breathe better, sleep better, have more energy, and can reduce your risk of serious COPD complications like heart disease and pulmonary hypertension.

Myth: You Cannot Live a Healthy, Fulfilling Life with COPD

While COPD is a serious disease, it is not a death sentence or an end to your life as you know it. You can still live a healthy, happy, and active life even if you have COPD.

You may have to make some serious lifestyle changes to protect your lungs and treat your disease, but that doesn't mean you can't live a normal life. In fact, if you follow your treatment plan carefully, including eating a healthy diet and exercising, you may even find that you have more energy and feel better than before you were diagnosed.

The more you care for your health and adhere to your COPD treatments, the amore likely you are to maintain the lung function you still have for longer. While COPD inevitably gets worse over time, you can live comfortably with the disease for many years and continue to do all of the things you enjoy.

Conclusion

Getting enough sleep is a daily challenge for many people with COPD. Between coughing, breathing troubles, and shortness of breath, it's no wonder that the disease makes it difficult to relax and sleep soundly at night.

Up to fifty percent of people with COPD report sleeping problems, which makes it a major concern for COPD treatment. Good quality, adequate sleep is necessary for a healthy body and immune system, and constant sleep disturbances can make COPD patients much more prone to illnesses, exacerbations, and other dangerous complications.

What's more, COPD patients are disproportionately affected by sleep disorders. For example, people with COPD are more likely to have sleep apnea, a dangerous condition that occurs when your airways collapse and restrict your airflow when you sleep.

In this article, we're going to show you a variety of different ways to improve your quality of sleep at night. But first, you need to understand why getting enough sleep is so important for your mental and physical state.

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Why it's Important to Get Enough Sleep

Sleep deprivation can have devastating effects on your ability to concentrate, remember things, and deal with the pressures of everyday life. It also weakens your physical state, making you more prone to getting sick and having an acute COPD exacerbation.

If you have trouble getting enough sleep or wake up often during the night, it actually suppresses your immune system and makes you more likely to get sick. Some studies have shown that COPD patients who get poor sleep are up to fifty percent more likely to experience an acute exacerbation.

Lack of sleep also contributes to a variety of other health issues and chronic diseases including diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, mood disorders, and inflammation. It also affects your mental state, making it more difficult to focus, problem-solve, and remember things. It can even lead to anxiety and depression over time.

To avoid these problems and keep your body healthy, getting enough sleep is a must. If you are having difficulty sleeping on a regular basis, you should start trying new ways to get better sleep right away.

Even though COPD can make sleeping challenging, there are plenty of ways to reduce and manage nighttime symptoms and make yourself more comfortable at night. Instead of giving up on good sleep, take some time to learn about the variety of medications, medical tools, and lifestyle changes that are proven to help you sleep better.

In this article, we'll show you many different techniques you can use to make it easier to fall and stay asleep every night. If you want to learn how to get better sleep, reduce your COPD symptoms, and experience the benefits of being well-rested, continue reading this article for a variety of practical tips you can use to get better quality sleep with COPD.

Why COPD Makes it So Difficult to Sleep

There are many reasons that a large percentage of COPD sufferers find it difficult to relax and get good quality sleep at night. COPD symptoms on their own often interfere with rest, but other, indirect effects of COPD can also make it difficult to sleep.

Many people with COPD experience disease-related anxiety or depression, or are at a higher risk for other conditions that affect sleep, including GERD and sleep apnea. In addition, medications used to treat COPD symptoms can cause poor sleep as well.

Here are a few major factors that contribute to sleep problems in people with COPD:

• Disruptive COPD symptoms: It's not hard to imagine how feeling short of breath or having a coughing fit can make it difficult to relax and fall asleep at night. Shallow breathing at night can also cause blood oxygen levels to drop, which can cause you to wake up abruptly and frequently as a result.
  
  
• Anxiety and mental health problems: COPD is a difficult chronic disease to live with, and it can take a huge toll on your emotional and mental health. It's common for people with COPD to experience anxiety disorders, depression, and general emotional distress, all of which can make it difficult to sleep.
  
  
• Medications used to treat COPD: Some COPD medications, especially bronchodilator medications, can make it more difficult to sleep. Some medications have indirect side effects that can affect your ability to sleep as well, such as medications that cause nightmares or cause frequent urination during the night.
  
  
• Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Obstructive sleep apnea is a breathing-related sleep disorder that affects a large percentage of COPD patients. It causes frequent lapses in breathing during sleep and causes people with the condition to startle awake frequently at night. Sleep apnea can still affect your sleep even if you don't know you have it and if, like most sufferers, you don't remember waking up during the night.
  
  
• GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease): This is a condition that occurs when stomach acid leaks into your throat, and it affects a large number of people with COPD. GERD symptoms tend to be most noticeable at night while lying down, and it can affect your quality of sleep.
  
  
• Difficulty sleeping in a comfortable position: COPD-related breathing problems can make it difficult to breathe while lying down. As a result, many people with COPD end up sleeping in uncomfortable, unhealthy positions, such as sitting up in a chair.

While COPD can make getting adequate, good-quality sleep a challenge, it's a challenge that can be conquered with simple solutions and adjustments to your daytime and nighttime routines. In this article, we're going to show you how to conquer each of these COPD-related sleeping problems so you can get the rest and energy you need to enjoy your life to the fullest.

There are a variety of practical ways to conquer the most common emotional, physical, and environmental causes of poor sleep in people with COPD. With this guide, you can begin addressing your sleep barriers today and start building a sleep-healthy lifestyle that will give you the consistent, restful sleep you've always wanted.

How to Get Better Sleep if You Have COPD

Change Your Bedtime Routine

Many sleep problems in the modern world result from poor habits. Even if COPD is the main cause of your sleeping difficulties, looking at your overall bedtime routine is still wise.

For example, habits like exercising in the evening or spending time on your phone or computer late at night make it much more difficult for your body to feel tired at bedtime. Also, running errands, doing chores, and working late in the evening doesn't put you in a good mindset for sleep.

Many of these habits are simple to change and can be surprisingly effective at improving your quality of rest. One of the most important things you can do is establish a relaxing, consistent bedtime routine that allows you to gradually wind down in the evenings.

For example, try planning relaxing activities like reading, yoga, or listening to music close to the time that you go to sleep. Work these kinds of activities into a routine you can follow every night, that way, when you follow your bedtime routine, your brain and your body will know it's time to rest and start preparing to go to sleep.

Here are some general tips for nighttime habits that can improve your ability to sleep:

• Dim the lights at least an hour or so before you go to bed. That will help your brain and body start to feel drowsy so it's easier to fall asleep when it's time.
  
  
• Don't do stressful or mentally taxing activities before bed. Try to find relaxing, idle activities that allow your mind to wind down and let go of worries.
  
  
• Go to bed at the same time every night and set your alarm for the same time every morning, even on weekends. This will help your body adjust to your sleep pattern and fall asleep naturally at the right time every night.
  
  
• Practice relaxation exercises like mindfulness meditation, breathing exercises, or yoga in the evenings to help your body and mind relax.
  
  
• Try taking a warm shower or bath near bedtime; warming up your body will help you feel more sleepy.
  
  
• Try drinking warm milk or decaffeinated tea to relax and wind down before bed. Just don't drink anything with caffeine and avoid drinking too close to bedtime if it will make you have to get up to go to the bathroom during the night.
  
  
• Never use your computer, phone, or laptop in your bed or too close to bedtime. The light from the screen tricks your brain into thinking it's still daytime and makes it more difficult to go to sleep.
  
  
• Use your bed for two things only: sleeping and sex. That way your body will know it's time to sleep and feel drowsy when you get in bed. Don't read books, browse the internet, or watch TV in your bed. It's a hard habit to break, but it can save you from many restless nights.
  
  
• Clear your airways before bed to reduce symptoms like coughing and shortness of breath. Use proven mucus clearance techniques like chest percussion and huff coughing.
  
  
• Don't sleep with pets in your bed, no matter how much you like to have them by your side. Studies show that pets can severely disturb your sleep, even if you're not aware of it. Get your pet a nice warm bed of their own to keep next to yours. Don't worry, both you and your pet will adjust quickly and you'll have more energy to give them in the mornings.

Stay Away from Alcohol and Caffeine at Night

While caffeine is an obvious cause for poor sleep, many people don't realize that alcohol can hurt your quality of sleep as well. Caffeine affects your brain and makes it difficult to fall asleep, while alcohol affects your brain and muscles, making it more difficult both to breathe and to stay asleep through the night.

One way that alcohol affects your sleep is by causing the muscles lining your throat and airways to relax too much when you sleep. This causes your airways to collapse or sag and obstruct airflow, which affects your ability to breathe and absorb oxygen at night.

This is a greater risk for people with COPD, who already tend to suffer from sleep disorders and nighttime breathing problems. Alcohol also affects your brain and your sleep cycles, and drinking alcohol too close to bedtime leads to worsened sleep quality.

Caffeine is a stimulant that can also affect your ability to fall asleep at night, especially if consume it too close to bedtime. For the best possible sleep, you should avoid caffeine for at least eight hours before you go to bed or cut it out of your diet altogether.

Avoid Foods that Trigger GERD

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common digestive issue in people with COPD. In fact, by some estimates, up to fifty percent of COPD patients also suffer from GERD.

Some of the common symptoms of GERD are indigestion and difficulty breathing at night, which is particularly uncomfortable for people with respiratory diseases. These symptoms are most noticeable during the night because, when you're lying down, it's easier for stomach acid to leak into your esophagus. This causes heartburn and throat irritation that make it difficult to sleep and can leave you with a sore throat in the morning.

The best way to prevent nighttime GERD symptoms is to eat a GERD-friendly diet. If you suffer from GERD, be careful not to eat foods, like acidic foods, that might trigger your GERD symptoms, especially at night before bed.

Another thing that can help is to eat something bland and absorptive before going to sleep. Try eating a few light crackers, like plain saltine crackers, before bed to keep your hunger and stomach acid at bay.

If you still struggle with GERD symptoms after adjusting your diet, talk to your doctor about medications and antacids you can take to keep your symptoms under control. In severe cases, you might need stronger medications or surgery to treat your GERD.

Don't Eat too Close to Bedtime

Many people with COPD find that a full stomach makes them feel extra breathless. This happens when your stomach expands and presses on your lungs and diaphragm, making it more difficult to breathe.

This can make you very uncomfortable, especially if you're trying to rest. Feeling bloated and breathless makes it hard to relax and will likely hurt your quality of sleep at night.

The best way to prevent this is to eat several smaller meals throughout the day, instead of three large ones. Also, be careful not to eat too much too close to bedtime, otherwise, you'll be at risk for breathlessness and indigestion as you try to sleep.

You don't want to go to bed hungry, though, so have a light, healthy snack ready in case your appetite kicks in before you go to sleep. Saltine crackers, a bit of cheese, or another small, quick, low-sugar snack will do.

Make Your Bedroom More Pleasant

Many people underestimate the impact that their environment has on their ability to sleep. If the bed and the room you sleep in doesn't feel comfortable, it makes it much more difficult to relax and rest at night.

Take a moment to look around your bedroom, and ask yourself, “Is this a place I look forward to sleeping in?” Is the room cozy and comfy, quiet, and free from clutter?

It's important to sleep in an environment that is quiet, dark, and comfortable, otherwise, it will be difficult to sleep undisturbed. Your sleep environment should be free from messes, bright screens and electronics, and anything else that could be distracting or stressful while you're trying to sleep.

Here are some tips for making your bedroom environment more cozy and comfortable:

• Save up for a better mattress or more comfortable bedding. Lying on a luxurious mattress or wrapping yourself in soft, silky sheets can help you relax at night and even look forward to going to bed.
  
  
• Clean up messes and clutter and organize your space. Make sure every item in your bedroom has a proper place so it's easy to keep clean.
  
  
• White noise can be very effective at blocking sounds that come from outside your room. Get a white noise machine to place near a noisy window or door to drown out disruptive sounds while you sleep.
  
  
• If bright light comes in through your window in the morning, consider getting a blackout curtain to keep your room dark. You could also hang a thick blanket in front of the window or get a comfortable eye mask to block the sun from your eyes.
  
  
• Keep anything that reminds you of work or responsibilities out of your bedroom. Keep your bills, work documents, and other task-related items somewhere else, so they don't trigger anxiety before bed.
  
  
• It's easier to sleep if you keep your room cool at night. You can do this by setting your AC to a comfortable temperature, opening a window, or aiming a fan at your bed.

It's easy to ignore messes and environmental annoyances in the bedroom, but it's not a part of your house you should neglect. It's worth taking some time to personalize, organize, and turn your bedroom into a place where you can actually be comfortable and enjoy sleeping.

Take Care of Your Mental Health

If you're having trouble relaxing and sleeping at night, it might be because of mental distress. It's normal and common for people with COPD to experience negative emotions or psychological disorders like anxiety and depression, all of which can severely interfere with your ability to sleep.

Living with a chronic disease is hard; it can be exhausting, frightening, and take a huge toll on your life. It's natural to experience anxiety, depression, and emotional distress as your symptoms worsen and you lose your physical independence.

That's why it's so important to look after your mental health and see a mental health professional if you can't cope on your own. Instead of withdrawing or letting anxiety eat away at your life, turn to your family, friends, and pets for joy and comfort. Do your best to continue doing the hobbies and activities you enjoy and don't let your disease define your life or who you are.

Part of looking after your mental health includes setting aside time for quiet and relaxation every day. Proven techniques like mindfulness meditation or creative hobbies are a great way to unwind and refuel your mental resources.

A healthy diet, healthy sleep schedule, and regular exercise can also do wonders for your mental health. Getting regular aerobic exercise, in particular, is a very effective treatment for anxiety that will also help you feel tired enough to go to sleep at night.

If you suffer from severe anxiety or depression that disrupts your daily life, talk to your doctor about treatments or medications that can help. Your doctor might refer you to a psychologist or psychiatrist or prescribe anti-depressant medications to help you improve your mental health and quality of life.

Consider Therapy

People with COPD often feel isolated, disconnected, and find it difficult to ask for support. But everyone needs mental and emotional help now and then, especially when going through a difficult time like managing a chronic disease.

Many people find that counseling and talk therapy help them confront their anxiety, depression, and other negative emotions related to their disease. Individual therapy provides a safe, intimate setting to unpack personal thoughts, worries, and fears and work through mental barriers that make it difficult to fully enjoy life.

You can also find COPD therapy groups where you can connect with other people who understand what you're going through. There are a variety of both online and local therapy groups designed specifically for people with COPD and other chronic diseases.

Talking with other COPD patients and sharing your challenges and successes is a great way to regain confidence and a feeling of control over your disease. You can also get useful advice, emotional support, and new friends through group therapy that you would never have gotten if you tried to cope on your own.

Keep a Journal

If you suffer from anxiety or depression, then you know how they can take a toll on your ability to sleep. Many people with COPD experience hopelessness, despair, fear, and worry, which often intensify and are difficult to ignore at night.

That's why it's important to quiet your mind and let go of your worries and fears before bed. One method for doing this is journaling, an activity researchers have proven time and time again is a powerful and effective tool for mental health.

There are no hard rules for journaling; a huge part of its benefits come from the freedom that journaling gives you to write and express yourself freely, without strict guidelines or judgment. All you have to do is spend at least a few solid minutes writing something—anything—about yourself, your life, or your thoughts.

Journaling before you go to bed is a great way to unload all the distressing thoughts and worries that have accumulated in your head during the day. Recording your hopes, your fears, or even your to-do list in your journal can help you let go of heavy thoughts and feel calm enough to sleep.

Here are some general tips to help you get the most out of journaling:

• Try to write in your journal regularly, ideally every day. That way it becomes a habit and something you can look forward to that will help you relax before bed.
  
  
• Don't edit, scrutinize, or judge yourself as you write. Let the words flow freely and uncensored; it's about the action of writing, not how eloquent or pretty it looks on paper.
  
  
• It's okay not to write in full sentences. It's okay to write stories, lists, and streams of consciousness. You don't have to be grammatically correct, and you don't even have to make sense. A journal is about expressing yourself in whatever way you please.
  
  
• Your journal is, primarily, for you and you alone. However, if you desire, you can share pages or passages with others. Sometimes it's easier to express yourself and communicate on paper, and sharing your thoughts and feelings with others can be therapeutic.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Another technique that can help to quiet nighttime anxiety and restlessness is progressive muscle relaxation. It is a method for reducing muscle tension and relaxing your body before you sleep, and it's often recommended for people who suffer from insomnia.

Anxiety and mental distress affect more than just your emotional state; they have noticeable physiological effects, too. Anxiety, in particular, tends to manifest in your body as muscle tension and jitters that can make relaxation all but impossible.

Progressive muscle relaxation addresses anxiety from the outside in; that is, by relaxing your muscles and reducing the physical effects of anxiety, it helps to reduce the feeling of anxiety that you experience on the inside, as well. It also helps prevent muscle spasms and tightness, so you can relax and feel more comfortable in bed.

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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease otherwise known as COPD is a group of respiratory illnesses most commonly associated with emphysema and chronic bronchitis. This disease will damage the patient's lungs and it cannot be reversed.

That being said, there are many people who lead happy healthy lives and still deal with their COPD diagnosis everyday. You can as well, by adhering to the "dos and don’ts" in this article about living with COPD.

Do have a more positive outlook

While having a positive outlook is easier said than done, remember that if you have been diagnosed with COPD, you have a chance to turn your life around by altering bad habits, adjusting to a treatment regime, and the opportunity to be a part of clinical trials and break through medications. If your condition went undiagnosed and therefore untreated, your situation would be much much worse.

In a newsletter from The Gerontological Society of America as many as 30 million Americans are affected by COPD yet many patients are not diagnosed, and many publications agree that this occurs due to a variety of reasons.

COPD diagnosis can go undetected due to poor awareness of symptoms among patients and providers and unrecognizable suspicion of disease. It is estimated that over 30 million Americans have COPD yet so many cases go undiagnosed and untreated and only about 16 million people have been diagnosed and given a treatment plan.

If you are one of the ones who has been diagnosed with COPD, you are one of the lucky ones. You know that there is something happening in your lungs that is making it difficult to breath, and affecting your life everyday, and you get to do something about it!

The first thing you need to do is to change your perspective, and realize that even though COPD is not curable, there are treatments, medications, clinical trials, and other ways you can slow down the progression of the disease and live a long active fulfilling life.

It is better to know why certain things are happening in your body, rather than staying in the dark. Once you know what is happening, you can begin to understand why it is happening, from there you can do something about it.

There are still a few things you should know about the Dos and Don'ts of living with this disease, and you can find all of this information in this article.

Don’t continue to smoke

Just because you have COPD does not mean it is too late to quit smoking. As we mentioned earlier in this article, COPD is a progressive disease and it gets worse over time, especially if you continue bad habits, such as smoking.

Smoking will contribute to the breaking down and suffocating nature COPD already imposed on your lungs, by quitting, you are taking away the catalyst that is speeding up the deprivation of your lungs.

Unlike some diseases, COPD usually has an obvious cause and so there is a clear way of preventing it, and there are also ways to slow the progression of COPD. The majority of cases are directly related to cigarette smoking. Therefore, the best way to prevent COPD is to never smoke — or to stop smoking.

If you're a longtime smoker, these simple recommendations might seem impossible, especially if you've tried quitting before. But keep trying to quit. It's critical to find a tobacco cessation program that can help you quit for good.

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Here are some resources that might help you quit smoking, try a few of these methods if one doesn’t work another strategy might:

Text messaging services

Physiological health

Fighting weight gain

E cigarettes and vapes

Revamping a new routine

Counting down to quitting

Stop smoking support groups

Other than smoking, other exposure to chemical fumes and dusts is another risk factor for COPD patients. If you work with harmful fumes and lung irritants, talk to your supervisor about the best ways to protect yourself, such as using respiratory protective equipment.

Do get an annual flu vaccination

The annual flu shot and regular vaccinations against pneumococcal pneumonia will reduce your risk of catching some infections. By contracting a viral infection as a COPD patient you are subjecting yourself to exacerbations, also known as flare ups, which do impact the health and longevity of your lungs. Therefore, you should avoid exacerbations at all costs, not only because of the uncomfortable feeling experiencing one, but also the long-term damage poses a major risk of speeding up the progression of your disease into a more severe state.

COPD exacerbations are often caused when people with COPD come down with the cold or the flu. You can protect yourself by taking preventative measures and getting your annual flu vaccine. Keep in mind that it’s better to get a standard shot than a nasal spray vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On top of getting an annual flu vaccine, it’s important to get the pneumonia vaccine at least once before the age of 65.

Medical professionals recommend guarding yourself against whooping cough, by getting a vaccine called Tdap, which also protects against other sickness like tetanus and diphtheria. If you’re over 60, you might also need a zoster vaccine which protects against shingles. By getting these vaccines, you’ll help minimize your risk for infections that can lead to severe COPD complications.

Nobody enjoys getting sick, but people with COPD have to be extra careful, because if they are to get sick, it can worsen their COPD symptoms beyond repair. If you want more information on this topic, we have an entire blog post dedicated to how people with COPD can enjoy life in a global pandemic while staying healthy and safe.

Don't expose yourself to germs

Especially at a time of this unprecedented global pandemic, do your best to steer clear of people who are sick, and stay aways from crowded areas. There are many other ways to steer clear of the coronavirus causing COVID-19, such as wearing a mask, disinfecting surfaces, avoiding grocery stores, and avoiding travel at all costs.

Living in isolation, and with COPD, is another battle that many people face, and it can be a very harsh reality for some people. If this is something that you experience, the first thing you can do is join Facebook groups and online forums that are set up to be COPD support groups. Simply search “LPT Medical COPD & Respiratory Support Group '' on facebook you will find a wonderful community of COPD patients and respiratory specialists who are ready to help answer your question and also eager to have like minded conversations and online friends.

You will see that many people are struggling with similar problems and you might find their advice helpful, you could also give some great advice to others.

Do consider being a part of COPD clinical trials

Clinical trials are regulated research studies that are set up to find better ways to prevent, screen for, diagnose or treat a disease. There are a lot fo COPD critical studies that are developed to answer specific questions about new interventions—which can be new vaccines, drugs and devices—and measure their effectiveness and safety for patients. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates clinical trials in the U.S.

There are several benefits to being a part of a study, as well as some risks. Depending on you COPD severity and some other factors can help to determine if you are a good fit.

Benefits: 

• Access to new treatments that are not yet available to the public
• Access to expert medical care at a leading healthcare facility
• Playing an active role in your own health care
• Helping others by contributing to medical research
  
  

There are also some potential risks:

• There may be unpleasant, serious or even life-threatening side effects from treatment
• Treatment may not be effective for some individuals
• The study may require a lot of time for traveling to the study site, receiving treatments, or hospital stays
• Your health insurance may not cover all the study costs

You can find clinic trails either though a reference form you doctor, or you can also search for clinical trials online. 

here are some clinical trial programs to be aware of:

American Lung Association's clinical trials listing

CenterWatch Clinical Trial Research Center 

ClinicalTrials.gov

ResearchMatch

Don't breathe hazardous air

Depending on where you live, breathing clean unpolluted air may or may not be possible at all times of the year. In most of the US right now (June through September) the western more arid land is experiencing horrendous wildfires, and the jet stream transports this smoke filled air across the country.

Smoke from wildfires can be disruptive to anyone's lungs, but people with COPD should be extra cautious. When the healthiest person inhales wildfire smoke, it can cause throat irritation, wheezing, sneezing, coughing, runny nose, congestion, chest discomfort, eye irritation, and shortness of breath—all triggered by the tiny particles in the smoke.

When a person with COPD inhales forest fire smoke, they experience all of the same irritations but the discomfort is multiplied and the effects will last much longer.

We wrote an entire blog post dedicated to how to cope with poor air quality due to forest fires, you can read more about it here.

Due to the amount of forest fires, air filters have been sold out in stores and online. If this is that case in your area, or if you want to save some money, you can build your own air filter in your home for about $25.

What you will need to build your own air filter is listed below, and all these materials can be found at a hardware store near you!

• 20" x 20" box fan
• 20" x 20" x 1" MERV 13 or FPR 10 filter
• Power drill*
• 3/4" screws*
• 2" corner brackets*

Use the tutorial video from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency to build the filter. They have tested the performance of these do it yourself filter fans and they dramatically reduce fine particles and black carbon from the air.

To improve the air quality in your home for the long-term, you can start by getting rid of wall-to-wall carpets. Carpets hold dust particles, hair, and other allergens much longer than hardwood or tile, and these indoor air pollutants are not good to inhale. You should also clean with green products or with natural cleaners like soap and water, baking soda, and vinegar rather than any harsh chemicals or dense cleaning products.

Depending on where you live, you might have to deal with pollutants other than wildfire smoke such as humidity, smog, and annual allergies. While you cannot always control breathing some of these pollutants into your lungs, you can work to reduce your footprint and take certain actions to reduce overall air pollution.

If you want to contribute to a future with cleaner air, you can try to implement these tactics into your everyday life:

• Conserve energy i.e. turn off lights, fans, electronics - at home, at work, everywhere.
• Look for the ENERGY STAR label when buying home or office equipment.
• Carpool, use public transportation, bike, or walk whenever possible. Walking and biking are also great outlets for getting your daily exercise in.
• Follow gasoline refueling instructions for efficient vapor recovery, being careful not to spill fuel and always tightening your gas cap securely.
• Consider purchasing portable gasoline containers labeled “spill-proof,” where available.
• Keep your car, boat, and other engines properly tuned.
• Be sure your tires are properly inflated.
• Use environmentally safe paints and cleaning products whenever possible.
• Mulch or compost leaves and yard waste.
• Consider using gas logs instead of wood.

Do get exercise and daily physical activity

It might not seem like the most appealing advice especially when you feel short of breath, but getting enough exercise even if you have COPD is essential for maintaining a healthy weight and therefore lifestyle.

Your lungs may not work at their best capacity as they did before you had COPD, but working out your muscles and your lungs will build strength that you need to continue to do the things you love to do.

“Exercise” can be as simple as walking to and from your mailbox everyday. Soon enough you will be able to walk further or faster depending on how you like to exercise.

Exercise is one of the most important things you can do to treat COPD and make your life more comfortable at all hours of the day and night. It plays an essential role in maintaining a healthy weight and people with COPD shouldn’t be too heavy or too thin.

If you’re overweight, your heart and lungs have to work harder to supply your body with oxygen which with COPD is already hard enough. If you’re underweight, you might not be eating enough nutrients to get you the energy you need to do everyday tasks making you feel weak and short of breath more than you would if you were a healthy weight.

Exercise may be the last thing you feel like doing when you have COPD, but it improves COPD symptoms and will ultimately give you more energy, so talk to your doctor about how to develop an exercise regimen that will work for you.

In order to maintain a healthy weight, you must eat a well-balanced diet and get regular exercise, which can also improve circulation and help your body use oxygen more efficiently. If you’re not sure if your weight is healthy or unhealthy, talk to your doctor.

Here are some tips for eating well for COPD patients specifically:

• To lose weight: Choose fresh fruits and veggies over bread and pasta for the majority of your complex carbohydrates
• To gain weight: Eat a variety of whole-grain carbohydrates and fresh fruits and vegetables
• Limit simple carbohydrates, including table sugar, candy, cake and regular soft drinks.
• Eat 20 to 30 grams of fiber each day, from items such as bread, pasta, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables
• Eat a good source of protein at least twice a day to help maintain strong respiratory muscles, you can try all of these options: milk, eggs, cheese, meat, fish, poultry, nuts and dried beans or peas
• Choose mono- and poly-unsaturated fats, which do not contain cholesterol. These are fats that are often liquid at room temperature and come from plant sources, such as canola, safflower and corn oils. If you are trying to lose weight, you do not need to add these to your meals.
• Limit foods that contain trans fats and saturated fat. For example, butter, lard, fat and skin from meat, hydrogenated vegetable oils, shortening, fried foods, cookies, crackers and pastries.

Even though these suggestions are developed for people with COPD, speak with your doctor or a nutritionist about the best diet for you.

Dieting and regular exercise does not come easy to everyone, having a support system that is willing to cut out some junk food and focus on exercise more often is life changing for people with COPD.

Don't eat big meals

If you have COPD you should avoid the feeling of being “too full”, you might have noticed that you feel breathless after eating large meals. If you feel like you do not have an appetite, eating smaller meals can also help you get the nutrition your body needs. Breathing when you have COPD is more challenging and therefore requires you to burn more calories, so you should be sure that your meals provide high quality nutrition. To learn more about the type of meals you should be eating and how often, speak with a registered dietitian to help you understand how to make the most of your calories.

There are also lung specific diets that contribute to heart and lung health. Creating a food plan can be overwhelming, so having a buddy or partner that can do it with you is always a motivating factor.

Whatever you have to do to manage your diet, you should do. Whether you have to spend a little bit of money on a nutritionist or spend more at the grocery store to buy healthier foods rather than cheap junk foods.

While you might have to start spending more money to eat better, we will discuss in a later section ways you can supplement these expenses by saving money in other aspects of your life.

Do save money

Having COPD is not free, unfortunately there are costs associated with medications, hospital visits, oxygen devices, and much more. Depending on your financial situation, you might have to save money on certain things in order to pay for COPD treatments.

You can start by saving money on your COPD medication. Many people cannot afford the inflated prices of name-brand medications. Luckily, you can often find off-brand, generic versions of the same medication at a much lower cost.

If you want to save even more money on your medication, you can find other sources for your medication rather than your local pharmacy. Although they might be quick and convenient, brick-and-mortar pharmacies also tend to have the highest prices.

Many people don't realize that they have other options besides their local pharmacy. In reality, there are dozens or more legitimate online and mail-order retailers that sell prescription medications, too, and for less money. A certain amount of research about the online pharmacy is a precaution you should take thoroughly before entrusting it with your prescription. While many are trustworthy, some sites are unreliable, lack quality control, and even sell potentially dangerous counterfeit medications.

Here is a resource for you to learn more about saving money on your COPD medication: link

Hospital visits can also cost a pretty penny, and for the sake of your health and wallet, we hope you can avoid emergency and hospital visits if at all possible. However the truth is, you might experience an exacerbation that requires medical attention.

The way you can save a lot of money is being capable of determining when you need to go to the hospital and when you can confidently take care of yourself from home and just call your doctor. This is where COPD education and management comes into play.

You should feel confident and equipped to handle your COPD symptoms especially if they are not too severe. One of the best ways to avoid hospitalization is knowing which of your COPD exacerbation symptoms require emergency care.

An exacerbation happens when your lungs do not make the exchange of gases that is required in order to breathe. After your body uses oxygen, carbon dioxide is left on the inside. Your lungs are responsible for exchanging oxygen with carbon dioxide, essentially this is what inhaling and exhaling is.

A person with COPD has more difficulty inhaling and exhaling because their lungs don’t work as well. This could lead to a buildup of carbon dioxide and reduced oxygen levels.

If carbon dioxide builds up in your body or oxygen levels become too low, it can become deadly. Symptoms of too much carbon dioxide in your body include:

1. Confusion
2. Severe headache
3. Difficulty walking even short distances
4. Having a hard time catching your breath

If these symptoms occur, then it’s important to seek immediate medical attention.

If you have COPD, physical activity will typically leave you short of breath and this is not a reason to seek medical attention every time. But during an exacerbation, your symptoms can get much worse than normal.

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Examples of COPD exacerbation symptoms include:

1. Breathing in a fast and shallow pattern, as if you’ve just exercised very intensely
2. Coughing persistently and more than normal
3. Experiencing shortness of breath at rest or with minimal activit

When you think about your daily routine, what comes to mind? Maybe you think of making your bed, taking a shower, or making a cup of coffee. These are all things that most people do sequentially and sometimes even subconsciously. But have you ever wondered why it’s so easy to do these things regularly, but something like implementing a new diet or exercise routine can feel near impossible to achieve?

As COPD patients, we’re faced with a difficult decision: either ignore our treatment plan and maintain the unpredictability of life or live life by the books, following every rule that our doctor tells us. However, with some hard work and determination, it’s possible to accomplish both of these tasks without having to stress about whether you’re making the right decisions.

If you’re a COPD patient who has trouble making and sticking to a routine, read on because we’re going to take a deep dive into some of the biggest roadblocks preventing COPD patients from living a healthy and happy life. As always, if you’re planning on making any major changes to your treatment plan, be sure to speak with your doctor first.

Why Are Routines So Important?

A routine is something that you do habitually. In other words, it’s something you do without giving much of a second thought to. These can either be good things like going to bed at the same time each night; or bad things like smoking cigarettes after lunch. But the one thing they have in common is that they both feel natural in your day-to-day life. Without having these routines, we might feel a lack of structure or direction in our lives.

Another problem with having no routine is that it can be mentally and physically exhausting to accomplish goals. For example, if you’re constantly having to fight yourself to eat the right foods or take your medication on time, you might get behind on them and get discouraged. Each time this happens, you’re getting farther and farther away from accomplishing your goal.

But one of the most common misconceptions about good habits is that just because something works for one person does not necessarily mean it will work for another. This is why it’s important to start with a broad overview, then narrow down something that will work for you.

Make Sure You Understand Your Long-Term Goals

Generally speaking, bad habits are the result of a narrow-minded approach to your health. For example, if you take a smoke break in the middle of the day you’re only taking into consideration how you’re feeling at that moment. You might feel stressed or antsy early in the day, but after smoking, you feel satisfied and complete. However, in reality, smoking actually increases stress, because, after an initial release of dopamine in the brain, you’ll begin to experience withdrawals which make you feel even worse than before.   

Whether you’re struggling with bad habits involving smoking, your diet, exercise, or anything else, the best place to start is by shifting your focus to long-term thinking. Rather than creating habits that satisfy your immediate desires, you should be creating habits that reinforce what you’re trying to accomplish in life. This is an important step because the more clearly you define what you’re trying to do, the more obvious it will be if you start falling back on your goals. 

Eliminate Any Distractions

Distractions are so commonplace in the modern world. If you own a phone, tablet, computer, or any other electronic device, you’re probably well aware of how easy it is to spend hours on these devices without even acknowledging what’s going on in the real world. According to Kommando Tech, people check their phones an average of 58 times a day. Even if you’re looking at your device for a fraction of a second to check or reply to a message, you’re still taking your mind off of whatever you were doing. Over time, this could become a significant roadblock preventing you from implementing healthy habits.

Electronics are not the only distractions in our lives, however. If you take some time to think about the distractions in your life, you’ll likely come up with a good list of things. For many people, a dirty or cluttered home can be a distraction. According to Men’s Health, a messy home can contribute to anxiety, affect your quality of sleep, and contribute to avoidance strategies that make us less productive. These are just a few of the distractions that could be present in your life. Be sure to take some time to sort these out before you move on.

Make Reminders Around Your Home

Chances are, you have that one friend who likes to create reminders for everything, even for things that don’t seem important. From an outside perspective, this can be a little overbearing; but if you’re the one setting the reminders, it might make more sense to you. Reminders are a great way to force yourself to stick to a routine, at least until you’re able to do it without them. Some people prefer to make physical reminders on a notepad or sticky note, but others prefer to use digital reminders on their phone or computer. Better yet, you could try a combination of the two.

Physical reminders are great if you want to keep yourself on track throughout the day. For example, you could place sticky notes on the door reminding you to take your medication before leaving the house or you could put sticky notes on your fridge to remind you what foods to avoid. Setting reminders on your phone can also be useful if you want to remind yourself of doctor’s appointments or when to exercise. The type of reminders you need will depend entirely on what habits you struggle with keeping, but generally speaking, they’re a great way to keep you on track.

Find Ways to Make Your Routine Easier

Most people prefer to find the path of least resistance when it comes to accomplishing their goals. There’s no point in adding any unnecessary struggle, especially if your health is at risk. So, it goes without saying that any little thing you can do to make your health routine easier to follow will be very beneficial in the long run. One of the best things you can do to simplify your COPD treatment plan is to invest in a portable oxygen concentrator.

A portable oxygen concentrator is an electric oxygen generator used to replace old, outdated types of oxygen equipment like oxygen tanks and liquid oxygen tanks. They work by drawing in ambient air that you would normally breathe and then removing gases like nitrogen, argon, and more. The device then puts out medical-grade oxygen through the nasal cannula. You’ll receive the exact same amount of oxygen with a portable oxygen concentrator, but the device is much easier to manage.

First and foremost, portable oxygen generators are much lighter than oxygen tanks. A pulse dose concentrator like the Inogen One G5 is under 5 pounds making it very easy to carry on your shoulder or back. Oxygen tanks, however, tend to be much heavier at around 10 to 15 pounds. As a result, you’ll need to wheel your oxygen tank around using a carrying cart. This is especially inconvenient if you need to go up a flight of stairs or some other obstacle.

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Another problem with oxygen thanks is that they are very bulky and oblong. So when it comes to storing one, you’ll have a difficult time. Since they’re highly pressurized and contain medical oxygen, they can be very dangerous. Oxygen tanks can be stored at 2,000 pounds per square inch (PSI) or more which makes them a hazard to keep around the house. Portable oxygen generators don’t have any compressed oxygen inside the unit so they don’t have this problem.

Finally, portable oxygen concentrators are simply put, much easier, and convenient to use. Oxygen tanks need to be refilled by a professional when they run out of oxygen, but POCs just need to be recharged. Since the batteries are so light, you can carry plenty of backup batteries with you wherever you go and you’ll never run out of oxygen. You can even use your POC while it’s plugged into the wall charging.

The reason POCs make your COPD routine easier is that they are mostly out of sight and out of mind. Rather than having to worry about whether or not you’re getting enough oxygen wherever you go, POCs provide you with a consistent and reliable source of oxygen that won’t fail when you need it the most. COPD patients who use concentrators find that they spend less time thinking about their disease and more time living their lives.

Don’t Get Thrown Off by a Change of Plans

It’s happened to all of us… we’re doing a great job of maintaining good habits and working towards our goals. Then, all of a sudden, something happens that causes us to get off course. Life isn’t always going to be predictable, so we need to be prepared when our plans change and we aren’t able to follow through with our normal routine.

It’s important that you have the freedom to attend family events and visit friends whenever you want. But at the same time, you need to have a plan to stay on track towards meeting your goals even with all of life’s surprises. One way to do this is to simply notify your friends and family about your routine so that they can help you stay on track. 

Get Plenty of Sleep

One of the most important factors that will help you maintain a routine is alertness. Studies have found that COPD patients are significantly more likely than the general public to experience sleep disruptions that can lead to daytime sleepiness and even contribute to COPD flare-ups like breathlessness, chest pain, and fatigue. It’s important to fix these underlying issues if you want to have the energy to follow through with your routine. Try some of the following tips to improve sleep with COPD:

• Changing your sleeping position can take some stress off your lungs and promote more restful sleep. The Lung Institute recommends sleeping on your side with your head slightly propped up to improve breathing.
• Avoid taking naps during the day. A consistent nighttime sleeping pattern will keep you more alert and prevent daytime drowsiness.
• Avoid using electronics right before bed. Staring at a screen as you’re winding down for the night can mess with your body’s circadian rhythm. 
• Exercise more consistently. Moderate exercise increases the amount of slow-wave sleep you get. In other words, you get more “deep sleep” where your body and mind are able to rejuvenate.
• Get tested for a sleep disorder. COPD-OSA overlap syndrome is a common cause of sleep disruptions. Treating obstructive sleep apnea will be the best way to experience better sleep at night. 
• Speak to your doctor about your medication. Certain COPD medications may contribute or outright cause sleep problems.

Speak With Your Doctor

Ultimately, your doctor will be your greatest resource if you’re having trouble following your treatment plan. He/she may have some helpful tips to keep you on track, or your doctor may be able to alter your treatment regime completely in order to make it easier to follow. Another thing that your doctor can do is refer you to a mental health specialist who can help you cope with the mental and emotional aspects of dealing with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most trusted forms of therapy.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of therapy that aims to change the way that you think and act. It’s designed to target negative or inaccurate thinking patterns that can lead to you developing bad habits. CBT is a type of psychotherapy (talk therapy) that usually involves a one-on-one conversation with a mental health counselor. Most commonly, CBT is used to treat mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, or eating disorders, but it can be used by anyone to help people cope with difficult situations like living with COPD. Below are the steps involved in a CBT session:

Identifying the problem: Before you can solve the problem you need to know what’s causing it. Your first session of CBT will likely be focused on targeting troubling situations or conditions in your life. This could be things like COPD symptoms, or a troubling experience involving a flare-up or exacerbation.

Becoming aware of your thoughts and feelings about these events: Next, it’s important for you and your therapist to understand exactly how you’re reacting to these problems. You may be asked to keep a daily journal where you write down your change of emotions throughout the day.

Understanding negative or inaccurate thinking: Destructive thoughts are usually the result of an inaccurate interpretation of an event. This step will help you identify these thoughts so that they can be reversed.

Reinforcing positive thinking patterns: Finally, you and your therapist will working on reinforcing constructive thoughts throughout your daily life. This could take several weeks or several months depending on how receptive you are to the changes.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, it’s much easier to give in to bad habits than to reinforce good habits, especially if you suffer from a chronic illness like COPD. Being diagnosed with COPD means having to take on new responsibilities and pay closer attention to how your daily routine affects your long-term health. This can feel overwhelming at times, but if you break it down and understand how habits develop in the first place, it will be much more manageable.

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In this post, we showed you just a few of the things you can do to maintain healthy habits with COPD. However, as we mentioned, everyone is different and what might work for one person may not work for another. If you’re still struggling with managing COPD symptoms, be sure to stick to our blog. We try to provide respiratory patients with a unique perspective on their disease as well as providing tips that you won’t find anywhere else. 

If you’re looking for a portable oxygen concentrator for sale in Denver, don’t hesitate to reach out to our respiratory specialists here at LPT Medical. Since most COPD patients need 24/7 supplemental oxygen, it’s our goal to ensure they are able to do this comfortably and without affecting their daily routine. Call us at 1-800-946-1201 today to speak with a respiratory specialist.

Because COPD is a breathing disorder, most of the symptoms of the disease are caused by not being able to get enough oxygen when you breathe. However, there is another, equally serious breathing problem that COPD patients face, which is not exhaling enough carbon dioxide (CO2) when they breathe—known as CO2 retention.

When this happens, it allows excess carbon dioxide to build up in your blood, which can cause serious symptoms and make it more difficult to breathe. Although it is most likely to happen to patients suffering from severe COPD, anyone with the disease, especially those using supplemental oxygen, are at risk for CO2 retention.

In this post, we're going to explain how carbon dioxide retention happens and how it affects your health and your COPD. We'll also give you tips on how to avoid CO2 retention and how to recognize the signs in case it ever happens to you.

How Does CO2 Retention Happen?

COPD causes your airways to get narrowed and obstructed, which makes it more difficult for air to flow through. This, along with the damage to the air sacs in your lungs, causes the majority of COPD symptoms like coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath.

Sometimes, the same airway obstruction that makes it difficult to inhale enough oxygen in also makes it difficult to exhale effectively. And because you release carbon dioxide—a waste product—when you exhale, breathing out is just as important as breathing in.

How Your Lungs Process Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide

Breathing is about maintaining a balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide; you take in oxygen when you inhale, and breathe out carbon dioxide when you exhale. These gases are both carried by your red blood cells, which cart them to and from your lungs.

The first, oxygen, is an important fuel that all the cells in your body need a constant supply of in order to survive. The other, carbon dioxide, is a waste product that your body gets rid of in order to make room for more oxygen.

When you breathe in, empty-handed red blood cells pick up oxygen molecules from your lungs before beginning their journey to carry that oxygen all around your whole body. This exchange between your blood and the oxygen in your lungs happens in the alveoli, or the tiny air sacs in the lungs.

As the oxygen gets used up by the different organs and cells in your body, it gets turned into the waste product carbon dioxide. Then, the cells hand off this CO2 to empty-handed red blood cells in your bloodstream, which then carry the CO2 back to the air sacs in your lungs.

Then, before you exhale, all of those CO2-carrying red blood cells release their carbon dioxide into your lungs. When you breathe out, you exhale all of that CO2, and the red blood cells, empty-handed once more, are ready to pick up more oxygen the next time you inhale.

Why COPD Causes CO2 Retention

COPD can disrupt the process described above by preventing you from getting rid of enough carbon dioxide when you breathe. It does this in two ways: by destroying the tiny air sacs in your lungs, and by preventing you from pushing all of the air out of your lungs when you exhale.

COPD can make it difficult to breathe out because of airway narrowing, blockage, and other changes in the lungs. This leaves excess CO2 trapped in your lungs after you exhale, which takes up space that is needed to hold oxygen-rich air when you breathe in.

COPD also damages and destroys your air sacs, or alveoli, which is where oxygen and carbon dioxide is passed between your blood and the air in your lungs. When you have COPD, there are fewer healthy alveoli and fewer places for this exchange to happen, which makes it difficult to get enough oxygen into your blood and also difficult to get enough CO2 out of your blood and into your lungs.

Over time, as your COPD progresses and your lung function declines, you may retain more and more carbon dioxide as you breathe. As that excess CO2 builds up in your blood, it causes an imbalance between your blood oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, which can cause serious symptoms and oxygen deprivation.

Co2 retention also happens through a phenomenon known as ventilation-perfusion mismatch. This happens when your body gets confused about which parts of your lungs to prioritize, which reduces the efficiency of gas exchange in your lungs.

Usually, your lungs constrict your blood vessels in such a way that they decrease the amount of blood that flows to poorly functioning air sacs that have been damaged by COPD. At the same time, they increase blood flow to the most healthy alveoli so they can absorb as much oxygen (and release as much carbon dioxide) as possible.

However, this ventilation-perfusion ratio can get thrown off, usually because of high-flow oxygen therapy, COPD exacerbations, or other COPD symptoms. That causes this blood flow strategy in the lungs to break down; less blood flows to the parts of the lungs that function efficiently, and more blood flows through damaged alveoli that are less capable (or completely incapable) of exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide efficiently.

The result is low blood oxygen levels (hypoxemia) and high blood carbon dioxide levels (hypercapnea) that make it more and more difficult to breathe. When mild, this can often be corrected with supplemental oxygen therapy and other COPD medications, however, it can be caused by improperly-dosed oxygen therapy, as well.

Why CO2 Retention is Dangerous

When too much CO2 is trapped or “retained” in your lungs after you exhale, it makes it much harder to breathe. This is partially because oxygen-rich air that enters your lungs when you inhale mixes with the leftover CO2, diluting the oxygen concentration of the air in your lungs and making it more difficult for the air sacs to absorb enough oxygen.

Another problem is that the excess CO2 gets picked up by empty-handed red blood cells and re-absorbed back into your blood. Since red blood cells can only hold one gas at a time, it leaves fewer red blood cells free to pick up oxygen when you breathe in.

The problem can get worse as more and more CO2 builds up in your bloodstream, making it harder and harder to absorb oxygen from your lungs. If your blood CO2 gets too high, it's known as hypercapnea, and it can lead to serious breathing problems and dangerously low levels of oxygen in your blood.

Because of this, the main symptoms of hypercapnea overlap with the symptoms caused by hypoxemia, which happens when your blood oxygen saturation gets too low. If left untreated for too long, hypercapnea-related hypoxemia can cause serious health complications, including respiratory failure and death.

However, CO2 retention poses a more immediate risk of making your COPD more difficult to manage and making symptoms like coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath worse. You are more likely to experience hypercapnea during symptom flare-ups, respiratory illnesses, and COPD exacerbations, but CO2 retention can also happen slowly and gradually over time.

In fact, the early symptoms of CO2 retention may be so mild or non-existent that you don't notice them until it gets much worse. That's why it's important to understand what CO2 retention is, how it happens, and how to recognize it; the sooner you realize it's happening, the sooner you can seek treatment and get your COPD back under control.

Left unchecked for too long, CO2 retention deprives your body of oxygen, which can cause serious health problems like heart disease, pulmonary hypertension, and cognitive dysfunction. If it gets too bad, severe hypercapnea can cause respiratory failure, organ damage, and death.

Respiratory failure happens when you have so much CO2 in your blood that it raises your blood's acidity beyond healthy levels. This is a condition known as acute respiratory acidosis, and it is is a life-threatening medical emergency.

A less severe form of respiratory acidosis, known as chronic respiratory acidosis, can happen gradually over time. It does not pose as immediate a risk as acute respiratory acidosis, and, because it happens little by little, the body adapts to the blood's acidity. This makes the symptoms are subtle, if noticeable at all.

If you have COPD and are worried about CO2 retention, hypercapnea, or chronic respiratory acidosis, then ask your doctor to take another look at your blood oxygen, CO2 levels, and your lung function tests (he should already do this at your regular appointments). Always tell your doctor about any new symptoms you have, even if they are mild, and don't be afraid to discuss any concerns you have about your health.

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The Symptoms of CO2 Retention and Hypercapnea

The first symptoms of CO2 retention or hypercapnea are usually headaches, breathlessness, drowsiness, and lack of energy. These symptoms happen because you can't absorb enough oxygen and your blood oxygen saturation gets low.

As it gets worse, hypercapnea can cause difficulty thinking and concentrating, confusion, and muscle twitches. In serious cases, it can cause severe oxygen deprivation which leads to swelling in the hands and feet (edema), a bluish tint to the skin (especially fingers and lips), seizures, coma, respiratory failure, and death.

Here is a list of some of the general symptoms of CO2 retention:

• Mild headaches
• Feelings of drowsiness, fogginess, or sleepiness
• Lack of energy or fatigue
• Inability to focus or think straight
• Feeling dizzy or disoriented
• Shortness of breath

Here is a list of the more severe symptoms of hypercapnea:

• Unexplained confusion
• Abnormal muscle twitching
• Abnormal depression or paranoia
• Irregular heartbeat
• Bluish tint to the skin and lips
• Swollen hands and feet (edema)
• Hyperventilation
• Seizures
• Loss of consciousness

These symptoms can occur quickly or happen gradually over time. If you experience mild symptoms for more than a couple of days, then you should schedule an appointment to see your doctor. If your symptoms are severe, then you should seek medical attention at an emergency room immediately.

Causes of CO2 Retention for People with COPD

As we discussed, CO2 retention is often caused by airway obstruction, damaged lung tissue, and ventilation-perfusion mismatch in the lungs. However, there are a variety of other things that can make CO2 retention worse.

Oxygen Therapy

A common cause of CO2 retention is supplemental oxygen therapy. If your oxygen dosage is wrong or you get too much oxygen for any other reason, it can cause too much CO2 to build up in your blood.

This happens because, when you get excess oxygen with every breath, it can cause red blood cells to drop carbon dioxide to pick up oxygen instead. As a result, the dropped CO2 dissolves into your blood instead of getting released into your lungs for expulsion.

This dramatically throws off the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange in your lungs, causing more and more CO2 to build up in your bloodstream. In this way, portable or home oxygen therapy can make CO2 retention much worse and cause hypercapnea when prescribed or used incorrectly.

Another way that oxygen therapy can worsen CO2 retention is by causing ventilation-perfusion mismatch. Although researchers aren't sure exactly why, this happens when you get more oxygen at a time than what you actually need.

The best way to avoid oxygen therapy-induced CO2 retention is to follow your oxygen prescription exactly. To reduce the chances of hypercapnea, your doctor should prescribe you enough oxygen to keep your blood oxygen saturation at about 90 percent, but not much higher.

If you are worried about CO2 retention, you can always have your doctor check to make sure your flow rate is adjusted correctly and that you are using your equipment properly. Then, it's up to you to follow your doctor's instructions and only use your oxygen as often as your doctor recommends.

Emphysema

Severe emphysema is another major cause of CO2 retention in people with COPD. Emphysema causes your lungs to become enlarged and less stretchy (a condition known as lung hyperinflation), which makes it more difficult to push all of the air out of your lungs when you exhale.

Lungs with emphysema tend to trap lots of air, which makes it difficult to breathe and absorb enough oxygen as well as expel enough CO2. This puts patients with emphysema at an increased risk of hypercapnea, especially during heavy exercise, which forces your lungs to get rid of even more CO2.

That's why doctors recommend breathing exercises like pursed-lips breathing and diaphragmic breathing to help you train yourself how to empty your lungs more completely when you exhale. These can be especially helpful during exercise and physical activity to reduce and prevent shortness of breath.

It is also important to follow your COPD treatment plan carefully to minimize your symptoms. The better you keep your symptoms and breathing under control, the better you can prevent air from getting trapped in your lungs, reduce hyperinflation, and prevent hypercapnea.

Some patients with severe emphysema may be eligible for lung reduction surgery if their lungs are significantly enlarged. By reducing the volume of the lungs, the surgery makes it easier to push all the air out when you exhale, preventing CO2 retention and making it easier to breathe.

To learn more about breathing exercises you can practice to improve your COPD, see our previous article on COPD breathing techniques here.

Eating Too Many Carbohydrates

Believe it or not, the foods that you eat can have a significant effect on CO2 retention in your lungs. That's because, whenever your body digests food, it turns it into two main things: energy, and carbon dioxide waste.

The carbon dioxide waste has to be processed through your lungs so that you can exhale it out of your body. Some foods, however, create extra carbon dioxide waste that puts unnecessary strain on your lungs.

The main culprits for this are foods high in carbohydrates, which create more CO2 waste than other foods when your body breaks them down. When you have COPD and your lungs are already struggling to function efficiently, this excess CO2 can be enough to tip the balance in your lungs and cause you to retain too much CO2.

Because of this, doctors often recommend that people with COPD limit the amount of carbohydrates in their diets. That includes grains, pastas, breads, and especially simple sugars and processed foods high in carbs.

While a certain amount of carbs are still healthy, you should try to limit yourself to healthy sources of complex carbohydrates and be careful not to eat more than you need. Instead, replace carbohydrates in your diet with more foods that are high in lean protein and healthy fats.

According to US dietary guidelines for older adults, you should eat about 5-7 ounces of grains every day, at least half of which should come from whole-grain sources. However, it is easy to exceed this amount if you eat a lot of breads, pastas, cereals, or processed foods.

Shallow Breathing

When you take too short or too shallow of breaths, your lungs have a hard time getting rid of enough CO2. That's why it's important to keep your breathing under control and practice breathing exercises if you have COPD.

Many COPD patients tend to take more shallow breaths whenever they feel like they're having trouble breathing, such as during bouts of breathlessness or coughing. Unfortunately, that just makes the problem worse by making it easier for air and CO2 to stay trapped in your lungs.

This happens because shallow breathing only uses the upper part of your lungs, which is why it is sometimes referred to as “top breathing.” As a result, stale air stays in the lower parts of your lungs, which leads to CO2 retention and makes it harder to breathe.

You can counteract this, however, by practicing breathing exercises in your spare time and remembering to use them when you feel short of breath. Exercises like diaphragmic breathing and pursed-lips breathing are especially helpful for training yourself to take deep, full breaths and push all the air out of your lungs when you exhale.

It also helps to strengthen your breathing muscles, which you can also do with aerobic exercise, wind instruments, and other forms of physical activity. You can even join special COPD exercise and therapy classes designed to help you improve your breathing, including pulmonary rehabilitation and music therapy courses.

Conclusion

COPD is a complicated breathing disorder that can lead to a variety of different symptoms and health complications. Because of the complex nature of the disease, many patients struggle to understand how their blood oxygen levels, blood CO2 levels, and their symptoms are all connected.

Hopefully, after reading this article, you have a better understanding of how your lungs function and how CO2 retention works. You should also be better able to recognize the signs of hypercapnea and how to protect yourself from factors that put you at risk.

If you use supplemental oxygen therapy, it's particularly important to know the symptoms of CO2 retention and the dangers of getting too much oxygen. If you catch the early signs, you can work with your doctor to adjust your oxygen delivery before it causes any serious problems. It's important to fully understand oxygen therapy benefits and oxygen therapy side effects before you get started.

COPD is sometimes a difficult disease to manage, but with the right knowledge, a good treatment plan, and the support of a good medical team, you can successfully keep your symptoms and CO2 retention under control. That's why it's important to learn everything you can about COPD and what you can do to keep your lungs as healthy as possible.

We’ve all experienced what it’s like to be burnt out on something. Whether it’s your job, chores, or health routine, it’s not always easy to find a way to stay on track to meet your goals. What complicates this even further is that everyone experiences this for a different reason. For some people, it’s just a matter of learning how to stick to a routine, but for others, it could be a lack of mental or physical energy that’s holding them back.

Oftentimes, when people are trying to stick to a COPD treatment plan, the latter is true. After all, fatigue is the second most common symptom of COPD with about 50% of patients experiencing it. Knowing this information, it’s not hard to see why it can be difficult to stick to a routine. If you’re hit with a sudden wave of fatigue, grogginess, or breathlessness, it can make simple tasks seem overwhelming. Eventually, your health goals will seem unattainable and unrealistic.

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In this post, we’re going to provide you with some tips for having a fresh perspective on your COPD treatment plan. Regardless of the stage of COPD that you’re in, it’s never too early or too late to hit the reset button and start managing your COPD symptoms proactively. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section below and we’ll get back to you.

Change Up Your Exercise Routine

As a COPD patient, you know how important your exercise routine is. While exercise does not magically reverse the effects of lung damage, it improves the efficiency of your body and lungs which inevitably leads to less breathlessness, less chronic pain, and a longer life expectancy. But you know as well as anyone that exercise routines are difficult to stick to, especially if you viewed it as a “chore” in the first place.

More often than not, COPD patients are taught how to exercise through a pulmonary rehabilitation program. These programs are aimed at educating patients about their lungs and disease, then applying exercise techniques that allow them to lead a happier life. Unfortunately, pulmonary rehabilitation programs don’t teach you how to make your exercise routine “interesting” or “engaging.” They simply tell you what needs to be done. As a result, many people find themselves in a situation a year or two down the road where they don’t have the motivation to continue.

At some point, you’re going to want to try new exercises that hold your interest. The important thing to remember is that you still need to follow the guidelines that you learned in pulmonary rehabilitation because this will ensure that you are making the most of your time and avoid injury. For example, if you implement a new exercise, you need to make sure it works the same muscle group and that it’s a similar intensity as your original exercise. If you have any doubts about it, you can always reach out to your doctor with any questions you may have.

Make Adjustments to Your Diet

What you eat also has a major impact on your ability to live a comfortable life with COPD. Unfortunately, your diet is also something that can become mundane if you’re eating the same things every day. Like with exercising, it’s okay to make changes to your diet, you just need to make sure that you’re getting the right nutrients. You also need to ensure that you aren’t increasing or decreasing your caloric intake too much. According to the COPD Foundation, breathing with COPD takes more energy than for a healthy individual, so you need to maintain your caloric intake.

Most COPD patients need a high protein intake. Protein plays an essential role in the structure, function, and regulation of body tissues. Most notably, protein helps you build muscle and counteract muscle atrophy which is common in COPD patients. Maintaining muscle mass is important for respiratory patients because strong muscles take less oxygen to function, thus reducing the burden on your lungs. While you probably get most of your protein through meat, there are many other great sources of protein, including but not limited to fish, eggs, dairy products, nuts, and beans.

You might think of fats as being “unhealthy.” But you may be surprised to find that many COPD patients are prescribed high-fat diets. The problem is that many people don’t know the difference between healthy fats and unhealthy fats. Unhealthy fats like saturated fat or trans fat include things like beef or pork fat, margarine, butter, and shortening. Eating too many of these things can lead to increased blood cholesterol levels and LDL cholesterol levels. Healthy fats, on the other hand, like monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats include avocados, olives, nuts, olive oil, and more. Fatty fish like salmon is also a great source of healthy fats like omega-3.

While it may seem like COPD diets are pretty restricted, this is not necessarily the case. It’s important to avoid foods that are high in added sugars, sodium, and unhealthy fats. However, aside from that, you simply need to meet your minimum caloric intake for the day and any other requirements that your doctor sets. You still have plenty of freedom to choose what you eat and switching up your meals can even keep you on track for meeting your goals by preventing burnout. 

Upgrade to a Portable Oxygen Concentrator

After being prescribed oxygen, many people choose the first oxygen device they think of — oxygen tanks. Most people know about oxygen tanks and they’ve seen people use them. But that doesn’t mean they’re the best option for you and your lifestyle. Although oxygen tanks are a popular choice, they tend to be heavy and bulky meaning they are difficult to maneuver. Fortunately, there is an alternative known as portable oxygen concentrators.

A portable oxygen concentrator is unlike an oxygen tank in that it doesn’t hold oxygen within the unit. Rather, it takes in ambient air, removes nitrogen and argon, and puts out medical-grade oxygen. POCs are electronic devices and they run off of powerful lithium-ion batteries, so you simply need to charge the battery via a car or wall outlet and you’ll be on your way. The most notable benefit of this is that you won’t have to keep going out of your way to refill or replace your oxygen tanks when they run out.

Another benefit of portable oxygen concentrators is their lightweight and compact design. Unlike oxygen tanks which are oblong-shaped, POCs are small enough and light enough to be carried on your shoulder. This opens up a world of possibilities and enables you the freedom to live life on your own terms without being defined by your disease. Inevitably, this leads to more options for you and a lower chance of experiencing burnout with your COPD treatment plan. 

Reduce the Clutter

Sometimes it’s not our COPD treatment plan itself that’s causing us to feel burnt out, but all the extra clutter around us. The term “clutter” can be defined as anything that complicates our lives and occupies our thoughts but doesn’t provide any real benefit to us. If you live with clutter too long it can really start to become exhausting and you’ll notice yourself losing motivation in other areas of life such as your exercise routine, diet, and making it to doctor’s visits.

For some people, this might imply clutter within the home. For example, having a messy bedroom, bathroom, or kitchen can lead to a lot of discomfort in your daily life, and as a result, you might find yourself too distracted to follow your COPD treatment plan. Eliminating physical clutter like this is as simple as taking the time each day to organize your home and avoid getting to the point where it’s too much to manage. If you’re too busy to clean, you might consider hiring a caretaker who can help out around the home.

Another type of clutter is “mental clutter.” Think of this as the opposite of mental clarity. Instead of being able to concentrate on what you’re doing in the current moment, your thoughts are always wandering to something else. Mental clutter can certainly be caused by things like a messy home, but it’s more likely to be caused by something that takes your focus off of what you’re doing in the present moment. For example, watching the news for too long or spending too much time on social media are both things that can take your focus off the present moment. 

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one way of dealing with problems related to mental clarity. This is a type of therapy that’s focused on reversing negative or unproductive thought processes. CBT has become very common among people with chronic conditions like COPD as awareness around mental health problems has increased. During CBT, you will work one-on-one with a certified therapist who will guide you through the process.  

Practice Meditation

Meditation comes in many different forms. However, in most cases, the goal is always to achieve a state of mental clarity and well-being. Meditation helps train your mind to think clearly and without distractions. It also promotes emotional well-being while reducing anxiety and in some cases even improving physical well-being. By far the most popular form of meditation for COPD patients is Tai Chi. This practice combines traditional meditation principles with martial arts. It’s popular for COPD patients because it teaches you to control your thoughts, breathing, and balance, all of which are important if you’re trying to improve your health. Read through this post we made about Tai Chi to learn more.

Speak With Your Doctor

Your doctor should be your first point of contact when it comes to anything related to your COPD treatment plan. If you know that you need to make changes, your doctor will be able to tell you what changes are acceptable and which are not. He/she may also be able to provide you with additional resources or direct you to another specialist who can help you deal with issues related to COPD burnout and fatigue. Sometimes burnout is due to poor sleep quality, so he/she may recommend that you get tested for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and other sleep disorders.

Another change your doctor may be able to do is make changes to your medication routine. Corticosteroids are one of the most common drugs used to treat COPD because they reduce inflammation in the lungs. However, these drugs are also known to have adverse psychiatric effects such as mania, depression, and cognitive impairments, all of which can contribute to burnout and a negative outlook of your disease. Your doctor may be able to reduce your dosage or prescribe you a different medication altogether.

Conclusion

Being “burnt out” on your COPD routine can be exhausting. On one hand, you may be tempted to revert to your old way of living and entirely forget about your COPD treatment plan. However, on the other hand, you understand that the best way to deal with the symptoms of your disease is through persistence and consistency. If you feel like you’ve reached this point, be sure to try some of the tips above to get back on track.

Ultimately, you will want to consult your doctor if you’re struggling to keep up with your treatment plan. It’s not unusual for someone to struggle, especially if they’ve had COPD for many years. Here at LPT Medical, we strongly believe that a portable oxygen concentrator can help you regain much of the freedom that you lost after being diagnosed with COPD. As a result, you’ll be able to approach your treatment plan from more angles and prevent burnout.

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We sell some of the top-rated portable oxygen concentrators in the industry such as the Caire FreeStyle Comfort, Inogen One G5, and the GCE Zen-O Lite. When you contact one of our oxygen concentrator specialists, they will work with you one-on-one to understand your needs and align you with a concentrator that matches them. We also have many different buying and financing options to help you manage payments in a way that works with your budget. To get started, simply give us a call or send us an email.