Hopefully your doctor will order some tests to find out why you are getting worse. You need to describe how you feel and the bad spells you are having.

I am my back is just really hurting and my ribs are hurting again from the coughing. I get so aggravated that I can't do anything without being so out of breath. How are you doing?

COPD is associated with depression and anxiety. One explanation for the risk of falls might be the use of antidepressant medications that can have harmful effects on the physical status of people with depression. Other's have suggested that depression can result in inattention to potential environmental hazards.

COPD patients especially in acute stages have an impaired balance and a high risk of falls. Furthermore, the presence of inflammation was significantly associated with worsening in several balance tests.....................................................

Ask to have a Balance Test done......the most common used tests are: the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Timed Up and Go (TUG) and single-leg stance test (SLS). Often Activities Balance Confidence scale (ABC) is considered a part of the clinical balance assessment.......

OR if you do not mean ''Spills'' then There are a number of ways to measure breathlessness. the MMRC is the most common scale because it is simple, easy to use, and a valid measurement of dyspnea in COPD.





Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung disorder that can leave people breathless, fatigued, and struggling to breathe well. If you have COPD, you may sometimes have great difficulty catching your breath after walking or exercise. You may also find that you are breathless just sitting or relaxing.

The medical term for shortness of breath is dyspnea. Dyspnea occurs in COPD because your lungs become damaged, which prevents them from working as they are designed.


There are a number of ways to measure breathlessness. Many doctors use a system called the Modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale (MMRC). Other scales include the baseline dyspnea index (BDI) and the oxygen cost diagram (OCD).

The MMRC is the most common scale because it is simple, easy to use, and a valid measurement of dyspnea in COPD.

To use the MMRC scale, you choose one of five statements to describe your breathlessness:

(1) “I only get breathless with strenuous exercise.”

(2) “I get short of breath when hurrying on the level or walking up a slight hill.”

(3) "I walk slower than people of the same age on the level because of breathlessness or have to stop for breath when walking at my own pace on the level.”

(4) “I stop for breath after walking about 100 yards or after a few minutes on the level.”
(5) ''I am too breathless to leave the house” or “I am breathless when dressing.”

Doctors can use your answer to determine certain treatments and predict survival. When used in combination with a FEV1 lung function test, your doctor can also diagnose the severity of your breathing problem.

I'm sorry what I meant spells it's the coughing spells. I get to coughing and it's like it cuts my breathe off sometimes my albutrol and ipotrpium works and then sometimes I have to take two treatments before they've worked I've been to Emergency Room twice for that. I have used tramadol in the past but it didn't really work. He has me on a sezurie med right now to help with the spasms in my ribs and back, I can't really tell they do anything. I had that test I think it's called a Spirometer where you have to blow so many times and then use your inhaler and do it again, he said last time it was severe. That was last year so I don't know.As far as those last questions go it would be 4 and getting out of breath dressing.I take anxiety and. Depression pills now. This last bad coughing spell where my ribs and back were hurting was around the 21 of Jan. And my back is still killing me. Sometimes I just wanna throw my hands up!!! The doctor says one thing and it's sometimes he doesn't listen!! I live by myself and can't even get state help.

It's been awhile since I've commented. I have stage 4 Emphysema, there's nothing I can do but to maintain a healthy curriculum and to be the most comfortable with the chronic pain and symptoms I endure. Bottom line, accept the fact that we are going to die from this monster that we created from our own stupidity. We were warned, we made the wrong decision. We have to accept and live with it. I would ask my Dr to try to prescribe a Rx(s) that will make me the most comfortable and ease the stress of the symptoms, because my friend, there's absolutely nothing we can do to make it go away! I feel your pain and frustrations...we all do on this forum. Be strong and make sure you have good drugs! :)

captstt I'm about ready to agree!!!!! Untill I got sick this last time I kept telling myself I could go back to work. But now I see it doesn't look like I am. This last time he told me I had four or so bruised ribs and my back was hurting so he gave me a "handful" of hydrocodone which wound up being 20. Needless to say they didn't help and now it's just my back hurting but still can't do anything without getting out of breath. I'm going back next week and we have to do something different !

Hey Capt...How have you been...The last time you sounded a lot more cheerful..guess this disease can really drag you down gradually or quickly in my case....Had a bad year last year after i completed a 13 month clinical trial for an injected drug that was supposed to kill off the weak oxygen carriers to make more room for the good guys to get past.....Thinking that after Phase 2 was pulled for no reason given.....must have destroyed a few good guys as well....

Went downhill a few months later with 2 Bronchial Blockages that as a ''retainer'' ended up hypoxic and needed around 14 hours on NIV Bi-Pap to clear....That was all good but when I left I took home the HAP Influenza A virus as company....Long story short 7 months down the track and now on Oxygen for Activity and a retention that enjoys and laps up all this new oxygen, it is damned if you do and damned if you don't..

No other options left except a double TX but with the start of Osteo and impossible weight gain needed, I guess i would not get passed the first interview....besides..i am not sure it is worth all the drama with no guarantees I would extend my life any..

Well nice to catch you again...cheers and all the best!