Nope, you're not. When I first tangled with this disease I put off calling the doc. That's when I found out that exacerbations damage your lungs - and you can't get that back. I now have extra tapers of prednisone and Zithromax. I don't have to wait for a prescription any more. Talk to your doc about getting extra. Bets the hell out of the ER on a Friday night...

Hugs,
Dennis

I agree with Denny, I keep meds "on-hand" just in case. For me it always happens on the wekends. I am sure your Doc will give you a script, just ask.

Another idiot here. Two years ago I felt steadily more breathless and generally ill, kept putting off going to Dr till, when I finally did, I could barely walk from my car to the clinic. My fingernails were blue. I was hospitalized with pneumonia for 2 weeks at 2 different hospitals because the first one wasn't able to fix me. Never again will I wait and see if it gets better!

If I have a cough that won't go away or running fever, I will go to doctor. Otherwise, just one bit of SOB does no worry me as long as my stats look good. But if it happens again, yep, I will call the doctor. I really hate to do that, do you realize how many germs and sick people are in and out of doctors offices? lol

When I had the bilateral pulmonary emboli working their way through my body, I delayed calling for an ambulance to get me to the hospital. By the time I did call them and I did get to ER, all they could say was that it was a miracle that I survived. Never again. I behave now when something goes wrong.

I'm doing it right now. I started my pred. on Tues. but I still feel terrible. Tomorrow when I close the post office I am going to the ER in the next city over. I'm afraid if I go now I couldn't make it to work tomorrow. Hard headed...NO.....I must have my job to have insurance till Medicare kicks in in over a year.
Under my right arm I feel like I've been kicked by a mule.
Gonna go sleep now till work time tomorrow AM.
I can hardly wait to see a Dr. When I called my pulmno. Wed. to say I had started pred. I was told next appt. would be on the 5th....I don't think I can wait that long.

i tend to wait too long and try to attribute feeling bad to other things such as allergies, over doing things, the weather etc.
and if i have an appointment coming up i still tend to wait that extra week for the appointment instead of calling to get in sooner.
so, i can relate.
i think because it is a habit from my "pre-COPD" years when dr's would send me home with the "it's just a virus" dx & charge me for the visit.
having COPD changes all of that though, and now i am learning that i have to be on antibiotics immediately or things are going to get alot worse real fast!
and each time i get sick i lose a bit more function as dennis pointed out.
and why is it that it's always on a weekend? LOL

btw;we are all different with this dx. i rarely get a fever or get the green goo as warning to go to dr.
it's only AFTER i get on the antibiotics for a few days & it starts breaking up that i start coughing up colorful stuff.

I am not a doctor-loving person. Ugh. But what everyone says here makes sense. I will try to go sooner from here on out. Hope you feel better soon.

Thank you all so much for this discussion. I got sick Friday night (the weekend of course) and started my emergency antibiotic on Sat when I got a fever, but this morning I was in a quandary about whether to call my doctor, thinking I should just see how it goes. After reading this discussion, I called my doctor and she upped my Advair to 500 for two weeks and called in a steriod which will decline over four days.
I really needed the nudge or reminder that it is not safe to wait to see how it develops.
Thank you all again, Ann

Sorry you're feeling bad. But no, my whole family waited when my dad started feeling bad the first couple of times he had an exacerbation. He just didn't want to go to the ER the first couple of exacerbations and none of us were used to them yet. We didn't know how they progressed. But a few turned into ER visits and one a 911 call. So we don't wait anymore it's too risky, we either drive him down early or call 911 right away now even if it turns out to not be necessary.

My dad's doc gives him a backup prednisone and antibiotics to get him through to the next doctor's visit so he has less hospitalizations. He is very assertive with the doctor. So be sure to not be afraid to ask for what you need form the doc. It is your right. My dad is very assertive and when he can't be, my mom and I are assertive with the docs. Many docs are receptive. The one's that aren't we fire.

That said it's not just my dad (who has COPD), it's me too with my asthma. I used to not go to the doctor until I had bronchitis so bad that they pulled out the "big guns" in regards to antibiotics on me. So I did that several times and eventually started to go to the doctor the second I have a productive cough.

Sorry for rambling, but in short, nope you're not the only one. My dad and me both waited until things were too bad then go to doc. Side note, he does now make an appointment when he starts to feel the sniffles or starts to feel run down.

Hope you are feeling better soon.

Oh and what jarca said happens to my dad too. He doesn't get the colorful warning until AFTER the treatment is started. So don't always go by that. He had a high white cell count for awhile that they couldn't' figure out and it turned out to be pneumonia. Not to scare you, but just want to be sure you don't ignore it either. Take care!

Oh and we make guests and anyone who comes near the house who has been recently sick STAY AWAY or when I lived there I wore a face mask.

Guilty...

I wait too long too.

Blame it on the "pre" COPD days when you were told you had to have the symptoms at least a week....or was it longer....I know I'd say I had it longer if I was ready to collapse.

I'm slowly getting better at calling sooner.

Birdcat

Pat, do you find it more difficult since you had your surgery. My big fear is what happens when I get that "old time feeling" again. I too had Lung Volume Reduction Surgery. Feel great but still wait for the other shoe to fall. Am I a pessimist or do I just not believe how good I feel.

Help!!!

I need to call Dr. sooner also.

I only received my diagnosis in December & have yet to see the Respiratory Doctor, (I live in Canada with socialized medicine so there are often long waiting periods to see docs) so I am being cared for by my primary physician (GP). Recently I noticed my breathing was more labored & I was going in for something else, so I had him listen to my lungs as well. He is very good at accomodating me.