An exacerbation is a worsening of the normal symptoms/new symptoms, and one must use more of the rescue medications. In my case, my normal rescue medications stop working very quickly.

The length of time they last is different for each case. The only way I have found to recover from them is to seek medical help right away.

This is all based upon my personal experience. The only real way to know for certain is to see a Dr.

I'm sorry he is having a difficult time. I will keep him in my thoughts and prayers for a quick recovery.

The only way out is antibiotics & predisone for me

He's got to see a doctor ASAP!

Your husband needs medical attention now.

If you have to drag him to the Dr he needs to go. I know some times I would wait to long and that is not good
God Bless

I agree with everyone else....get him to the doc.............I am famous for "letting them go"............as I have no medical insurance......bet HE knows..........its different......it feels different.......your body (his) knows it........get it treated.............don't be stupid, like me:(:(..............he will regret it:(:(

Best of luck to you both :):)

All these folks are right on the money....exacerbation means a Making Worse....time to have it looked at...run, don't walk to A Doctor...

Yeah, A doctor. Now. What they said...

Thank you all. I'm doing everything I can to try get him to go to the doctor. He is so darn stubborn! Please say a prayer for him, if you're inclined to do so!

yes, it's a sudden worsening of our symptoms. (our disease doesn't get bad "overnight")
i had the same question when i came here.
the way i see it, a virus, inflammation or bacterial infection (a cold) goes to our lungs and if not taken care of IMMEDIATELY we can actually die in one.
so tell him even if he has a "cold"---that has to be taken care of immediately; hit hard and fast.
me not knowing this, and a dr not treating me for this ended up with me getting scar tissue in my lungs that took years off my life.
i don't want to scare you, but as i learned the hard way we can't play around with these things any more & think our bodies are going to heal themselves...our bodies our busy fighting our disease.
my prayers are with you and your husband.

It's possible your husband may even have pneumonia. Please get him to a doctor as quickly as possible. If he refuses to go, during one of his coughing fits, call an ambulance. They won't charge anything unless they transport him to the hospital. Maybe they can talk with him and convince him how important it is for him to seek medical attention.

Justshoot.........did he go to doc??? I was just coming on to check up and say."if he won't go...call an ambulance.................but Higgins beat me to that..............please keep us posted.

Justshoot, I pray for your husbands recovery and strength! And your comfort and strength as well.
Be blessed

He needs to get to the doctor. The longer he waits the more sever the treatment will need to be. I used to wait until I was down on all fours barking like a dog (those of you with COPD know what I am talking about) before I would give in and see the doc. I told my husband it was allergies. I came up with all kinds of excuses. I could tell when my cough changed from the "normal" smokers cough to something different. Your husband has a choice ... he can walk into a doctor's office on his own two feet or he can end up in an ambulance on his way to the emergency room. This is not an issue to be played with and he needs to stop playing with his health and your emotions.

Sounds like he's got a serious infection going on. Whatever he's got he needs help. I agree with the choir. DOCTOR DOCTOR DOCTOR.

I've been here several years and I still haven't figured out exacerbations. Yep, my doctor keeps asking me if I have had any exacerbations and I tell him I'm not sure what they are. He keeps telling me what Raphaele said and I keep telling him I have exacerbations about 3 times a day.