I do not know for sure. This is something your doctor should explain to you, because I know mine changes as my disease enters another stage if I am not slowing it down enough. Also, maybe the lung infection has not completely cleared even if you feel good. my pulmy will not test me for 2-3 weeks after a lung infection. Are you doing breathing exercises as well as physical exercises? Hope someone else on this board can help you more...

Not sure if this answers your question.

http://respiratory-research.com/content/13/1/57

Your lungs are probably still affected by even a mild infection after just one week. If you are feeling well, that is great but you might ask your doctor at first chance if the lower reading was in fact due to the recent infection.

I know my readings can change somewhat according to how I have been handling allergens, dust, etc, whatever can affect my lungs.

As BJ says just continue your breathing exercises and go about your day as you usually do. But be aware of your readings and see if you see any change.

The best,
Anna

I think perhaps the test was done too soon after your lung infection. Could you perhaps ask for another one several months done the road?
Also like others have said -if your COPD has an asthma or allergy component it could be that those things effected your test negatively.-Sometimes we just have a bad day!

Im assuming your FEV1% was determined as the result of a full PFT. If so, then frankly, in my totally unqualified medical opinion, I wouldnt worry that much about it, even less if it was determined by some device in the doctors office. Here are a couple of reasons why.

COPD by definition is progressive that is the numbers are only going to get worse over time no matter what you do. However, that progression is seldom at a single cadence. It can speed-up, slow-down, double-time on occasion (exasperations and the odd illness), and seemly at rest as you respond to various treatments. So dont panic or worry yourself to death (literally smile) over one small snap-shot. Keep taking it day by day; exercise; lots of water; faithful adherence to medication; and frequent follow-ups with your pulmonologist. A sudden drop now in no way means that rate will continue.

Second, in your case, I doubt, as noted by others, that a week is long enough to get an accurate measurement as to YOUR true state. (Again purely my unqualified opinion.) The test was likely useful for your doctor, but Ive had pneumonia twice (mild and severe) and each time, while I felt better much sooner it took me over a month to fully-recover. I strongly believe a PFT performed a month from now will likely provide better numbers.

Third, note that FEV1% is a calculated number based on several physical measurements and Ive discovered from my own experience the exact number depends greatly on your current wellness, how well you perform the various activities, the skill of the technician, and the perfidy of the computer. For example, I was once rated at 18%, 21%, and 31% within the same four month period. The reason for the low number turned out to be because I was pausing very slightly while taking deep breaths and while blowing out. Unnoticed by me or the technician but the computer caught it as an early stop. Once discovered I had to learn how to take the test and did much better. The higher number they put down to responding to better medication. Not saying this happened in your case, but useful to know PFTs are not infallible.

As everyone has pointed out take note but no reason to panic. Smile.

Thanks Gnot and everyone else. Yes a full LFT was performed. It just seemed so odd to me because I have been holding in the low 50% range for so many years and I feel so good.

Thanks you all and God Bless

i agree with the others.
i think every infection takes a bit of a toll on our lungs, but unless severe & prolonged infection your numbers seem a bit off.
my last illness my dr "checked'' me after i got done with the antibiotics to make sure i was getting better and i wasn't moving air well, but he told me we'd have to wait a month to know if i had permanent damage to lungs or not (it didn't).
so i hope your dr is going to re-test you at a later date?
good luck to you & keep us updated on how you are doing.

FEV1 is your percentage of total lung capacity compared to the norm, I'd it not? Such as 84% meaning I had 84 percent capacity of the average healthy persons capacity.

Numbers can change temporarily as well due to inflammation. When I had my lung issue after inhaling stomach acid and got some infection and quit smoking at the same time which brought on a bout of bronchitis the doctor didn't want me to do that lung test for at least 6 weeks after it was past. I can't guess what it would have been then but certainly worse than the 84 out was when I finally did it. I also noticed that even the way I sat in the chair affected the numbers by as much as 10 percent. I assume they are done the same everywhere but here in Canada I had to have 3 very similar blow results for them to complete the test. It took 5 tries to do that. Well, 5 after the 3 or 4 I messed up because she didn't explain the thing very well.

Yes, I would expect you would have done at least somewhat better if you had waited longer after the sickness you had. For the men time concentrate on how good you're feeling.

It's annoying that there is no edit button for posts.....especially ones fine from my phone since auto complete often changes words entirely.
"I'd it not" should be. "Is it not" and "the 84 out was" Is actually "the 84 it was."

I'm surprised a site this huge doesn't have an "edit" feature. It's like sine age net. We should petition the site for one. It'd be nothing to put that feature in the site.