Been having a dry cough, especially at night now for a few months, initially chalked it up to allergies and the fact that I smoke a little weed for chronic pain a few times a week.  I do notice some shortness of breath but usually only when I'm doing heavy lifting for extended periods of time. I quit smoking cigarettes about 7 years ago but only ever smoked off and on, half pack a day at most.  I went to my doctor today with these symptoms, she said it was probably just allergies but ordered a spirometer test, the procedure was very uncomfortable, I was bloated and not feeling well.  The results came back as severe, of the 4 different tries, I think two were severe and one was mild.  My doctor simply indicated that these results couldn't be correct because of my quality of life, respiration rate and oximeter readings.  She also said that if my COPD was truly as severe as the test indicated, I wouldn't be able to walk 1.5 miles without getting short of breath and I would have a significantly reduced quality of life.  She scrubbed the readings and shoved me off to a pulmonologist, have to wait 6 weeks to get in.  I'm not so sure the results were that far off but I'm wondering how accurate the spirometer is and if there is a possibility of error.  I am overweight by about 35 or 40 pounds so I'm also wondering if losing some weight might help.  Have decided to give up the marijuana alltogether as I'm sure it's not helping.  Kind of a scary thing to be going through at 47, thanks for reading and appreciate any thoughts or feedback.