One of the reasons you have shortness of breathe after meals is because with COPD the lungs are not as the same elasticity , so when you fill your stomach it crowds your lungs and makes it hard to to breath .

For me my doctor prescribed a hospital bed ages ago, any adjustable bed is great I went with the hospital bed because my insurance paid for it. They also make wedges that will elevate you head, that you can use with a traditional bed. As far as walking or moving for that matter after a meal I found that when I try to eat a full meal it puts pressure on my diaphragm and I can't breath well. Especially when attempting to move around. So I now eat smaller meals, it took me a while to learn how much to eat before it became uncomfortable. One problem is that our brains don't acknowledge that we are full until like 20 min after we begin to eat, so eating until we are full causes in effect overeating. You can try cutting your meals by half, if after a half an hour you are breathing well and still feel hungry you can always eat more. I think the most difficult thing about this disease is learning how to read our bodies. Good luck with this I hope you find the solution. HUGS

I have the same problem after eating ,smaller meals definitely help ,I'm on steroids so have put on weight losing it would help but it's not easy .can't breath so can't exercise so can't lose weight

Thank you, all that you mention I have. All I know is I went to the VA to have a Cardiac catheterization
and the doctors that did it told me there weren't anything that they could fix. then my heart Doctor came in and my wife ask what was the Prognosis were the doctor say 2 years. there are 3 arteries were close and the other arteries were part close. They did put in a (defibrillator/pacemaker)this was 1year and a 1/4 ago and I have slow down to almost a stop.They just put me on Lasix in the ER. and a Combivent Respimat .I am on a C-path for my sleep apnea I do well most the time with it but I don't sleep more then 2 to 3 hours if that.
Bill

If your EF is less than 20, what is the type of heart problem you have? The combination of COPD and heart disease is a double whammy, for sure, because both affect your breathing, causing sob (shortness of breath). I was diagnosed 9 years ago with Dilated Cardiomyopathy with an EF of about 20%. I had congestive heart failure at that time, as well. A few years later I was diagnosed with COPD. I also have obstructive and restrictive sleep apnea and have a CPAP machine that I have not been able to get used to. There are meds for the DCM and COPD. I use two puffers, a nitro patch I wear 12 hours a day, am on a blood thinner as well as Bisoprolol for my heart. I take Lasix and Spironolactone (diuretics) daily to prevent fluid retention which, by the way, causes difficulty sleeping lying down and you should be checked for this. I had a CRT-D (defibrillator/pacemaker) implanted in my chest 2 years ago to help my heart. Get further checked by your dr and yes, there are meds to help you breathe easier and be able to sleep lying down.