Relax. While COPD isn't a picnic, it is one of the few chronic lung diseases for which there are treatments that can actually help and meds that reduce the symptoms. If the diagnosis is mild or moderate COPD, treat this as an early warning. If it's severe, then the work you have to do is even more important. COPD is one of the chronic conditions you can live with for years. It's not more a death sentence than life is, and the best part is that you can control and mange a lot of how it goes.

The keys to a good life with COPD are: a good pulmonologist, no smoking, lots of daily exercise, take your meds, get your flu and pneumonia shots, weight control, good diet, stay away from people with bugs (including grandchildren; they're petrie dishes), and get to your doc ASAP when you do get something respiratory. Exercise is the most important, so one of your questions with your doc is to describe your current exercise program (you talk about vigorous exercise, so I assume you have one) and to get her opinion on continuing it.

If you don't have a daily exercise program, join a gym and get busy. You want to do both aerobic and strengthening exercise. Aerobic is for endurance, so time is the important thing, not speed or distance. Your immediate goal is 30 minutes of non-stop exercise. Treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, nusteps, whatever trips your trigger. Start really slow, and when you can do 30 minutes with no stopping, then add time, speed or distance. 30 minutes is good, 45 is better. Strengthening should be a good series of weightlifting to strengthen the upper, lower and core muscle groups and should be done three times a week.

Just the exercise will get you to the point where you probably won't be short of breath much at all and it certainly helps with weight control. Do the rest and with luck, you can stay right where you are for many years. I've had COPD since 1985 and I'm still going strong.

Yes, my dr. ordered x-rays, pft, ct.scan, and blood test. I'm sure the diagnosis was correct but at least for now it isn't too bad. After reading other people's comments, I am sure my condition is minimal. So, after I do a heart stress test next month, it's off to the gym!!!

I should have asked before: how were you diagnosed with COPD? If it was with an x-ray, then that's not definitive; it's just suggestive. The definitive tool for diagnosing COPD is a spirometry or Pulmonary Function Test (PFT). Sometimes a pulmonologist will also get a CT scan and do a six minute walk test. But if you haven't had spirometry or PFT, then you don't know and neither does the person who "diagnosed" you. You need a pulmonologist for diagnosis and until you have a definitive diagnosis, you won't know. That said, everything I said about exercise is still true, whether you have COPD or not.

maybe rehab will help ask the Dr about that

Thank you Thomas. My dr. didn't tell me what stage I'm in but I think it's pretty mild right now. All I have is a little shortness of breath when I vigorously exercise.