I'm not sure if you are doing deep breathing exercises, along with full body exercises, but if you are, most Definately, your lung function can and does improve from one test to another. That's one of the most important key to living and controlling copd ! God bless

The answer to your initial question about increasing the FEV1 is it depends. If your first test was done when you were sick or just getting over something and now you feel fine and things are good, it will probably go up because you've gotten over whatever was causing you problems in the first place. If you've had PR and really learned to exercise hard and push yourself and do it daily, you may see some improvement. If you've lost weight in the process, that will make an even bigger difference. Actually losing weight will almost always make the biggest difference. Please remember that there's a 3 to 5% error factor in breathing tests, so don't get excited over changes that are less than 7 or 8 percentage points. Those are considered normal variations. My FEV1 is in the mid 30s and as long as it's between 30 and 40, it's fine and so am I.

Also remember that needing O2 has nothing to do with FEV1. The guy who went from needing 10LPM to just using it at night clearly had a major problem with obstruction at some point, but meds, recovery from whatever caused the problem in the first place, combined with a really aggressive daily exercise plan could have made enough improvements to achieve that. Through a very aggressive diet and exercise plan, I went from being on O2 24/7 to not using it at all for nearly 10 years. I went back on it because I couldn't keep my saturation levels up enough while exercising.

Most oximeters give you an SpO2 reading and your pulse rate (heart rate), not your temperature. If your O2 sat level was 86 you could turn the O2 up. Your pulse rate is high because your heart is working hard to make up for your low O2 sat level.

A lack of oxygen can make you feel tired, so the answer is yes maybe. There are other things like depression, meds like beta blockers and not breathing well due to a COPD exacerbation that will also make you feel tired. A pulse oximeter will tell you your oxygen rate in your body. You can buy them at WalMart, Walgreens and many places if you want to check your oxygen levels yourself. No prescription is required to buy one.

As far as lung function getting better it is entirely possible if the medications you are taking for your COPD are working well. Mine increased dramatically when switched from Advair to Trelegy (both are once a day inhalers). That does not mean my COPD is better or improving, just that the medication is helping me to breathe better and hopefully feel better and be more active. I still have flare ups and go back to where I was without effective meds and maybe even lower.

Hope this helps.

TexasGal 💖

You may feel like you're breathing better, but your oximeter will tell you whether you are adequately saturated. Generally, you won't get enough O2 from a home system to do any harm, but you may be getting more than is comfortable. If your O2 sats stay in the 90s and you don't have it on, you're probably fine without it, at least while your sitting and not exerting. The problem is that they'll probably drop like a rock when you do move. If you don't have an oximeter, you need to get one.