YES !!!! it was wonderful...I didn’t need the oxygen tube the rest ofthe day or over night and this morning I’m still breathing without labor and I haven’t even taken my symbicort yet ! YAY... when I was first diagnosed with COPD I went to pulmonary rehab 3 days a week and medicare only offers 75 sessions per lifetime. I was advised not to use up all the sessions right away...so I only used 20 of them... I continued to practice my exercises at home and got a DVD to practice with as well but over the months the excercises got more difficult and I slacked off.. after this bout with RSV I could not breathe hardly at all called the ambulance during the night and went to ER then 4 days at the hospital...little by little I’m coming back to life...truthfully the inalers do more than the oxygen... but I got the Inogen machine as well as a huge concentrator with a 54 foot tube that goes from the first floor to the bedroom on the second floor. I smooked from the time I was 14 until I was 28...then quit cold turkey for 11 years...then took one puff of a friend’s cigarette and proceeded with a 16 year relapse... ( dumb much ? ) I knew better those little suckers are highly addictive... I quit cold turkey again March 16 at 3:30 PM 2005 and have not touched another cigarette since... 30 years of smoking (about a pack a day) and 18 years of sobriety... YAY. I am a therapist and for years I worked at an inpatient rehab center and learned a lot about giving up an addiction... having worked with my own addiction gave me insight to my client’s struggle.. I now have a psychotheapy practice from home... unfortunately the hospital pulmonary rehab meets 3 times a week during hours I see clients... and I need the income...as social security does not cover the mortage...but I am walking close to 1,000 steps in the house and using my exercise videos to build up my stamina..

I have been using Spiriva for the past 8 months. Make sure you rinse your mouth thoroughly to prevent thrush. Other than that you should start to feel better. Be aware of any changes within your body that are not normal for you and stay in touch with your doctor.

that’s helpful information....I was quite surprised to experience that being on oxygen did not make one iota of difference in my ability to get enhough “air”.... now I know.... (cool)....that Spiriva is amazing....I haven’t been gasping since I took the first dose.😁 Yes taking care of heart and brain are VERY important...even when I haven’t used the oxygen all day my level is usually 90-92.. when I use it the level goes up to 96-98. initially i was on 3 liters.. doc wanted me to lower it to 2 as he suggested I keep the saturation level at around 90-91.. yesterday was so smooth I may not need the periodic puffs of Ventolin! last night I was still very comfortable and felt I didn’t need the evening Symbicort... but didn’t want to wake up congested... this will be a trial to see what works best... and not being afraid of the meds or the oxygen tube makes experimenting not scary... I feel like a scientist in the lab...
Have a good day... would love to hear what conferenes you like to go to... As a social worker I am required by law to take 30 hours of continuing education credits... nowdays most are offered virtually... and public speaking is not my forté - though I have had to do it anyway and when I was working full time there would be those staff meetings where what we shared was a form of public speaking..

have an inspiring day and thanks for sharing your wisdom.. 😊

Since you've been to PR, you know the routine. You can get up early and exercise or exercise after work. Walking is probably the best thing you can do. You know that building your endurance and your stamina is the point, so we're talking time. Use your 02 to help you keep the intensity of the exercise up.

Just so you know, 02 is not going to make breathing any easier. The point of 02 is to keep your 02 sats up so that your heart, brain and other parts of your body get sufficient 02 to do their work. If you don't have an oximeter, get one and use it. You want to be sure your 02 sats are above 88 at the least and better if they're above 90. One of the things that happens when you don't have enough 02 to keep your saturation level up is brain and heart damage. You don't want that.

The exercise will help your heart and lungs get stronger.

I'm glad you took it and had no bad effects; in fact, it sounds like things went very well and you had a good result. As for the 02, getting off it is possible if you just started using it as a result of a recent hospitalization. Talk with your pulmonologist about beginning a daily exercise program, starting off really slow and gentle and then building toward more intensity over time. If you can get a referral to pulmonary rehab, take it and go! You'll find that the people running the program work with people with COPD every day, and know how counter-intuitive it is: here you are getting short of breath (sob) just getting to the bathroom or kitchen and we're expecting you to exercise?? You're crazy! After you quit smoking, if you ever did, a daily exercise routine will do more to help both your lungs and heart get stronger and more efficient than any meds you could take. So talk about it with your doc.