Patients with emphysema have difficulty exhaling because their damaged lungs trap air and can’t exchange the old air for fresh air. While there is no cure for emphysema, there are plenty of steps you can take to ease emphysema symptoms, prevent progression of the disease, and enjoy life. Here’s how to save your energy for the things you really want to do.
Stay Away From Smoking
People with emphysema need to be especially aware of airborne irritants that will only make matters worse. “Any irritants, whether cigarette smoke or environmental irritants, can exacerbate your symptoms,” says Robert B. Teague, MD. Simply put, if you smoke, quit. And if your spouse or anyone else in the household smokes, talk about your health concerns to motivate them to break the habit as well. MORE: 14 Diseases That Often Go Hand-In-Hand With Another Illness
Keep In The Clear
Keep out of smoky or fume-filled environments, such as bars, auto-repair shops, or freshly painted buildings. The irritation to your lungs just isn’t worth it. For the same reason, you may want get rid of car air fresheners and those scented household plug-ins. Another good idea: Swap aerosols, like deodorants and hairsprays, for nonaersol products.
Take Symptom-Controlling Steps
Managing emphysema is often mostly about controlling and minimizing your symptoms, says Teague. “Doing the sort of things that make you feel better is a good idea,” says Teague. Feel better when the fresh air is flowing? Keep a window open. Does the smell of city pollution or your neighbor’s cooking make you uncomfortable? You might want to invest in a small but high-quality air filter. If the unit is not large enough to effectively treat your entire home (the manual should indicate the square footage), just keep it in your bedroom and enjoy clean air while you sleep.
Take Action Against Allergies
Allergies will be worse for people with emphysema. “If you happen to have allergies, that’s a problem,” says Teague. Let your doctor know so you can keep any allergic reactions on the radar and take quick action if needed. (Here’s 9 highly effective solutions for seasonal allergies.)
Control What You Can
You can’t repair your airways. What you can do, says Robert Sandhaus, MD, PhD, is increase how efficiently you breathe, use your muscles, and organize your work. You can rearrange your kitchen, for instance, so that you can do in 5 steps what used to take 10. The American Lung Association suggests that you obtain a three-shelf utility cart to help with your housework. Small changes like these pay back with extra energy.
Exercise
All our experts agree that regular exercise is vitally important to people with emphysema. What kinds are best? “Walking is probably the best overall exercise,” says Teague. “You should also exercise to tone the muscles in your upper body. Try using 1- or 2-pound hand weights, and work the muscles in your neck, upper shoulders, and chest.” This is important, he says, because people with chronic lung diseases use their neck and upper-respiratory chest muscles more than other people do. People who have asthma and emphysema seem to really benefit from swimming, because the activity allows them to breathe very humidified air, says Teague. MORE: The Incredible Results You Get From Walking 30 Minutes A Day
Eat Less—But More Often
As emphysema progresses and there is more obstruction to airflow, the lungs enlarge with trapped air. These enlarged lungs push down into the abdomen, leaving less room for the stomach to expand. Six small meals will leave you feeling better than three large ones—you won’t be left so full. Your best bet, says Teague, is to reach for foods that pack a lot of calories into a small volume, like high-protein selections. Be aware, too, that prolonged digestion draws blood and oxygen to the stomach and away from other parts of the body, which may need them more.
Try Vitamins C And E
Sandhaus advises his emphysema patients to take a minimum of 250 milligrams of vitamin C twice a day, and 500 IU of vitamin E twice a day. (Of course, don’t practice this or any vitamin therapy without your doctor’s okay and supervision.) Sandhaus says that the vitamin therapy can’t hurt. He thinks that vitamins C and E may be helpful because they’re antioxidants. “We know that the oxidants in cigarette smoke are what damage the lungs,” he says.
Maintain Your Ideal Body Weight
Some people with emphysema gain a lot of weight and tend to retain fluid, says Teague. It takes more energy to carry extra body weight. The closer you are to your ideal weight, the better for your lungs. Other emphysema patients tend to be very skinny, adds Teague. “Because they have to breathe harder, they expend more energy.” If you’re underweight, conscientiously add calories, says Teague. High-protein foods are a good source of calories.
Become A Champion Breather
There are several things you can do to get the maximum oomph from each breath you take. They include:
Make your breathing uniform. When Teague and his colleagues studied 20 patients with advanced emphysema, they found that even under normal conditions their subjects had very chaotic breathing patterns. “Their breathing was all over the map—big breaths, little breaths. We taught them normal breathing patterns, and it helped, at least in the short term,” Teague says.Breathe from your diaphragm. This is the most efficient way to breathe. Babies do it naturally. If you watch them, you’ll see their bellies rise and fall with each breath. Not sure whether you’re breathing from your diaphragm or your chest? Francisco Perez, PhD, tells his patients to test by lying on the back, putting a phone book on their belly, and watching what happens with every breath. If you’re breathing from your diaphragm, the book will rise with each inhalation.
Coordinate Your Breathing To Your Lifting
According to the American Lung Association, lifting will be easier if you lift while you exhale through pursed lips. Inhale while you rest. Similarly, if you have to climb steps, climb while you exhale through pursed lips and inhale while you rest.
Exercise Your Airways
To build up the abdominal muscles involved in exhaling, buy a device from the drugstore that offers resistance when you blow against it. “It looks like a little plastic mouthpiece with a ring on the end,” says Sandhaus. “When you turn the ring, the opening at the mouthpiece changes size. You start with the largest opening, inhale and blow out. Once you master one setting, you move on to another one.”
Let Loose
On your clothing, that is. Choose clothing that allows your chest and abdomen to expand freely. This means forget about tight belts, bras, or girdles, says the American Lung Association.
Allow Yourself To Grieve
Your life with emphysema won’t be the same as your life before emphysema. Allow yourself to move through each stage of the grieving process, says Perez. “There are some losses, but then you recognize that you have control over it.” MORE: 4 Breathing Results You’re Making Every Day
Relax
“If you cognitively view the disease as a threat, you’ll arouse some physiological mechanisms that can make your emphysema worse,” says Perez. “When you’re in a constant state of alarm, you’re demanding a lot of oxygen in the process. Alarm is created by the thought process, which you can control. In this way you can also control the physiological mechanisms.”
Shift Your Focus To The Present
When you find yourself feeling guilty that you brought on your disease, shift your orientation to the present and concentrate on what’s happening now, says Perez. “You can’t deal with events that happened in the past, you can only learn from them.”
Set Small Goals
One way to shift your focus from “emphysema is incapacitating” to “emphysema is something I can live with” is to set realistic small goals for yourself, says Perez. Exercise is a great way to boost your confidence, he says. “Set some real objective goal based on the physical evidence. Use charts and graphs to measure your progress.”
Find Strength—And Support—In Numbers
Those with emphysema should seek out an empathetic ear for their feelings, such as a support group or counselor. Meeting others who face the same challenges you do can be remarkably inspiring and encouraging. Support groups can also be excellent sources of shared information on new treatments and coping strategies. To find a local meeting, contact your nearby American Lung Association chapter.
Have A Family Member Play “Coach"
Have your significant other become your coach and help you through those times when you’re short of breath, suggests Perez.
Don’t Isolate Yourself Socially
“You need to avoid generalizing about the shortness of breath,” says Teague. “Some people with emphysema think, ‘Well, I probably can’t do this.’ Because they’re scared they might get out somewhere and get short of breath, they quit going places they’d normally enjoy.” Don’t let it isolate you.
Pace Yourself
“The other thing people with emphysema have to learn to do is to take their own time,” says Teague. “They really can do what they want to do, but they have to do it at their own pace. That is not an easy thing to do.”
When To Call A Doctor For Your Emphysema
See a doctor if you experience any of the following symptoms:
Confusion or disorientation during an acute respiratory infection Sleepiness or slurred speech during an acute respiratory infection Presence of blood or any other change in color, thickness, odor, or the amount of mucus that you cough up Shortness of breath, coughing, or wheezing that worsens Shortness of breath that wakes you more than once a night Fatigue that lasts more than 1 day Swollen ankles that remain even after a night of sleeping with your feet elevated Elevation with pillows or the need to sleep in a chair instead of a bed to avoid shortness of breath Morning headaches, restlessness, and dizzy spells
Panel Of Advisors
Francisco Perez, PhD, is a clinical associate professor of neurology and physical medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Robert Sanhaus, MD, PhD, is a pulmonary specialist, director of Alpha-1 Clinic, and professor of medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver. He is also executive vice president and medical director of Alpha-1 Foundation in Miami. Robert B. Teague, MD, practiced pulmonary medicine for 20 years in the Houston area before retiring.
