Discharge Instructions: COPD

You have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This group of diseases limits the flow of air in and out of your lungs. This makes it harder to breathe. You also may be more likely to get lung infections. COPD includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. COPD is most often caused by heavy, long-term cigarette smoking.

Home care

Quit smoking

  • If you smoke, get help to quit. It's the best thing you can do for your COPD and your overall health.

  • Join a program to stop smoking. You also can use telephone, text message, and online programs to help you quit.

  • Ask your doctor about medicines or other ways to help you quit.

  • Ask family members to quit smoking as well.

  • Don't let people to smoke in your home, in your car, or when they are around you.

  • Don't use e-cigarettes and vaping products. Their long-term risks aren't known.

Protect yourself from infection

  • Wash your hands often. Do your best to keep your hands away from your face. Most germs are spread from your hands to your mouth.

  • Get a flu shot every year. Also ask your doctor about pneumonia vaccines and the most recent COVID vaccine. And ask about other vaccines you may need.

  • Stay away from crowds. It's very important to do this in the winter when more people have colds and flu.

  • Get enough sleep and exercise. And eat a balanced diet.

    • Get about 8 hours of sleep every night.

    • Try to exercise for at least 30 minutes on most days. Ask your doctor what type of exercise is safe for you.

    • Eat fruits and vegetables, 100% whole grains, lean meats and fish, and low-fat dairy products. Try to stay away from foods high in fats and sugar.

Eating well is important to staying as healthy as possible. So is trying to stay at your ideal weight. Being overweight or underweight can affect your health.

Take your medicines and use oxygen therapy

Take your medicines exactly as directed. Don't skip doses.

Talk with your doctor during each visit about how well you can:

  • Correctly use your inhaler. This is to make sure you are getting the right medicine dose.

  • Cope with other conditions you have and their treatments and if they affect your COPD.

Use oxygen the right way if you use it. That means the amount you use and the length of time you use it.

  • Discuss long-term oxygen therapy with your doctor.

  • Don’t allow smoking in your home, in your car, or around you. This is very important if you use oxygen.

Try to stay away from things that may affect your breathing. Stay away from indoor and outdoor pollution. Indoor pollution includes burning wood, smoke from home cooking, and heating fuels. Outdoor pollution includes smoke, dusts, and vapors. It also includes fumes, gases, chemicals, cold weather, high humidity, and allergens.

Drink at least 8 glasses of fluid every day. Or your doctor may tell you a different daily amount. This helps keep mucus thin. Ask about other things that can help.

Ask your doctor to show you how to breathe through pursed lips. This can help decrease shortness of breath.

Manage your stress

Stress can make COPD worse. Try this to lower stress:

  • Find a quiet place and sit or lie in a comfortable position.

  • Close your eyes and do breathing exercises for several minutes. Ask your doctor about the best way to breathe.

Talk to your doctor about how well you cope in your daily life.

Pulmonary rehabilitation

  • Pulmonary rehab can help you feel better. Programs based in the community or at home can work as well as those in a hospital. This is true as long as they are held as often and at the same intensity. Standard pulmonary rehab programs at home help with breathing problems in people with COPD. But supervised rehab is still the best choice. These programs include exercise, breathing methods, information about COPD, counseling, and help for smokers.

  • Ask your doctor or your local hospital about programs in your area. Also talk with your doctor about a self-management program to help control your symptoms.

When to contact your doctor

Contact your doctor right away if you have:

  • More mucus.

  • Yellow, green, bloody, or smelly mucus.

  • Fever of 100.4ºF (38ºC) or higher, or as directed by your doctor.

  • Chills.

  • Swollen ankles.

  • Increased cough.

Call 911

Call 911 if you have:

  • Shortness of breath, wheezing, or trouble breathing that gets worse or doesn't get better with treatment.

  • Tightness in your chest that does not go away with your normal medicines, or as directed by your doctor.

  • A new irregular heartbeat or feeling that your heart is racing.

  • Trouble talking.

  • Started feeling lightheaded or dizzy.

  • Feeling of doom.

  • Skin turning blue, gray, or purple.