So I went to a specialist to figure out more about my lung condition. It's a combinatory disease of 2 diseases in 1: Interstitial Lung Disease (Fibrosis), and Bulla Disease of the Lungs (stage 4). For the medical nerds on here, the raw numbers as ranges are as follows. Pre and Post are used to denote pre and post albuterol per a pulmonary function test.
FEV1 PRE .85L - 1.3L FEV1 POST 1.7L - 1.99L
Respectively, the percentages are
FEV1 PRE 22% - 30% FEV1 POST 35% - 45%.
Weirdly FEV1/FVC is higher without meds than with. As such FEV1/FVC goes from 65% PRE, to 55% POST.
So there is definitely a marked improvement with the medication they gave me in terms of both FVC and FEV1. knowing that lung function can be partially regained, my goal is to now figure out what naturopathic stuff i can take to simulate the medications.
After my quadruple by-pass surgery, the hospital couldn't get my oxygen levels above 80%. That's even with oxygen tube. After three weeks of this, I got out of the bed and sat in a chair. I pulled up the little rolling table, put a pillow on the table, leaned forward and with my arms spread in a triangle shape over the pillow, I took a nap. Ten minutes later, a nurse woke me up, telling me to look at the monitoring machine. My oxygen level had reached 97%! So I stopped sleeping in the bed and always slept in the chair leaning forward as described. Always 96-98% O2 levels. They sent me home after just a week of using that position. Five years ago!
At first, they wanted to put me on a C-Pap device or to intubate me. I refused both. Fucking hate hospitals.
Get more outside air regardless of the temperature and invest in a serious indoor air filter. Do you have a diagnosis for your condition? Lungs can regenerate but you previously described holes in them.
The Forced Exhaled Volume in 1 second (FEV1) is the amount you blow out in 1 second.
Your numbers are not good. FEV1 should be over 5 liters for a healthy male and over 4 liters for a healthy female.
Do you know your PEF? (peak exhaled flow, in liters per minute, should be a few hundred)
I don't know your money situation, but the meds are worth it! There are generics that are often cheaper than your insurance deductible if you have medical "insurance." Try several pharmacies to see who has what kind of discount cards. Ask them what their best price is and explain that being sick is expensive. Price shopping is hard because most of the jerks will want a script before they give you a price. Try every grocery store that has a pharmacy in it in your area.
1. There will be a long-acting medication or two that comes in an inhaler.
2. There will be albuterol or something similar that comes with a nebulizer. You can get a nebulizer online for cheaper than a local store, but the liquid is by prescription and must come from a pharmacy. See my comments about getting good deals on prescriptions. The nebulizer makes you sit there for 10+ minutes to inhale the vapor it creates.
3. There may be a rescue inhaler that is albuterol, but it fits in your pocket. Ventolin HFA is awesome because it has a lock onit that stops it from puffing in your pocket every time you move. The others empty in 5 minutes and leave me with frost bite from the cold puffs of albuterol.
If you can, also buy some equipment to test yourself will let you see if you improve, decline, or stay the same. It will also tell you when to go to the hospital.
2. Ask your doctor if you should buy a digital spirometer and start tracking your numbers every morning when you get up. $109.50, but takes weeks and weeks to ship from China: https://www.ebay.com/itm/166292523285
3. Ask your doctor if you should buy an oxygen concentrator from someone on CraigsList and start using it. $300, depending on your area.
7. Ask your doctor if you should buy a CPAP to blow more air into your lungs. They are about $300 for a good one on CraigsList, depending on your area.
If you have insurance and money, your doctor may write prescriptions for some of these things and get very expensive versions from a pharmacy or specialty store. I think you are better off dealing with online resellers that get them from China, but it's up to you.
I'm not saying this very well. Your doctor may not like the idea of buying things from eBay, but may love the idea of spending 6x the money on an inferior product from a local store.
If you do not have insurance, but can spend money to extend your life a year, I suggest you buy these yourself and track your vitals every morning when you get up.
If you can not afford this stuff, I really feel for you and wish I could do more to help you. Unfortunately, 90% of these posts are from pigs and if I spend $1k+ to help someone online a pig will pawn the gear, laughing at me, and threaten to put me in jail. It's happened.
[ + ] Panic
[ - ] Panic 4 points 1.5 yearsOct 31, 2023 01:00:31 ago (+4/-0)
At first, they wanted to put me on a C-Pap device or to intubate me. I refused both. Fucking hate hospitals.
[ + ] Fascinus
[ - ] Fascinus 2 points 1.5 yearsOct 30, 2023 23:45:21 ago (+2/-0)*
A few things occur to me at the moment:
I've experienced great results using Bala in a nebulizer. It contains naturally occurring ephedrine, which is a bronchodilator similar to albuterol.
Additionally, cordyceps has been demonstrated to increase the oxygen carrying capacity of blood.
There are a ton of other medicinals that can improve respiratory function and I'd look into those as a start.
*Edit: Additional context for Bala
[ + ] Spaceman84
[ - ] Spaceman84 1 point 1.5 yearsOct 30, 2023 23:17:53 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] heytheremyfriends
[ - ] heytheremyfriends [op] 2 points 1.5 yearsOct 30, 2023 23:18:52 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] Spaceman84
[ - ] Spaceman84 2 points 1.5 yearsOct 30, 2023 23:20:30 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] heytheremyfriends
[ - ] heytheremyfriends [op] 2 points 1.5 yearsOct 30, 2023 23:21:30 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] Spaceman84
[ - ] Spaceman84 2 points 1.5 yearsOct 30, 2023 23:48:55 ago (+2/-0)
[ + ] heytheremyfriends
[ - ] heytheremyfriends [op] 1 point 1.5 yearsOct 31, 2023 09:36:45 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] Deleted
[ - ] deleted 1 point 1.5 yearsOct 31, 2023 00:52:24 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] chump
[ - ] chump 0 points 1.5 yearsOct 30, 2023 23:09:21 ago (+2/-2)
[ + ] Spaceman84
[ - ] Spaceman84 0 points 1.5 yearsOct 30, 2023 23:17:35 ago (+1/-1)
[ + ] texasblood
[ - ] texasblood 0 points 1.5 yearsOct 31, 2023 05:45:17 ago (+1/-1)
I've used it in many forms to clear out the shit.(COPD)
[ + ] LiberalsAreMental
[ - ] LiberalsAreMental 0 points 1.5 yearsNov 1, 2023 17:42:34 ago (+0/-0)*
The Forced Exhaled Volume in 1 second (FEV1) is the amount you blow out in 1 second.
Your numbers are not good. FEV1 should be over 5 liters for a healthy male and over 4 liters for a healthy female.
Do you know your PEF? (peak exhaled flow, in liters per minute, should be a few hundred)
I don't know your money situation, but the meds are worth it! There are generics that are often cheaper than your insurance deductible if you have medical "insurance." Try several pharmacies to see who has what kind of discount cards. Ask them what their best price is and explain that being sick is expensive. Price shopping is hard because most of the jerks will want a script before they give you a price. Try every grocery store that has a pharmacy in it in your area.
1. There will be a long-acting medication or two that comes in an inhaler.
2. There will be albuterol or something similar that comes with a nebulizer. You can get a nebulizer online for cheaper than a local store, but the liquid is by prescription and must come from a pharmacy. See my comments about getting good deals on prescriptions. The nebulizer makes you sit there for 10+ minutes to inhale the vapor it creates.
3. There may be a rescue inhaler that is albuterol, but it fits in your pocket. Ventolin HFA is awesome because it has a lock onit that stops it from puffing in your pocket every time you move. The others empty in 5 minutes and leave me with frost bite from the cold puffs of albuterol.
If you can, also buy some equipment to test yourself will let you see if you improve, decline, or stay the same. It will also tell you when to go to the hospital.
1. Ask your doctor if you should buy a pair of digital pulse oximeters and start tracking your readings throughout the day. $9.99 each: https://www.amazon.com/Saturation-Monitor-Reading-Included-Batteries/dp/B08QFK6QV3/ Buy 2 different colors so you can tell them apart.
2. Ask your doctor if you should buy a digital spirometer and start tracking your numbers every morning when you get up. $109.50, but takes weeks and weeks to ship from China: https://www.ebay.com/itm/166292523285
3. Ask your doctor if you should buy an oxygen concentrator from someone on CraigsList and start using it. $300, depending on your area.
4. Ask your doctor if you should buy tubing and canulas from an online seller for the O2 concentrator. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=oxygen+tubing and https://www.amazon.com/s?k=oxygen+cannula
5. Ask your doctor if you should buy an O2 tester and test your O2 machine. $83, but takes weeks and weeks to arrive from China: https://www.ebay.com/itm/403614815561?hash=item5df9515549
6. Ask your doctor if you should buy a sleep study watch and track your pulse oximetery as you sleep. $83.99 https://www.walmart.com/ip/CONTEC-Wrist-Pulse-Oximeter-Finger-Tip-Spo2-Probe-Oortable-Watch-CMS50F/256398889
7. Ask your doctor if you should buy a CPAP to blow more air into your lungs. They are about $300 for a good one on CraigsList, depending on your area.
If you have insurance and money, your doctor may write prescriptions for some of these things and get very expensive versions from a pharmacy or specialty store. I think you are better off dealing with online resellers that get them from China, but it's up to you.
I'm not saying this very well. Your doctor may not like the idea of buying things from eBay, but may love the idea of spending 6x the money on an inferior product from a local store.
If you do not have insurance, but can spend money to extend your life a year, I suggest you buy these yourself and track your vitals every morning when you get up.
If you can not afford this stuff, I really feel for you and wish I could do more to help you. Unfortunately, 90% of these posts are from pigs and if I spend $1k+ to help someone online a pig will pawn the gear, laughing at me, and threaten to put me in jail. It's happened.