i dont know why your pulmonary doctor told you your results were normal. anything below 80% of predicted is below normal. Both your fev1 and fev/fvc ratio are significantly below 80%. 59% and 73% respectively. 59 % is moderately obstructed as i wrote before. shortness of breath is a common symptom with this number. an fev1/fvc ratio below 70% is a basis for a diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. you are inching closer to that number, maybe he or she means that you arent there yet for a firm diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease but you are definitely not normal and are obstructed.

i have chronic bronchitis and asthma (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease /reactive airway disease) since 2001. i also have numerous nodules on my lungs which i have to keep track of via cat scans to make sure they arent growing.
if you have insurance, i would ask for a prescription for a nebulizer for home for those times you are short of breath. it has saved me from many a scary and uncomfortable experience not to mention trips to the Emergency room.

Thank you echoes.
I find it odd beçause I don't have cough, colds and the wheezing comes on very rarely. All along I thought it just to be stress. I never had the kind of attack I used to have when I had the asthma when I was younger. Oh my, with all the neurological pain and shortness of breath with in between bloating and constant arthritic pain, I don't know where to put myself.

Do u think symbicort is a wise thing to do considering my nerve problems?

For what it is worth.... there are drugs that can lower breathing capacity... that gabapentin for one. Also the family of beta blockers will do it.

Lowered ability to breathe, will lower oxygen to your body, and therefore also your nerves will suffer.

I'd try the inhaler...the doctor probably wants to see if airway inflammation is the the culprit. If it does not help, that tells the doctor something, as well.

I thought I should jump in as I'm the one usually complaining about my meds. . I know what the cut off points for different stages of COPD, but I'm not so good at interpreting the numbers so will defer to Echos. It might be informative for you to post the results and your questions at the COPD International Forum as well, there are people there who know a lot about the progression of the disease. They don't know much about neuropathy though.

I think you should probably try the medication too, like Mrs D said, low O2 levels aren't good for your nerves either. Your sex and ethnicity may protect you from some of the SE, we Caucasion females are the most prone. For some reason the meds have just become 'proinflammatory' for me, I got quite a bit of exercise yesterday and had very little pain, I took a big shot of steroid inhaler later in the evening and everything started to hurt. I've seen a very few women on the forums who may have the same thing but I have never seen any posts from men.

I'd like to hear how you do.

judi

Asians do have problems with genetics.... they have reduced
liver enzymes for some drugs...like Crestor.
Also alcohol is difficult for many Asians.

http://www.healthanddna.com/healthca...enotyping.html

http://medicine.iupui.edu/clinpharm/ddis/table.aspx
The 2C9 pathway may be impaired in some Asian patients.
Notice the NSAIDs which you cannot tolerate are there in that list.

I wish I had known this before, that you are Asian. How your genetic makeup handles drugs may be a key to some of your problems.

ideopathic pn i dont know anything about symbicort and its relation to pn and nerves in general.

i dont feel that the medicines that i have been taking for asthma have contributed much to the progression of my pn. i actually developed pn at the same time as i first started coughing and wheezing and developing numerous respiratory infections. so that pre dates the medicine for asthma. ive been hospitalized for asthma a number of times for a week or more. ive had episodes of not being able to take more than a half breath without a coughing fit for over 12 weeks. so if i didnt take care of my asthma aggressively years ago im sure i would be dead.

i know how you feel with the multiple problems and feeling overwhelmed at times.

Thank you judi.
Sorry, what is SE?

My mistake, I knew about the connection between Asian ethnicity and 2C9 but I was just looking at the 3A4 for the steroid. According to what I see the formoterol goes through 2D6, 2C19, 2C9. and 2A6. I don't know if that means it can be metabolized by any of them or if its sequential, the product of the first is acted on by the second, etc.

judi

SE= side effects

Mrs.D, this is too complicated to comprehend for me

I will re-read the whole thing ..... thank you