My fiancé was diagnosed with COPD in November. He seems to need prednisone about every 4 weeks (10 mg for 5 days) or he begins to have trouble breathing. He also uses an inhaler and nebulizer and takes Spiriva. He is very nervous about taking prednisone so often, but it seems to be the only thing that keeps him out of the hospital.

Thank you so much you are correct thank you for reminding me. I am 72 yrs old with only 16% lung capacity I try to do 30minutes a day on the treadmill at 1 mile per hour or 1/2 mile a day. I still do many things like cook, laundry even vacuum (takes a while) smile. Everything must be done slow. Also on Alprazolam 0.25mg for the past 5yrs for anxiety and hypertension and do not worry about addiction either. Blessing to you it would just be nice to share all this with someone being alone is no fun.

Thank you Randy the one thing I have learned with this disease is we need to know our own bodies. Most of the time the Dr.s do not (smile). I am fortunate my Pulmo makes sure I have meds like prednisone and antibiotics on hand at all times. We do the best we can and I pray a lot (smile) have a great weekend.

hi again Francine im on 5 mg every other day now but that can change and has been on as much as 80 mg a day for weeks then taper back down you should talk with your doctor about it more everyone is differnt when it comes to what works for them im not a big fan of this drug but its what works to keep me breathing they may need to try differnt doses to find the least amount that will work for you long term its a drug that can cause heart problems also you will need to talk with your doctor about risk verses reward on this to as the more you take the higher the risks are hope you find a way that helps you hang in there and keep up the good fight

I cannot use rescue inhalers either so it's prednisone or no breathing. I try not to take more then 30mg for two days then wean down. But lately it' s every two weeks I need to start again. I only have 15-16% lung capacity so I guess I need it. My Doc does not want me taking either but it not his breathing (smile) Take care.