Gingerkat, I suppose it's possible that dizziness, dry heaves, nausea and cold sweats could be part of COPD, certainly breathlessness is part of it, but these other things: I'm not so sure. I think anxiety is much more likely, and that's treatable. Anxiety just makes your breathing worse, so managing and controlling that are critical. I'd suggest that you talk with your pulmonologist about this and get a referral to a good cognitive behavioral therapist who can help you learn to manage and control your anxiety, just like you can manage and control your COPD. I'd also suggest that you look at things like daily exercise through pulmonary rehab, if that's possible, and if not start your own daily exercise program at home or using one of the virtual PR programs you can join on-line. Weight control, enough water and good sleep are all part of this healthy living thing that can help your COPD, too.

@A MyCOPDTeam Member Did your doctor give you a reason why he/she won't send you to a pulmonologist? My goodness that is totally uncalled for as far as I'm concerned! But I don't know all the circumstances either. I sincerely hope your doctor does a whole lot of reading up on COPD! Good luck to you!

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A MyCOPDT...

We are all here for each other take care and stay safe

As for who you talk to, you're on this board so you can make friends here and there are a number of other boards and forums where you can get to know people. Some have monthly virtual meetings for members, so you can actually see the other people and participate in a relatively controlled discussion. I'd see if you can't find a Better Breathers group near you so you can meet other people who also have COPD. Pulmonary Rehab is another place to meet people; if you haven't gone, then ask about it. Part of what you'll learn is how to talk with your family so they do understand. They only know what you tell them and if you don't understand it and can't explain it, they sure won't get it. If they see you exercising daily and learning all you can about COPD, they'll begin to get a better idea and be far more sympathetic than if all they see is the "woe is me" side.

My mother passed in 1995 at age 62 from COPD. My father passed in 2010 at age 77 from COPD. So I have a bit of knowledge about passing from COPD.
Right now I'm 62 almost 63. I went to rehab and leaned that I didn't know much about COPD.
By way of living I learned it is very hard to breathe in hot weather. We don't have much humidity here in Montana. But in 2022 the heat was extremly high and this summer I stayed inside most of the day. Last summer we took a three day vacation in Red Lodge were it should have been much cooler--it wasn't. And of course no air conditioning since it is only used 3 or 4 times over 4 or 5 year period. I really did expect the area to be cool. So no heat for me. And I learned years ago no more sled riding--temps too cold.
And lets talk about wild fires. There were not too many this summer to make my home town smokey. But for about a week we recieved about five days of smoke from the Canadian fires to the north of us. I live in south cental Montana, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours from Wyoming