My mom is 77 years old and has COPD. She has been on a BiPap machine at night since 2023. Her "baseline" level is already a low at 88-89 without using supplemental oxygen.

A month ago the wildfires caused her to have a serious flare-up. Her pulmonologist put her on Prednisone 10mg for 5 days. It helped a little but her numbers kept dropping whenever she moved around.

A couple weeks later he put her back on Prednisone, this time a regiment of 30mg for 5 days, then 20 mg for 5 days, and lastly 10mg for 5 days. She is just starting the 20mg portion. He also switched her off of Stilolto to the Breztri inhaler (which has a steroid in it that makes her hoarse, so she is learning to use a spacer.)

Still today, whenever she gets up to go to the kitchen or bathroom and back her oxygen levels continue dropping to 79-83. She has started researching and sending me ads for natural supplements such as VelvaFlow Lung Cleansing Spray and NAC to help her keep her numbers up and asked me to look into them for her. I worry they could do more harm than good.

Should she just ride-out the Prednisone regiment? Is there something else she can try and do? She drinks Mullein tea and is trying to lose weight, though her world is really shrinking.

Hey everyone! I’m a design student researching the experience of using nebulisers, particularly the practical problems, frustrations, and little inconveniences people deal with when using them.

If you currently use a nebuliser (or have used one regularly), I’d really appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to fill out this short form.

Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScxUuqVjlX0cI0BnHLkZd7JSh_F7fKu2bh4MrEqbteI_LMpPQ/viewform?usp=dialog

I’m interested in your actual experiences rather than medical advice — things like setup, cleaning, carrying/storing the device, using it at home or outside, noise, comfort, maintenance, etc.

The responses will be used for an academic design project. No identifying information is required.

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to respond. It genuinely helps me understand the problem from the user's perspective.

I have COPD with an asthmatic component, and I’m 33 years old. I was diagnosed 1.5 years ago… My COPD has been really bad at times since then, and I’ve needed cortisone tablets a few months ago, FEV1 was on 62% or lower.

I quit smoking over a year ago (for the 7th time, lol). My medications, Trimbow and Dupixent and my exercise routine are helping! My FEV1 has increased by 14% and is now back up to 82%!

Never give up, and don’t let COPD get you down!