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COPD flare-ups

COPD exacerbation; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation; Emphysema exacerbation; Chronic bronchitis exacerbation

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) symptoms can worsen rapidly. You may find it hard to breathe. You may cough or wheeze more or produce more phlegm. You might also feel anxious and have trouble sleeping or doing your daily activities. This problem is called a COPD exacerbation or COPD flare-up.

Causes

Certain illnesses, colds, and lung infections from viruses or bacteria can lead to flare-ups. Other causes may include:

  • Being around smoke or other pollutants
  • Weather changes
  • Doing too much activity
  • Being run-down
  • Feeling stressed or anxious

You can often manage a flare-up right away with medicines and self-care. Work with your health care provider on an action plan for COPD exacerbations so that you know what to do.

Get to know your usual COPD symptoms, sleep patterns, and when you have good or bad days. This can help you learn the difference between your normal COPD symptoms and signs of a flare-up.

Warning Signs of a COPD Flare-up

Signs and symptoms of a COPD flare-up last 2 days or more and are more intense than your usual symptoms. The symptoms get worse and just don't go away. If you have a full-blown exacerbation, you may need to go to the hospital.

Common early signs include:

  • Trouble catching your breath
  • Noisy, wheezing breathing sounds
  • Coughing, sometimes with more mucus than usual or a change in the color of your mucus

Other possible signs of flare-up include:

  • Not being able to take deep breaths
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Morning headaches
  • Abdominal pain
  • Anxiety
  • Swelling of the ankles or legs
  • Gray or pale skin
  • Blue or purple lips or nail tips
  • Trouble speaking in full sentences
  • Blood streaks in mucus

What to Do at the First Sign of a Flare-up

At the first sign of a flare-up:

  • Do not panic. You may be able to keep symptoms from getting worse.
  • Take medicines as directed if your provider prescribes them. These may include quick-relief inhalers, steroids or antibiotics you take by mouth, anti-anxiety medicines, or medicine through a nebulizer.
  • Use oxygen if prescribed.
  • Use pursed lip breathing to save energy, slow your breathing, and help you relax.
  • If your symptoms do not get better within 48 hours, or your symptoms keep getting worse, contact your provider or go to the hospital.

How to Prevent COPD Flare-ups

If you have COPD:

  • Stop smoking and avoid secondhand smoke. Avoiding smoke is the best way to slow down damage to your lungs. Ask your provider about stop-smoking programs and other options, such as nicotine-replacement therapy.
  • Take your medicines as directed.
  • Ask your provider about pulmonary rehabilitation. This program includes exercise, breathing, and nutrition tips.
  • See your provider at least 1 to 2 times per year for check-ups, or more often if directed.
  • Use oxygen if your provider recommends it.

Avoid colds and the flu, you should:

  • Stay away from people with colds.
  • Wash your hands often. Carry hand sanitizer for times when you cannot wash your hands.
  • Get all of your recommended vaccines, including pneumococcal, influenza (flu), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19 vaccines.
  • Avoid very cold air or extreme heat and humidity.
  • Keep air pollutants, such as fireplace smoke and dust, out of your home.

Live a healthy lifestyle:

  • Stay as active as possible. Try short walks and light weight-training. Talk with your provider about ways to get exercise.
  • Take frequent breaks throughout the day. Rest between daily activities to save your energy and give your lungs time to recover.
  • Eat a healthy diet rich in lean proteins, fish, fruits, and vegetables. Eat several small meals a day.
  • Do not drink liquids with meals. This will keep you from feeling too full. But, be sure to drink liquids at other times to keep from getting dehydrated.

When to Call the Doctor

After following your COPD action plan, contact your provider if your breathing is still:

  • Getting harder
  • Faster than before
  • Shallow and you cannot get a deep breath

Also contact your provider if:

  • You need to lean forward when sitting in order to breathe easily
  • You are using muscles around your ribs to help you breathe
  • You are having headaches more often
  • You feel sleepy or confused
  • You have a fever
  • You are coughing up dark mucus
  • Your lips, fingertips, or the skin around your fingernails is blue
  • You have chest pain or discomfort
  • You cannot speak in full sentences
Open References

References

Criner GJ, Bourbeau J, Diekemper RL, et al. Prevention of acute exacerbations of COPD: American College of Chest Physicians and Canadian Thoracic Society guideline. Chest. 2015;147(4):894-942. PMID: 25321320 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25321320/.

Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) website. 2023 Global strategy for the diagnosis, management, and prevention of COPD. goldcopd.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/GOLD-2023-ver-1.3-17Feb2023_WMV.pdf. Accessed December 8, 2023.

Han MK, Lazarus SC. COPD: Diagnosis and management. In: Broaddus VC, King TE, Ernst JD, et al, eds. Murray and Nadel's Textbook of Respiratory Medicine. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2022:chap 64.

  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

    Animation

    •  

    Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease - Animation

    For years, you've enjoyed relaxing with a cigarette in your hand, and looked forward to your cigarette breaks at work, but now, all of that smoking has caught up with you. You're coughing, wheezing, often out of breath. Could you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease? Let's talk about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, for short. COPD is a lung disease that's usually caused by smoking, although some people who smoke for years never get the condition, while a few get COPD even if they've never lit up. Most people with COPD have a combination of a cough that just won't go away, called chronic bronchitis, and lung damage, called emphysema. The symptoms of COPD can sneak up on you slowly. Over time, you'll develop a cough that lingers, day after day. You'll feel tired, and have trouble catching your breath. Only your doctor can tell for sure whether this is COPD. To test for it, you'll need to breathe or blow into a machine as hard as you can, and hold that breath, as long as you can, in a test called spirometry. You may also need to have a blood test to determine how much oxygen and carbon dioxide is in your blood. If you have COPD, the ways things stand now, you'll have it for life, as there is no cure for this disease. However, there are ways to control the condition and help you breathe more easily. The first thing you do, absolutely need to do, is stop smoking, which will help slow down the damage to your lungs. A few medicines can help relieve COPD symptoms. You may breathe in a bronchodilator medicine through an inhaler to open up your airways, or take steroids to bring down the swelling in your lungs. If you're having real trouble breathing though, call your local emergency services number. You may need to visit the hospital for oxygen or breathing assistance. You may also need to take antibiotics during flare-ups, because getting an infection can make your COPD worse. Though it may be hard to exercise when you're feeling out of breath, staying active will help keep your muscles strong. Your doctor can teach you how to breathe in a different way so that you can exercise with COPD. You can help avoid the shortness of breath, the coughing, and the wheezing of COPD by butting out, kicking your cigarette habit as soon as possible. Not smoking is the absolute best way to prevent COPD. Ask your doctor about programs and medicines that may make it easier for you to quit.

  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

    Animation

    •  

    Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease - Animation

    For years, you've enjoyed relaxing with a cigarette in your hand, and looked forward to your cigarette breaks at work, but now, all of that smoking has caught up with you. You're coughing, wheezing, often out of breath. Could you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease? Let's talk about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, for short. COPD is a lung disease that's usually caused by smoking, although some people who smoke for years never get the condition, while a few get COPD even if they've never lit up. Most people with COPD have a combination of a cough that just won't go away, called chronic bronchitis, and lung damage, called emphysema. The symptoms of COPD can sneak up on you slowly. Over time, you'll develop a cough that lingers, day after day. You'll feel tired, and have trouble catching your breath. Only your doctor can tell for sure whether this is COPD. To test for it, you'll need to breathe or blow into a machine as hard as you can, and hold that breath, as long as you can, in a test called spirometry. You may also need to have a blood test to determine how much oxygen and carbon dioxide is in your blood. If you have COPD, the ways things stand now, you'll have it for life, as there is no cure for this disease. However, there are ways to control the condition and help you breathe more easily. The first thing you do, absolutely need to do, is stop smoking, which will help slow down the damage to your lungs. A few medicines can help relieve COPD symptoms. You may breathe in a bronchodilator medicine through an inhaler to open up your airways, or take steroids to bring down the swelling in your lungs. If you're having real trouble breathing though, call your local emergency services number. You may need to visit the hospital for oxygen or breathing assistance. You may also need to take antibiotics during flare-ups, because getting an infection can make your COPD worse. Though it may be hard to exercise when you're feeling out of breath, staying active will help keep your muscles strong. Your doctor can teach you how to breathe in a different way so that you can exercise with COPD. You can help avoid the shortness of breath, the coughing, and the wheezing of COPD by butting out, kicking your cigarette habit as soon as possible. Not smoking is the absolute best way to prevent COPD. Ask your doctor about programs and medicines that may make it easier for you to quit.

Self Care

 
 

Review Date: 11/25/2023

Reviewed By: Denis Hadjiliadis, MD, MHS, Paul F. Harron Jr. Professor of Medicine, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

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