Question on FEV's...

[abloedel]

Hi All:

I had my clinic appt on Thursday to follow up on the antibiotics....seems that my chest sounds better, but my FEV's were down to 55% (from my average of about 67%). I feel "tight", almost wheezy, but this is typical for me during the spring when all of the trees are unloading their pollen into the air.

Since I'm so new to all of this CF stuff, I was just wondering if anyone else's FEV's go down during allergy season, if they come back up, if it's something to be concerned about, if it was a fluke, etc.

Also, got some GREAT news re: my pulmozyme...my insurance has agreed to pay...I'll only have to pay the $20 copay....this is SUCH a relief!

Amy
36 w/CF in Denver

 

[luke]

Amy,

just because you have CF dosen't mean you do not have hyperactive airways as well. Have you even been told that you have asthma or allergies in general? You doctor should have done a pre/post bronchodilator PFT, did your FEV1 change? If you have this it will determine your medications.


Luke

 

[thefrogprincess]

Well said. Your pulmozyme (good work getting your insurance to pay on it) will help too once you've been on it a while. When I started I felt tight and wheezy all the time but it really cleared me out in a few weeks.

 

[abloedel]

I did have the pre/post PFT's with the bronchodialator and the numbers did improve - but my pre-bronchodialtor numbers were in the low 60's and went up to around 67 with. My FEV's haven't been in the mid-50s since we've been monitoring the levels, so I am just wondering if this is normal or a sign of getting sick. I have had chronic allergies my entire life and as a child was diagnosed with asthma, but haven't really had any "asthma" like symptoms since I was 11 or 12 years old. With all my recent testing, they've told me I have reactive airways, but have not mentioned asthma. I keep having allergic type reactions to the inhalers (mostly skin rashes), so we haven't found the right combination yet....just started on Sereven and Spiriva - so far seem to be tolerating those okay, but still feel pretty tight in the chest.

Amy
36 w/CF in Denver

 

[luke]

with hyperactive airways you should be on a inhaled steroid as well. The 3 main ones are Pulmicort, Flovent and Qvar, I have just switched to Qvar from Flovent. I used to be on the base medicine(beclamethlasone/Vanceril) along time ago but it has been repatented with a better delivery process and it supposed to be much more effective now, we will see? I was taking Serevent too but recently quit taking it as well. I am now taking Floridil, the studies show that it seems to have better effect after a few weeks than the others. I also still take Spiriva, Albuterol, pulmozyme, and Tobi. If you haven't noticed we throw the kitchen sink at my CF. I have always just gone to a CF specialist at WVU and I love her, but I have a friend who is a great Pulmonologist who swears these med changes will make a difference in my function. The only other thing is that maybe you need to take a pill for your allergies...there are several different types. The problem is these drugs are hard on your liver and our liver functions are questionable sometimes anyway. Hope I have helped a little. If you have any other questions let me know.

In case your wondering my FEV1 ranges in low 70's on my best days to high 50's on my worst days, my average is around 68%

Luke Bailey, MBA RRT 29/cf