Coughing and Other COPD Symptoms

When you have COPD:

• You have a cough that won't go away.
• You often cough up mucus
• You are often short of breath, especially when you exercise.

COPD exacerbation (say “egg-ZASS-er-BAY-shun”)

Many people with COPD have attacks called flare-ups or exacerbations. This is when your usual symptoms quickly get worse and stay worse. A COPD flare-up can be dangerous, and you may have to go to the hospital.

Symptoms include:

• Coughing up more mucus than usual.
• A change in the color or thickness of that mucus.
• More shortness of breath than usual.

These attacks are most often caused by infections—such as bronchitis and pneumonia—and air pollution.

Work with your doctor to make a plan for dealing with a COPD flare-up. If you are prepared, you may be able to get it under control. Try not to panic if you start to have one. Quick treatment at home may help you manage serious breathing problems.

The stages of COPD

The stages of COPD are often defined according to your symptoms plus a measure of how well your lungs work, called your “lung function.”

In the following symptoms lists, lung function FEV1 is a test result that shows how fast you can breathe air out of your lungs. FEV1 stands for forced expiratory volume in 1 second.

FEV1 can be measured by machines called spirometers (say “spy-RAW-muh-terz”). The test result is reported as a percentage of normal. In other words, an FEV1 of 100% means the lungs are working normally; 80% is less than normal; 30% is very much less than normal.

Here is how the stages of COPD are described by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease, also known as GOLD:

• Mild COPD (stage 1)
  • Usually, but not always, a chronic cough that often brings up mucus from the lungs
  • Lung function FEV1 of 80% of normal or higher
• Moderate COPD (stage 2)
  • Chronic cough with a lot of mucus
  • Shortness of breath, especially with exercise
  • An occasional COPD flare-up
  • Lung function FEV1 of 50% to 79%
• Severe COPD (stage 3)
  • Chronic cough with a lot of mucus
  • Shortness of breath
  • Weight loss
  • Repeated and sometimes severe COPD flare-ups
  • Lung function FEV1 of 30% to 49%
• Very severe COPD (stage 4)
  • Chronic cough with a lot of mucus
  • Shortness of breath
  • Weight loss
  • Blue skin color, especially in the lips, fingers, and toes (called cyanosis)
  • Fluid buildup in the legs and feet (called edema)
  • A feeling of fullness and tightness in the belly
  • Confusion, which can happen when there is too much carbon dioxide and not enough oxygen in the blood
  • Life-threatening COPD flare-ups
  • Lung function FEV1 of 30% or lower, or 30% to 49% along with chronic respiratory failure (carbon dioxide stays in the lungs)

Conditions with similar symptoms

Conditions with symptoms similar to COPD include:

• Heart failure.
• Coronary artery disease.
• Asthma. Some people with COPD may have asthma too. But the two conditions differ in a number of ways, including how old you are when you get the disease and what triggers an attack.
• Cystic fibrosis.
• Pulmonary fibrosis.
• Bronchiectasis.