To help with COPD flare-ups, you may consider a medication inhaler, antibiotics, oxygen therapy, and hospital care. Your healthcare team can best advise you on treatment for COPD exacerbations.
If you live with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), you may experience shortness of breath, wheezing, tiredness, and frequent lung infections.
While you may be able to manage this lung condition with medications and lifestyle changes, you might experience periods when your COPD symptoms worsen. These are known as exacerbations or flare-ups.
Depending on your healthcare team’s guidance, these 5 treatments may be options to help restore your breathing during a COPD flare-up.
One option is an inhaler filled with a medication known as a bronchodilator. This quick-acting medication helps open up your blocked airways and
Commonly prescribed quick-acting bronchodilators include:
- albuterol
- ipratropium (Atrovent)
- levalbuterol (Xopenex)
This type of medication requires a prescription from your doctor. They may also suggest a long-acting bronchodilator, which you can use for maintenance treatment. A long-acting bronchodilator may take several hours to work, but it can help you breathe freely between flare-ups.
According to a 2024 research review, inhalers may be more beneficial than other treatments, including corticosteroids, but more research is needed.
Not all inhaled medications come in the same delivery device, and you can discuss the options with your healthcare team. They can help you understand what may work best for your COPD symptoms, especially in an emergency.
Corticosteroids are anti-inflammatory drugs that
During a flare-up, you might take a corticosteroid in pill form. Prednisone is a corticosteroid that’s widely prescribed for COPD flare-ups.
Corticosteroids have many potential side effects, including weight gain, bloating, and changes in blood sugar and blood pressure. For this reason, oral corticosteroids are used only as a short-term solution for COPD episodes.
Corticosteroid medications are sometimes combined with bronchodilator drugs in one inhaler. Your doctor might have you use this combination of medications during a flare-up. Examples include:
- budesonide/formoterol (Symbicort)
- fluticasone/salmeterol (Advair)
- fluticasone/vilanterol (Breo Ellipta)
- mometasone/formoterol (Dulera)
Your doctor can best advise you on which prescription medications may or may not work for you.
If you have COPD, your lungs produce more mucus than the lungs of someone without COPD. Excess mucus raises your risk of bacterial infection, and a flare-up can indicate a bacterial infection.
Antibiotics can clear up an active infection,
COPD may cause breathing trouble, which can mean that you do not get enough oxygen. As part of your ongoing treatment, your doctor may prescribe oxygen therapy.
Oxygen therapy may help relieve the shortness of breath that occurs during a flare-up. If you have advanced lung disease, you may need oxygen therapy all the time. If not, you may need the extra help only during a flare-up.
Your oxygen therapy may occur at home or in a hospital, depending on how severe the flare-up is.
If you’ve lived with COPD for a while, you’re probably used to handling occasional flare-ups at home. But sometimes a flare-up can become severe or life threatening. In these cases, you
If you experience any of these symptoms, you or someone nearby should call for medical attention right away:
- chest pain
- blue lips
- unresponsiveness
- agitation
- confusion
If your symptoms are severe or you think you’re having a medical emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
To help prevent flare-ups, you can identify and avoid your triggers. A trigger is an event or situation that often causes a flare-up of your COPD symptoms.
COPD triggers vary from person to person, so each person’s prevention plan will be different. Here are some tips for avoiding common triggers:
- Quit smoking if you currently smoke, and steer clear of secondhand smoke.
- Ask co-workers not to wear strong scents around you.
- Use unscented cleaning products in your home.
- Cover your nose and mouth when you’re out in cold weather.
You can discuss creating an action plan for your COPD with your doctor and healthcare team. This written statement can provide steps to take in the event of a flare-up.
You can read more here about COPD, its symptoms, and other types of treatment that may be options for you to discuss with your healthcare team.
You can try to prevent COPD flare-ups but may still experience them. If your COPD exacerbations get too severe, you might try treatments such as medicated inhalers, corticosteroids, oxygen therapy, or even hospital care.
Make sure to consult your healthcare team about the best options for treating your condition and have a written plan for what to do in case of flare-ups and emergencies.