Richard L Shelby

Hello, Jill.

The short answer to your question is “yes”. From the Social Security web site (https://www.ssa.gov/disabilityresearch/wi/medicare.htm):

“Everyone eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits is also eligible for Medicare after a 24-month qualifying period. The first 24 months of disability benefit entitlement is…[Read more]

Hi, Jim,

You should consider switching to something else if you’re using the inhaler that often. There was a time when I used the Ventolin inhaler extensively and my pulmonologist prescribed albuterol in a nebulizer. I used it twice a day and it worked better than the Ventolin. The albuterol is in solution and so the nebulizer delivers water mist…[Read more]

Hi, Liz,

A steroid inhaler (or oral steroid) will not improve pulmonary fibrosis per se but it may (not necessarily will) make a patient feel better and breath easier. It’s as my former pulmonologist (whom I loved dearly) would say. She would enter a prescription, look at me, and say, “This won’t cure you; as you know there is nothing I can offer…[Read more]

None of the available inhalers do anything specifically for PF disease. However, there are other reasons to use them even if one does not also have asthma or COPD.

First, PF patients often have inflammation in the lungs and inhaled steroids can reduce the inflammation. Reducing the inflammation will help the lungs to work better and so ease…[Read more]

I take many pills each day. Like many others I use a pill organizer. Mine has four compartments for each day of the week. On Sunday I fill the organizer with the week’s medications.

As an added safeguard, and to help with PRN medications, I use an app, Medisafe. There are other apps available which accomplish the same things but I like Medisafe.…[Read more]

Please ignore my response as I discovered the quote was not from the correct web site. I tried to edit or delete my message but the system would not accept the edit. Sorry for wasting space and time.

@tom-nicholas Your assumption is correct and all of us interested in EGCG need to pay attention to the product labels as the percentage of EGCG varies quite a bit over the range of available green tea products.

There are many items (both prescription and OTC) available to combat cough but a physician warned me that although any of them might help, none of them work for everyone, and most won’t work for given individual. So, he said, try one and then another until you learn what works best for you. Your physician can give guidance on what to try based on…[Read more]

Think of O2 levels this way: A healthy person has an O2 saturation of 97-99. Less than 95 is considered low. If the O2 saturation is too low then the person will be prescribed supplemental oxygen. The goal of treatment with supplemental O2 is to keep the patient’s O2 level in the normal range, i.e. 95 or above. People using supplemental O2 should…[Read more]

There is a lot of confusion on this topic. One can read details elsewhere on the Internet, but the short answer is this: Too much supplemental oxygen can be hazardous for a patient with COPD. Many people read or hear this and think that it applies to all lung disease, however it does not. There is no problem of “excess” oxygen for IPF patients.…[Read more]