Hi guys, I just have a few questions with regards to your management of exacerbations.
1. recently, my dad's O2 sat dropped from 90 to 85ish at rest, but with absolutely no shortness of breath, coughing is probably just 3-4x a day, but we can say that the mucus is thick from the sound of the cough though, with this, I'm not so sure if he is having an exacerbation, specifically because of no SOB, he said he feels perfectly fine apart from the mucus in the throat, when asked about how he feels, sometimes his O2 will increase to 90 after he would cough out the mucus. Is this considered an exacerbation?
2. I know each person is different, but more or less how many times do you experience exacerbation for you to need Oral steriods?
3. Do you take steriods alone? or always with antibiotic since steriods tends to lower immune system .
4. My dad's pulmo is quite reluctant to prescribe ORAL steriods unless for severe exacerbation, she would increase the INHALED steriods first, (budesonide), but im really not sure if this is effective as the oral ones, Im always scared that the mid exacerbation might lead to severe exacerbation.