I was about half a pack a day smoker from my late teens up until my late 30s. I also used medical cannabis predominantly smoked/vaporizer up until 2 years ago. I decided to quit that as well because it was reducing my ability to surf. I'm currently 45 years of age.
Since then my"asthma" became progressively worse. I noticed my triggers were causing severe inflammation. My triggers include smoke, dust, cooking fumes, traffic etc. I try to use an n95 whenever I am likely to be exposed to such triggers. I've noticed reduced exercise tolerance and shortness of breath. This has occured post a severe COVID 19 infection last year and an equally severe infection from a foreign body (sea urchin spine) that wasn't removed promptly.
My question is does anyone else experience these intense triggering events? Sometimes it's as simple as a car driving by and I get a sharp tightness in my chest. My last spirometry 2 months ago was fev1/fvc 71.4% and 73.4% post bronchodilator. So it's obviously not asthma anymore and with my smoking history it is early COPD. If anyone else experiences these intense acute reactions to triggers how do you manage them?