Preparing for a COPD Specialist Appointment
COPD requires comprehensive management including smoking cessation, medications, rehabilitation, and exacerbation prevention. A respiratory specialist needs detailed symptoms, functional impact, and exacerbation history to prescribe appropriate pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies.
Reviewed by the Brief My Doctor editorial team · Last updated June 2026
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What to tell your doctor
- 1Current symptoms: cough, sputum production, shortness of breath
- 2Dyspnoea level: at rest, with activity, at night
- 3Exacerbation frequency per year
- 4Smoking history: current, former, pack-years
- 5Occupational or environmental exposures
- 6Impact on work and daily activities
- 7Exercise tolerance and limitations
- 8Current medications: inhalers, oxygen, others
- 9Previous lung function testing results
- 10Comorbidities: cardiovascular disease, depression, anxiety
Questions to ask your doctor
- Q1.What is my COPD severity classification?
- Q2.Do I need pulmonary rehabilitation?
- Q3.What medications should I be on?
- Q4.Do I need home oxygen?
- Q5.How do I prevent exacerbations?
- Q6.When should I seek emergency care?
- Q7.Are there vaccinations I need?
- Q8.How can I improve exercise tolerance?
Don't forget to bring
- ✓Spirometry results and dates
- ✓Current medication list and doses
- ✓Exacerbation history: dates, severity, treatments
- ✓Smoking history
- ✓Occupational exposure history
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