Elevation and COPD (Montrose, Ouray, Ridgway: house, living in, moving)

[donsabi]

I was wondering how the CO elevation effect those with COPD, asthma, etc., I met one guy locally who moved from CO because he had breathing difficulties.

[Teckeeee]

My Mom with COPD had to leave once it became more advanced. She would have had to be on oxygen 24/7 in CO, sea level not at all.

[highplainsrus]

my copd is better here than on the low plains. returned to lower, humid elevation after a couple of months here and copd was noticeably worse down there. came back upslope and immediately better.

[K2013K]

Based on my experiences with my mother with COPD, I think that it is a combination of altitude, humidity & barometric pressure that make the difference. Before she passed away, she was on oxygen 24/7, but due to advanced upper respiratory issues as well as many other things.

We lived in a small community on the lower plains that was at 4,300 ft. There was little humidity & the area was hot & dry. There were fronts that would move through that affected the barometric pressure, but usually she functioned fine. However, she was never able to come visit me when I moved to higher elevations. Too many issues.

I think that ultimately, it will depend on the severity of the COPD as well as where you are looking to relocate to. Colorado has a wide variety of elevations as well as some very diverse climate. Depending on where you would like to go, it might be done relatively easily.

[donsabi]

Thanks for your posts.

I just realized that I had been to one location in TN were the elevation was 6400 feet and I felt no different. However, I wasn't doing much other than sight seeing.

A few years ago I had read that people with COPD will do better in either the seashore or a dry climate depending on the individual. I tried the seashore for a while and did feel a little uncomfortable.

[phetaroi]

There was a gentleman I did business with here who was telling me about his COPD, and he said that as soon as he could retire he was heading to lower altitude because the elevation here did have a tremendous effect on his condition.

[ArthurManby]

Mother-in-law moved out here from Lincoln, NE 15 yrs back. While living in CoS, she developed a lung condition symptomatic to emphysema. Moved down to Pblo-W for about 7 yrs, which helped for a spell, but this last summer ended up moving back in Lincoln. She's doing great now, off the O2. The thin air was literally killing her.

[brightdoglover]

An elderly friend of mine lived up in Ridgway all of her family-raising life, moved down to Montrose with beginning COPD for retirement and friends, activity, etc. She now finds herself on oxygen around the clock and has relief from the COPD when she visits a sister who lives at sea level in CA. She says she can feel the restriction as soon as she comes back to Montrose and couldn't even visit me up in Ouray when I was there. COPD is a tough one.

[wanneroo]

If someone has respiratory problems, Colorado is usually not the state for them.

[Lost Roses]

Which is interesting as Colorado was the place to be in the early 1900s if you had tuberculosis. Most of our longtime hospitals started out as tuberculosis sanatoriums. Check out these old TB huts.

Tuberculosis huts – the neatest little backyard treasures | ~ House Crazy ~