Choosing the best pulmonary fibrosis treatment for you will depend on several factors. If the scarring in your lungs is still fairly minimal, you may benefit from certain drug therapies to help slow the progression of damage. Oxygen therapy may help improve your quality of life and allow you to sleep and exercise more easily; if your lungs have become significantly scarred, you may even choose to use oxygen throughout the day. Another form of treatment that may be right for you is pulmonary rehabilitation, which can teach you skills for managing your disease physically while also helping you cope with it mentally and emotionally. If you are fairly young and otherwise healthy, a lung transplant may be a viable option.
Drug therapy is often part of pulmonary fibrosis treatment that is used early in the disease to help minimize irreversible damage to the lungs. Corticosteroids such as prednisone are often used due to their anti-inflammatory properties. Drugs that suppress the immune system also work for some patients, and sometimes may be used in conjunction with steroids. Due to the high incidence of serious side effects with both types of drugs, your doctor will likely evaluate how effectively they are working after several months and then discuss with you whether they are worth continuing.
Another pulmonary fibrosis treatment option that may be right for you is oxygen therapy. If your disease has not progressed too far, you may find that getting additional oxygen can help you with certain activities like exercise or sleep which may have become more difficult. Once it has progressed further, oxygen may become necessary more frequently during the day to improve your quality of life.
You may wish to consider a pulmonary rehabilitation program as part of your pulmonary fibrosis treatment if you need to develop skills for coping with the disease. Breathing exercises and physical conditioning can help you deal with the physical difficulties you may be facing. You can also receive counseling and gain access to support groups that can help you work through feelings like depression, anxiety, and isolation that you may be having due to your illness.
Lung transplant is the best type of pulmonary fibrosis treatment for some patients. Typically, it is recommended for those who do not respond well to any other treatments. You may be a candidate if you are in good health aside from your pulmonary fibrosis, young, and do not smoke.
