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moving to Lake Chapala area with COPD


KarenR

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I am seriously considering moving to the Lake  Chapala area, however I suffer from COPDand require oxygen day and night.  Is there anyone who lives in this region who has COPD and how is it affecting them?  I have a portable oxygen concentrator so I can use it when getting around. I am afraid that the altitude will make my condition worse.

I appreciate all responses.

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I am watching this post. I do not suffer from COPD,  but I am asked the same question by relatives that would like to visit. I would love to hear from COPD patients that either live in the area or have visited. What was your experience like? Everyone is different, and it all depends on the patient's overall health condition and the severity of the COPD.  So, each person may have different experiences. I am hoping that COPD sufferers will respond and share their experience. Thanks!!  

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9 hours ago, More Liana said:

...please talk with your doctor about living with your illness at high altitude. 

What is high altitude?

The air at higher altitudes is colder, less dense, and contains fewer oxygen molecules. This means that you need to take more breaths in order to get the same amount of oxygen as you would at lower altitudes. The higher the elevation, the more difficult breathing becomes.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, heights above sea level are categorized as follows:

  • high altitude: 8,000 to 12,000 feet (2,438 to 3,658 meters)
  • very high altitude: 12,000 to 18,000 feet (3,658 meters to 5,486 meters)
  • extreme altitude: greater than 18,000 feet or 5,486 meters
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10 hours ago, KarenR said:

I am seriously considering moving to the Lake  Chapala area, however I suffer from COPDand require oxygen day and night.  Is there anyone who lives in this region who has COPD and how is it affecting them?  I have a portable oxygen concentrator so I can use it when getting around. I am afraid that the altitude will make my condition worse.

I appreciate all responses.

Sent you a Private Message.

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Do you have a finger oxygen sensor?  Buy yourself one and test yourself at what percentage you’re comfortable.  Travel to higher altitudes to see how you tolerate it. There are people with COPD in Guadalajara who have become acclimatized but that can take weeks to months.  Talk to RVGringo. He had to return to sea level atmosphere of South Texas because of his health. 

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I have had several friends here over the past 18 years, who have been told to move out and go to the

Coast because of thier difficulty in breathing. I myself ,hope to move to a coastal area soon for the

same reason, diagnosis of COPD and Doctors telling me to head down to the coast to live. Wish you

the best,whatever your decision.

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13 hours ago, KarenR said:

I am seriously considering moving to the Lake  Chapala area, however I suffer from COPDand require oxygen day and night.  Is there anyone who lives in this region who has COPD and how is it affecting them?  I have a portable oxygen concentrator so I can use it when getting around. I am afraid that the altitude will make my condition worse.

I appreciate all responses.

I have a very good friend who ws forced to move from here to Florida because his copd was getting so bad he literally could not breathe

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Colima is around 1,800'

Alamos is around 1,300'

Zihuatanejo, the Mazatlan area and/or all the burgs along 200 north of PV up to Ricon de Guayabitos are.... well, at sea level

or join RVGringo around the McAllen Tx border towns for a similar 'cost of living' and very Mexican culture.

 

 

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I have had COPD since before 2004.  By 2014, is was having to use oxygen even when sitting at home, in Chapala.  I could not tolerate the milpa burnings and smoke in Ajijic, which was part of the reason for our move to Chapala in 2004, where there are no milpas above town. In the fall of 2014, we moved to Tucson, where we had access to the VA for me, and Medicare for my wife. It helped, for a while.  In 2018, we moved to the Rio Grande Valley, at just 110 feet above sea level, where breathing is easier, and costs are lower. Now, I use little oxygen, but the congestive heart failure is a continuing problem.  The two conditions are related, of course, and there is no cure for either. So, pick your living conditions carefully, and make the best of it.  I would love to return to Chapala, but it is not a posibility in the 'winter of my life'.  Here in "The Valley", we are happy to have good air conditioning, but seldom need much heat in the winter months, which are called 'our second summer', and when the flocks of 'winger Texan snowbirds come for six months in RVs; which is how we found the place, twenty years ago.

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45 minutes ago, Jreboll said:

Why don’t y’all come back to S.Texas?  Low cost of living, lots of Mexican restaurants, good medical care, warm balmy weather, close to beaches.

Top COPD places to live by State: and oxygen level is only one of the criteria!

Texas – Brownsville, Edinburg, Harlingen, McAllen, Raymondville

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We are in Alamo, just 15 minutes from McAllen, in a 55+ community with 256 low maintenance brick homes, golf, ponds, park & trails, etc., just 3/4 mile from the E-W freeway. 

Interested folks can send a PM with specific questions.

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18 hours ago, Ferret said:

So, she shouldn't pick Denver, Colorado as a place to retire either. And let's not forget the dust and annual burning of fields that takes place here as well.

Have you ever been anywhere in Mexico that isn't dusty in the dry season and where they don't burn the fields?  I think it's fairly country-wide.

4 hours ago, Ferret said:

And they are all hotter than hell in the summer. You can breathe but you may die of shock when you see your electrical bill when running non stop air conditioning.

Not everyone is a heat and humidity wimp. I've lived on the coast north of PV for about 17 years. I've never had AC, don't need it, don't want it. Fans work fine for me and many others. 

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