Living With COPD

COPD is a condition that makes it hard for you to breathe. There are steps you can take to help manage your disease.

Stick to your COPD treatment plan
In order for your treatment plan to work best, it’s important to follow your doctor’s advice on how and when to take medication.

Schedule regular checkups
You should visit your doctor a few times throughout the year for COPD checkups—even if you feel fine. You may not notice how your COPD is changing over time because you get used to living with the symptoms.

If you smoke, it’s time to quit
Smoking is the #1 cause of COPD. Quitting smoking is the only thing that has been shown to slow the progression of the disease.

Staying active and eating right is important to lung health
As you live with COPD, you actually need more energy to breathe. Eating a healthy diet and exercising is good for your body, may help you feel better, and will help you live with COPD.

Learn all you can about COPD
Learning about COPD will help you make the right decisions about how to improve your breathing and manage your symptoms.

Become an active member of your healthcare team. Talk with your doctor about the different ways you can manage your COPD. The health information provided on this site is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace discussions with your doctor.

For help in talking with your doctor, view our Doctor Discussion Guide

INDICATIONS AND USAGE

TUDORZA™ PRESSAIR™ is a prescription medicine used long term, 2 times each day to treat symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

TUDORZA is not a rescue medicine and should not be used for treating sudden breathing problems. Your doctor may give you other medicine to use for sudden breathing problems.

IMPORTANT RISK INFORMATION

What important information should I know about TUDORZA?

TUDORZA is not a rescue medication and does not relieve sudden breathing problems. Always have a rescue inhaler medicine with you to treat sudden symptoms.

What should I tell my doctor before using TUDORZA?

Before you use TUDORZA, tell your doctor about all your medical conditions, including if you have eye problems (especially glaucoma), prostate or bladder problems, or problems passing urine. TUDORZA may make these problems worse. You should also let your doctor know if you have a severe allergy to milk proteins.

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and non-prescription medicines and eyedrops. Especially tell your doctor if you take anticholinergics (including tiotropium, ipratropium) and atropine.

Do not use TUDORZA more often than prescribed or take more medicine than prescribed for you.

Seek immediate medical help if your breathing problems worsen with TUDORZA, you need to use your rescue inhaler more often than usual, or your rescue inhaler does not work as well for you.

What are the possible side effects of TUDORZA?

TUDORZA can cause serious side effects. Stop taking TUDORZA and seek medical help right away if you experience:

Sudden shortness of breath immediately after use of TUDORZA
New or worsened symptoms of increased pressure in your eyes (acute narrow-angle glaucoma), which may include eye pain, nausea or vomiting, blurred vision, seeing halos or bright colors around lights, or red eyes. Using only eyedrops to treat these symptoms may not work and if not treated, this could lead to permanent loss of vision
Symptoms of new or worsened urinary retention (difficult, painful, or frequent urination, or urination in a weak stream or drips)
Serious allergic reactions including rash, hives, swelling of the face, mouth, and tongue, and breathing problems

What are the most common side effects of TUDORZA?

The most common side effects of TUDORZA include headache, common cold symptoms, and cough. These are not all the possible side effects with TUDORZA.

Please also see the full Prescribing Information, including Patient Information.

TUDORZA PRESSAIR (aclidinium bromide inhalation powder) Prescribing Information. Forest Pharmaceuticals, Inc. St. Louis, MO

Data on file. Forest Laboratories, Inc.

Kerwin EM, D’Urzo AD, Gelb AF, et al, on behalf of the ACCORD 1 study investigators. Efficacy and safety of a 12-week treatment with twice-daily aclidinium bromide in COPD patients (ACCORD COPD I). COPD. 2012;9:90-101.