I don't think an x-ray is going to show what you need to know. You need to have a spirometry test, you probably should request a referral to a pulmonologist (be prepared for it to take time to get in). Use your rescue inhaler as needed...don't not use them because you are afraid of becoming dependent. Use them so you get the oxygen you need and you are not wearing yourself out. I have COPD, I quit smoking after 47 years (except for pregnancies and some short term quits), I got pneumonia and nearly died back in January of 2014, haven't smoked since. I did get worse over the next several months but that is because COPD is progressive, whether you are smoking or not, quitting slows the progress but it's not a cure. If you quit soon enough, you might just find that you are one of the lucky ones and your COPD does not progress. I HAVE heard of people getting worse after they quit, it is usually short lived and you can thank big tobacco for putting additives in cigarettes that actually may make it seem as though you can breathe better while they are destroying your lung tissue. I don't know if your doc did an oxygen saturation or not but that would be a good thing to know as well. Thirty years is a long time to smoke, there are many ways to determine damage, x-rays are only helpful when things are really bad or you have pneumonia or a collapsed lung. There is only so much they can show. Please follow up and whatever you do, please don't start smoking again. Instead of that, stick close to this site, read blogs, make a "quit kit", figure out when your biggest triggers occurred, read all you can about nicotine addiction. It IS an addiction and that makes you an addict. We are all addicts here, we are all staying smoke free one day at a time and we are growing in ways we never thought were possible.
Welcome to EX,
Ellen
