O2 concentrator coming----have questions

[sickwithapnea17]

is everyone going with 2 liters/minute or higher?

[sickwithapnea17]

if you use O2 can you lower the pressures on your bipap? I can't sleep that well on 14/10

[ameriken]

is everyone going with 2 liters/minute or higher?

That's what the Dr started me with. Seemed like that must be a standard.

[Roger2]

is everyone going with 2 liters/minute or higher?

That's what the Dr started me with. Seemed like that must be a standard.

First, Happy Birthday Ken!

So, how did you sleep last night?

pax
Roger

[happysleeper]

Happysleeper, is there a goal level for O2?

Ken, you're right. The usual goal for oxygen saturation is 90 or above.

if you use O2 can you lower the pressures on your bipap? I can't sleep that well on 14/10

Sickwithapnea17, no, you can't lower your pressure because you're on O2. You still need the bipap pressure to keep your throat open, which then allows the O2/air to flow into your lungs with inspiration. You might want to try posting a question on this forum about your difficulty with sleeping on the 14/10 pressure. If you do, try to be as specific as you can about what the difficulty is to get the best help.

Ken, I'm also curious, how did your night with the O2 go? Sometimes it takes a few nights to start feeling better during the day, just like it did for many when starting xpap...

Happy Sleeper

[Kody]

So Ken how did your night go? Notice any difference this morning?

[ameriken]

Well, I think it went well. I believe I'm doing better...woke up @ 530 to take my wife to work (too much snow, I've got teh 4wd that she doesnt drive) and I felt pretty good. Came back and went back to sleep for almost 3 hours more...I think I slept too long. I thought I'd feel a little better than I do, so I appreciate the encouragement from Happy Sleeper that it could take a few days. Otherwise I'm doing pretty well! Thanks for the well wishes!

[Roger2]

. . . I thought I'd feel a little better than I do . . .

Don't let it get you down if you do not feel better or notice a big difference after having the O2 fed into your mask. I can not say I ever did feel better but those at NJ who monitor this via overnight oximeter readings seem to think it is bad to let your saturation level get down to the lower 80's. The only physical difference I have ever noticed if I am without O2 is through the day and after about three or four minutes, I am VERY out of breath and gasping if I am moving around much. I have had the O2 line come off the connection at the "T" where it bleeds into the CPAP air line, like if I get up to answer natures call in the middle of the night and forget to reconnect the line from my cannula to the CPAP I did not really notice anything bad or different when I got up in the morning. It is however BAD on your internal organs (like your heart which has to work extra hard from the lack of O2) to be deprived of adequate oxygen. From what I have gleaned from my doctors, it is like taking blood pressure medicine, you don't necessarily feel the effects but your heart and circulatory system certainly does.

pax
Roger

[sickwithapnea17]

I hope you have good COPD meds and a good pulmonologist. I'm trying spiriva now for my unending wheezing

you really have to use the O2 every single night and make sure that it's hooked up to the cpap/bipap. I notice a big difference when I don't feed the line in. do you mean that you have more energy when you do use O2? I think I noticed the same thing. the headaches I have stop when I use O2 and get enough therapy hours
I feel better on 5 liters, more refreshed- the doctor recommended 2 though


maybe someone could post oximeter data before and after O2

[Roger2]

I'm trying spiriva now for my unending wheezing

I notice a big difference when I don't feed the line in.

maybe someone could post oximeter data before and after O2

I tried Spiriva two years ago and it does help. It does however have some side effects that do not affect everyone but after I had been on it for about 4 months during a routine semiannual eye exam my eye doctor found that the pressure in my eyes was elevated. He rechecked the pressure a month later and it had increased even more and was then a little above what they consider a borderline pressure for glaucoma and was about to begin treatment for that. I had neglected to inform him that I was using spiriva and when he took me off that the pressure in my eyes went down to normal when he reexamined me about a month after that.

The known side affects of Spiriva does not affect everyone but the potential is there so I would strongly recommend that you have your eye doctor keep tabs on this potential problem.

As for oximeter readings, I have checked my saturation level after waking up in the morning when I forgot to plug the oxygen line back into the CPAP when I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. It usually goes down to the high 70’s or low 80’s but as I mentioned, I didn’t really feel any different. I am sure we all know however that being off the O2 if you have COPD and is very bad for your vital organs like your heart. Besides having a low saturation my pulse was usually up around 110 and sometimes higher. Your heart has to beat much harder to keep your body supplied with O2 and that can cause some serious problems.

pax
Roger

[Lizistired]

Our hospital gave my Dad Spiriva instead of his prescribed inhaler. Then they put him on BP meds. It happened twice. His BP is normally 90's/60's.

[sickwithapnea17]

has anyone experienced sleep problems with singulair? it is labelled as causing sleep disorders and I began to have worsening of my sleep apnea around the time I began to take it. there are other drugs in the same class like accolate but I don't know the side effects

yeah if you wake up and your heart is pounding it's a sign that your cpap therapy isn't working
the thing about these newer meds is that their long term safety is unknown since they haven't done 20 year studies on them
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000262/
maybe spiriva is ok for a week at a time? dulera doesn't seem to have long term studies either

a good way to check your lung function is with a peak flow meter

[ameriken]

Last night we went out and got home around 1am, which is highly unusual for us and almost 2 hours past our regular bedtime. I pushed the O2 up to 2.5 litres. It took me over an hour to fall asleep (also highly unusual for me), and I don't know if I was just still a little wired from going out or if it was the oxygen. Then I got up @ 530 am, took my wife to work again because of the leftover snow, and got back to sleep about 615 and slept for 3 more hours.

All totalled I got about 6 hours sleep. Usually I can barely function at 6 hours but today I did fine, so I'm guessing this extra O2 may be working. My wife says I'm more talkative as well. AHI's for the past 2 nites have been 2, which is a little lower than normal. I'm hoping it's doing what it's supposed to.

BTW, Merry Christmas everyone.

[Goofproof]

Last night we went out and got home around 1am, which is highly unusual for us and almost 2 hours past our regular bedtime. I pushed the O2 up to 2.5 litres. It took me over an hour to fall asleep (also highly unusual for me), and I don't know if I was just still a little wired from going out or if it was the oxygen. Then I got up @ 530 am, took my wife to work again because of the leftover snow, and got back to sleep about 615 and slept for 3 more hours.

All totalled I got about 6 hours sleep. Usually I can barely function at 6 hours but today I did fine, so I'm guessing this extra O2 may be working. My wife says I'm more talkative as well. AHI's for the past 2 nites have been 2, which is a little lower than normal. I'm hoping it's doing what it's supposed to.

BTW, Merry Christmas everyone.

Anytime you change how you do things, it makes you feel worse even getting too much sleep. Too much sleep makes the next night go badly too. A normal pattern works best. Jim

[sickwithapnea17]

I'm still going with 4-5 liters/minute every night and I think I feel much better.
Is there any reason to not breathe this much oxygen every night? this is very different from hyperbaric high pressure oxygen which has more risks