I was going through some papers and ran across this that I thought others might have an interest in; I found it a few months ago and it helped me better understand some of the 'down side' to oxygen therapy:
"...When it comes to oxygen therapy, there can be too much of a good thing. Prolonged administration of highly concentrated oxygen can potentially damage the lung lining tissues and air sacs, a condition known as pulmonary oxygen toxicity. The risk for this side effect of oxygen therapy comes into play primarily when patients on home treatment increase the oxygen flow rate to a level higher than prescribed.
The risk of pulmonary oxygen toxicity proves highest when inhaling pure oxygen for several hours to days. Coughing is typically the first symptom of pulmonary oxygen toxicity. Irritation of the large airways caused by the highly concentrated oxygen provokes this symptom. With continued exposure, damage to the lung tissues may cause fluid leakage into the air sacs, accompanied by increasingly severe shortness of breath..."
Hope this helps...
Duncan
Written by
Dmactds
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You're very welcome, as are the several other folks who've responded to my posting on oxygen toxicity.
I had noticed, after a bit over two years of fairly constant but not 24/7 use of oxygen therapy, that when I used it for a few hours at night, I felt decidedly worse the next morning. I decided to stop using it altogether but continued to take it with me on shopping trips, etc.
Gradually, I've stopped even that and, while I'm still 'breathless' some of the time, I find the more I don't use the tank, the more resilient my lungs and also my overall stamina.
However, I must admit that I began taking Co Q10 last November and have noticed a marked improvement. Only recently I stepped up from 100mgs per day to 200, taken in two doses of 100 ea.
I'm only relating my experiences and, obviously, we aren't all the same so, as they say, "results may differ"; if anything, I guess the main thing I'm suggesting is that we should all question things as they apply to us and proceed on what works.
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