supplement oxygen

[Ragrug]

Hi all

I have just been prescribed suplemetal oxygen at 2 litres I stay on it for 16 hours but as soon as I stop and do anything ..I

Like go to the loo , very nearby I am completely breathless again my stats drop to 86 and blood to 120 as I have only been on it for a week am wondering if this is normal... can't get doc as they are all busy with covid.

Anyone any ideas

I have COPD and a 4cm tumour cancerous.

Stay well

Ragrug

[Ian1967]

Hi Ragrug, is the 2 litres you are on when you are at rest, such as when you're sitting down or at bedtime? If that's the case that level of oxygen is not enough for when you're walking, but please don't turn your oxygen flow up without speaking to your COPD nurse or Respiratory Specialist.

Have you been assessed for Ambulatory Oxygen, this is what you use for walking and exercising, your Ambulatory settings are higher to take account of the extra strain on your vital organs.

As I told you last time, I was originally on oxygen 24/7, I was on 1 litre at rest and up to 2 litres Ambulatory, I wasn't able to go above those settings because I'm a CO2 retainer, I now only use Ambulatory Oxygen between 2 and 5 litres, for walking and exercise, still use oxygen 1 litre and BiPAP at bedtime, because I now use BiPAP at bedtime this stops me retaining CO2, this means I can now use Ambulatory Oxygen at a higher setting to walk and exercise more.

I hope I have been some help.

Ian.

[Ragrug in reply to Ian1967]

Hello IanThank you for your answer.I should explain that I am in Spain and our health service is slightly different,marvellous, but different. It's been complicated by our increase in Covid. I managed to see my copd doc after a long gap and he just put me straight away on oxygen. Both home concentrator and ambulatory concentrater but not a lot of advice or I have ben asking the wrong questions. Both the home concentrator are at 2 litres....I use the home one at rest....and the ambulatory when I am walking around. Today I am going to give the ambulatory one for a longer time...and see if I improve. I will be having a phone consult with my oncologist and put your suggestion to her.

Many thanks

Ragrug. PS what is BiPap?

.

A

[Ian1967 in reply to Ragrug]

Hi Ragrug, BiPAP is a None Invasive Ventilator, a similar system to CPAP which they are using to treat Covid-19 now, they were originally used to treat conditions like Sleep Apnoea.

The ambulatory concentrator you are using is it pulse dose or continuous flow? Pulse dose concentrator’s work on your pulse rate, whereas continuous flow is always on until you turn the concentrator off.

Pulse dose concentrator’s have to be triggered by your pulse and aren’t always suitable for some patients. When I was first given a pulse dose concentrator, my COPD nurse tried it on me first to see if I triggered the oxygen flow, luckily I did, if I hadn’t I would probably have had to use ambulatory oxygen bottles, they do also make Continuous flow ambulatory oxygen concentrator’s, but they are much heavier and have to be wheeled around on a trolley and have a much shorter battery life.

Ian.

[Ragrug in reply to Ian1967]

Thank you...getting clearer all the time...