Helpless

[formum]

Hi, at present i am looking after my mum, she has COPD aswell as ITP which has caused nosebleeds she is on 24hr oxygen and has been using a nasal cannula and her nose has all dried up and she is struggling to breathe, its getting her down as you can imagine, we have been using ky jelly to moisturise her nose but nothings working and she is not good any ideas how to help make it easier for her to breathe?

[bigfattoe]

A doctor told me years ago that black coffee opens up the airways how true this is i dont know? I had chronic asma but it was such along time i cant rember if it helped me...but anythink worth a try must be caffine in it...but it was my doctor..he retired now .he also told me dark chocolate good for cleaning kidneys out..he was a good old fashioned doctor i loved him..hope things improve for mumxxx god bless dawnxx

[Hidden]

Hi if you type in 'Cannula' on the top right under search healthunlocked lots of replies will come up. If you are in the UK you can ring the BLF nurses for advice too. Their number is under the red balloon at the top. x

[jenss]

Hi so sorry to hear about your mum. I have heard that moisturising the oxygen by bubbling it through water helps prevent drying out of nasal passages. I am not sure how you would set that up but you could ask pharmacy, BLF helpline (apparently not open until 4th Jan) oxygen company. Best wishesxxx

[evermore]

Hi Formum

sorry your Mum is having that trouble. I had the same when I first went on oxygen, I was advised KY jelly but it was useless. I bought some Nasogel by Neilmed, its safe to use with oxygen and helps a lot. However I also purchase some really soft cannulae from the USA and that has completely solved my problem. The company's address is

softhose.com/

they are very helpful, you can e-mail them if you need any advice, they post out very quickly.

Someone has mentioned bubbling the oxygen through a water bottle and some people do use this method, I am not on a high enough prescription for this, don't know how many litres your Mum is on. The BLF nurses may be able to advise, otherwise get on to the oxygen suppliers, they are usually very helpful.

Your Mum must be glad that she has you looking out for her, I do hope that she gets some relief soon.