Hya I am on home oxygen, 16 hrs a day which a lot of that is taken up at night when I'm asleep, my question is when I'm having my breaks from my oxygen during the day when at home doing nothing, which I have been managing up to 4 hrs stints is it normal for my heart rate to get faster after the amount of time and could it be doing any damage and should I have shorter lengths of breaks? Hope all this makes sense 😁 look forward to any replies xx
Thanks Diane x
Hi Diane11270 . If your oxygen levels are lower then your heart works harder to ensure that your organs are receiving the oxygen they need. If your heart rate is really high then do speak to your team and let them know. It may mean using oxygen a little longer or maybe using it when you are most active. When I started on oxygen I was told that the 16 hours was a minimum figure.
Thanks for that, I'm not worried about it but feel I maybe being a bit too ambitious having such long breaks
😊 Diane xx
Hi, I would also get in touch with whoever is monitoring and prescribing your home oxygen and explain it to them.
I know from experience some teams are a lot better at this than others but I believe you should have regular blood tests (6 monthly at least maybe?) and checks on how the oxygen is helping or impacting on you.
Regards
Thanks phil, ido see the oxygen team on a six months basis and they check oxygen levels in my blood, I am due to see them un April so I shall see what they say xx
I assume you are not working but at home? If that is the case what I use to do when I was on it for 16 hours was to go on at 4pm in the afternoon and come off again at 8 am in the morning thus having my 16 hours continuous which worked well for me for many years.
Thanks, i do something similar to that now, but like a say a couple of times i have felt my heart going faster xx
And a further thought after the last post by Gingermusic;
My Mum had no instruction regarding her oxygen for a long time (it is a ridiculous story of lack of care planning ) When she finally did get instruction I believe the Respiratory Nurse said that having oxygen on at night whilst asleep was the most important and beneficial time as your body is resting so can be helped to recover better.
Toddle pip
Yeah i always make sure i have it on all night when asleep too xx
Hi Diane
Can I ask why you take the oxygen i.e. underlying cause? I am also LTOT and have HPS, soon as I move my o2 drops below 80%. Do you have an o2 meter for your finger? they are reasonably priced and work well. Might be worth checking out, or even just go to doctors and ask them to monitor you as you talk light exercise or go from seated to standing. Shout if you need. I have a lot of data on this.
J.
Hya i have bronchiectisis and mild pulmonary hypertension, same here at rest without oxygen I'm about 80-84 but if I'm pottering around the house it can drop down to 74-76, no i haven't got a finger meter but I've got an app on my phone which can read my level, when i put my oxygen back on its 89-92 xx
hmmm .. I tried a phone app, did not work so good.. get a o2 meter from Amazon GBP 20 +/- ... At rest without o2 you need to be higher than 80-84!
the minimum recommended o2 saturation at rest on air with copd related conditions is 88-92% anything lower and you are potentially/probably doing organ damage and should be using supplementary o2...skis
When I'm on oxygen it does get to 90-95 i was was meant to say and the oxygen nurse said last week that 80 is ok if I'm resting as long as i have my oxygen 16hrs a day xx
dianne,i would check with your consultant/respiratory team 80% at any time other than possibly sleeping is not ok,but i am not a doctor so please do check with them.....regards skis
p.s i might possibly add that very short periods of desaturation are ok if you have a rapid return to the 88/92 levels and when i say rapid i mean within minutes.
Okies thanks x
Oxygen and100 yard challenge
cruising with oxygen 
Holiday oxygen and hotels
Oxygen levels after pneumonia 
Managing oxygen cyliners
