Fresh hope..

[AnthonyMs]

I'm really excited that I'm finally about to start hyperbaric oxygen therapy this week after campaigning over many months with my rehab consultant. I don't know whether it will work and I remain skeptical but I have a strong inkling that this is going to change me for the better. Maybe i'm too desperate for help but when there's none you have to strive forward no matter what obstacles stand in your way, without hope there's nothing left.

[SAMBS]

not a therapy I am familiar with - but I really hope it works for you Anthony MS - stay positive. x

[cat3]

I'm very curious to know more about hyperbaric oxygen therapy i.e. which patients can benefit & could it improve the condition of someone severely disabled after a sah. Also what criteria would qualify one for the therapy.

I'm researching these issues on-line but it's always more reassuring hearing accounts from a trusted source, so please keep us informed.

I appreciate your scepticism but, still, I wish you every possible success with this treatment, Anthony.

[iforget]

I know someone who did this. Hope it goes well for you.

[AnthonyMs in reply to iforget]

You mentioned this to me, did it help this person?

[iforget in reply to AnthonyMs]

Yes. She believes it did. I would have to ask for more details if needed because I am afraid I just forget

[ncmurphy1951]

i was in hospital with a young girl who had this treatment and greatly benefitted good luck neil

[AnthonyMs]

Certainly, no matter how disabled someone is after injury they could benefit from HBOT, although it's harder to predict how much function could be regained the more disabled a person is, although it's not out of the realm of possibility that significant gains could be achieved. If someone being in a vegetative state and then after HBOT they can feed and dress themselves or carry on a conversation, they may still be considered disabled but that could be a tremendous improvement to themselves and their families although they may still be considered disabled. I'm not excluding severly disabled persons from benefiting from HBOT, but the people that could most benefit are the ones who've had mild or moderate brain injury and whose injury occured most recently, since their brains/circuits are still mostly intact.

Some people have tried HBOT and haven't reported much improvement and I wonder this is due to a lack of guidance, since their seems to be very little recognition of this treatment in the medical establishment and my neuro-consultant hadn't heard of it before when I asked him about it. This is unfortunate that lack of guidance breeds ignorance amongst patients, however it is and should be considered a medical treatment - just like taking a drug, it needs to be dosed correctly and you can't just take it whenever you want. Although unlike drugs theirs very few side effects and for most people it's a relaxing experience from what I've read. As far as i'm aware, it may not be possible to have this treatment if you have seizures, certain heart/lung conditions or blocked ears. Most centres ask you to gain the consent of your GP that you don't have any of the above conditions and then you're free to have this treatment.

If it works I'll be providing a full account of how it's helped me and if not I'll be the first to admit it. I imagine that most people haven't heard of it or they have only a passive interest, so I hope that my subjetive experience may assist people to become more informed.

[Kirk5w7]

Wow, if this works for you then fantastic, I hadn't heard of it as a treatment, I'm very interested myself because I only consider I'm mildly affected, no seizures or personality issues, mainly balance, fatigue and some co-ordination problems, mild memory deficit and some peripheral vision loss on the right, have to look into it too, hope it goes well for you love Janet xx

[cat3]

V. interesting. Thanks for that. Is it funded by the nhs ?

[Lubilu01]

Hi AnthonyM, I was reading up on this a while ago as my dad still cannot speak, walk or eat after his SAH over a year ago. As Cat3 asked, is it available on NHS? It is tricky as I presume my dad would need to consent to this type of treatment but I am not sure if he would understand what we were talking about and as he is unable to talk to us or write, he wouldn't be able to consent. Best of luck, do you know when you will be having your first session?

[AnthonyMs]

It isn't funded by the NHS as they take the view that there's little evidence that it works unfortunately. I'll be having my treatment at an MS therapy centre, for which there are 62 around the country and many of them provide HBOT under charitable settings. Thus as compared to medical costs if you were to obtain HBOT as prescribed by a doctor, you pay a reasonable price in my opinion. Of course it might just be a waste of time but I'll only know that after I've tried.

Regarding consent, they'll probably ask you for your GPs/consultants consent that you're fit to participate but a doctor working on the NHS probably won't refer you for HBOT since it's 'off-label' and there's officially "no evidence" that it works. It is a tricky situation, I'd PM you the contact details of someone who might be able to help you. There was a member on here "eddyins" who's son had HBOT and I believe he was in a bad state too, he contacted Prof. Phillip James at Dundee University, an expert in HBOT.

[Lubilu01]

Thanks for the info AnthonyM. I do feel not enough is being done for my dad now. He has been moved to a nursing home and is now under the care of his GP. I get the feeling they have just written him off and he isn't even getting physio at the moment. It would be interesting to speak to someone who deals with this type of therapy, would you be able to PM the details to me please?

You must let us know how you get on, I would be really interested to hear about it.