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        New Message Board Archives >> 2003 Posts >> Question for Renee
        
(Message started by: calkacky on Dec 11^th, 2003, 11:00am)

Title: Question for Renee
Post by calkacky on Dec 11^th, 2003, 11:00am

Hi y'all. I am Amy---Renee's roommate and I have a question I'm sure someone can answer.

She is at home in bed right now with a severe headache. She has oxygen and did a treatment about an hour ago. She does 8 liters per minute for 15 minutes. Is there an amount of time she needs to wait before she can do another one? Can the oxygen still help her if she is in a full blown headache or is it just to try and keep a headache from being full blown when it is first starting?

FYI: I don't know a lot about this, but she said y'all might say that she needs to increase her liters and she said her machine will not let her do that.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Amy

Title: Re: Question for Renee
Post by Jimi on Dec 11^th, 2003, 11:22am

So you are saying that she breathed the 02 for about 15 minutes and it didn't go away or that an hour later another one has come? Most people say that you need at least 10 lpm on the regulator for it to be effective, however I can usually get relief on 8 lpm. Perhaps she does need more. She needs to call the 02 place and get a regulator that goes up to 15 lpm just to be sure.

Title: Re: Question for Renee
Post by Jimi on Dec 11^th, 2003, 11:23am

and.........she needs to start as soon as she feels one coming on. It will work if she already is in a full blown one already though.

Title: Re: Question for Renee
Post by Kirk on Dec 11^th, 2003, 11:26am

8 Liters per minute is seems low I usually run about 12. I use the O2 for as long as it takes. Make shure she doesn't fall asleep with the O2 running. If I can't get to the O2 when the attack starts I use it anyway, but it only cuts the pain by about 50%. Thats not a bad thing.
Keep us posted please. There is a link to your left that has all kinds of O2 info.

TTFN

Title: Re: Question for Renee
Post by calkacky on Dec 11^th, 2003, 11:28am

Thanks Jimi.

She called her neurologist's office prior to my e-mail and left a message for someone to call her back. They did and told her she can do back to back treatments.

She woke with the headache and did one immediately as she knows she is to do oxygen as soon as she feels a headach coming on. She had a level 9 headache when she woke up and it only helped a very little so it is one continuous headache. I will tell her what you said about getting a regulator that goes up to 15 lpm.

Thanks again,
Amy

Title: Re: Question for Renee
Post by calkacky on Dec 11^th, 2003, 11:32am

Thanks Kirk. Jimi suggested more oxygen too. I am definately going to have her tell her doctor and/or the "oxygen people" what y'all have said and she if she can get a regulator that allows more.

I will keep y'all updated on how she is doing.

Thanks to all of you for your support. I know it means so much to her to have all of you out there. She speaks very highly of y'all quite often. I have no idea the pain she goes through and I know it helps her to have her friends here since you all do know what she is going through.

Thanks,
Amy

Title: Re: Question for Renee
Post by 9erfan on Dec 11^th, 2003, 1:09pm

I don't even waste my time with the 10 & 12lpm. I crank it up to 15lpm ever time.

Tell her to demand a different regulator from the oxygen supplier (that's what I had to do). It's a matter of educating the suppliers about what it takes to abort a cluster.

Title: Re: Question for Renee
Post by calkacky on Dec 11^th, 2003, 1:14pm

Thanks 9erfan.

I'm definately going to let her know what y'all have said. It seems unanimous that 8 lpm is not enough. I've figured out the "experts" don't know everything. I mean they are not dealing with this, y'all are, and they don't know it all about what works and what doesn't. All of you are truly the experts. I think that is why the support you give each other is so beneficial.

-Amy