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Title: A really stupid O2 question Post by Kilo on Aug 26th, 2002, 7:28pm Man, do I feel like an idiot. :-[ Can't get in to see my neuro for a month, so I called my GP about getting oxygen. Apparently, I don't need a prescription to GET the oxygen (but do to have my insurance company pay for it) and I think I could afford one month's supply out-of-pocket. GP is unwilling to do anything until she consults with a neuro. (She is a complete CH newbie but she tries hard.) So...I figure I'll just go out and get the oxygen on my own, right? Um...where does one get oxygen? My pharmacy doesn't carry it, nor does the medical supply store in my clinic. And can anyone give me a ballpark figure for the cost of the initial setup? I feel much as I did when I first saw a gas station advertising "free air." I sure would appreciate the help of you O2 vets. Kilo |
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Title: Re: A really stupid O2 question Post by domm on Aug 26th, 2002, 8:11pm Kilo - sorry you ended up here, but we all need support when the beast comes to dance. I am surprised to hear you can get O2 without a prescription. I know you can buy O2 for welding, but its not the same as medical grade O2 and it will f%&* your lungs up big time. I get mine thru a medical supply outfit, not a pharmacy. I bought my regulator and mask (a non rebreather- important !!) from the supply house for a couple hundred (this was 6 years ago). I'm sure you can shop around the internet and find the regulators cheaper. Read through these posts and you'll find tons of info from experienced people. While we're not docs - we're all going through the medical school of hard knocks. It won't surprise me if you end up having to educate your MD on what CHs are. O2 works for me, along with the Imitrex pills, I can usually keep the beast at bay, or keep his visit to a minimum. Hope you find freedom from this animal..... domm |
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Title: Re: A really stupid O2 question Post by Drk^Angel on Aug 26th, 2002, 8:28pm To get medical O2 I'm fairly positive you have to have a prescription, and you get it from a medical supply store. The tanks, regulator, mask, and tubes, you can either get from the supply store, or online, and you shouldn't need a script for them. You can use welding O2. A lot of ppl around here uses it when they can't get a script for it. The warning is that it doesn't need to be as pure as medical grade, but most welding O2 is pure, because if it had the wrong contaminate, it'd really screw up the weld. If you need someone to give you the particulars on welding O2, talk to Jonny. He's a welder by trade, and uses welding O2 all the time. Good luck! PFDAN.................... Drk^Angel |
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Title: Re: A really stupid O2 question Post by Kilo on Aug 26th, 2002, 8:54pm Hmm...my brother's a welder. Can't remember if he's the brother that likes me this week or not, though. ;D My GP and the woman at the non-oxygen-supplying medical supply store both told me I only needed the Rx for my insurance to cover it. Now, the store woman I'm not sure about, but there's no way an MD could be wrong? Is there? They have all those degrees and everything!!!! ;) I honestly believe that just hearing the term "cluster headache" reduces physician IQs by at least 20%. I guess I'll just wrassle the beast on my own for one more morning, then either the doctors come through or I start buttering up my brother, eh? Thanks for the great info. I knew I'd get straight answers here. Kilo |
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Title: Re: A really stupid O2 question Post by ChristineL on Aug 26th, 2002, 9:22pm Kilo, I just got 2 "M" tanks delivered from the medical supply house 2 weeks ago. I paid for mine out of pocket until my new insurance kicks in. They gave me all the supplies with the tanks. The cost for everything, including delivery was $125.00 for 1 month. I live in Maine. Chris L |
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Title: Re: A really stupid O2 question Post by Marcos618 on Aug 27th, 2002, 5:20pm Since the CH's don't always happen at home I purchased the tank size "E" in aluminum with the soft side travel case. Did this over 12 years ago, cost was I think $350.00. I can take it anywhere in this brown case and most people don't know what it is. Shoulder strap makes it easy to carry. When I changed insurance companies I had the new company pay for what they thought was my first tank, which was really a spare for me. I have two aluminum tanks now. Cost to refill, $18.00 each tank in Chicago at a medical supply house. Each tank will help abort 4 CH's. Air flow rate is a bit slower then reccomended but it works. Also when I travel I cannot take a full oxygen tank onto the airplane with me, tank must be empty. Lot of good that does when your traveling and need to find a place in a strage city to fill it. So I Federal Express one spare tank in a box to my hotel I will be staying at and just pack the regulator and mask in my luggage. I pack extra shipping forms and have the hotel ship out the box for me the day I leave to head home. |
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Title: Re: A really stupid O2 question Post by Kilo on Aug 27th, 2002, 9:44pm OK, I've found a primary source for the oxygen and supplies (and have a secondary source in my brother...hehe). Turns out the parent company of my clinic (Allina) has an oxygen supply business. Talked to a wonderful woman there today and she is very familiar with CH patients using oxygen. Turns out she has a friend with CH. Got her name and all the info I needed and faxed it to my GP along with a long letter detailing my CH history, what I need from her, basic CH facts and whatnot. Trying to speak with her over the phone was just getting too nuts. I don't hear well and she has an accent, so it was like coordinating medical care with the Marx Brothers or something. Hoping to hear from her tomorrow. I'm down to three Imitrex tabs, but when I get down to one I'll just go park myself at Urgent Care until they give me what I need. (I've learned that the best way to get results is simply to refuse to leave. ;D) My daughter suggests I just go suck on the air hose at the gas station. And she's a clusterhead, too! Sigh.... Kilo |
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Title: Re: A really stupid O2 question Post by ChristineL on Aug 28th, 2002, 6:14am Good luck and I hope your doctor is quick today to give you the script you need. Since O2 is harmless I can never figure out why some of these Dr.'s are so hesitant to give it. What can it hurt? Idiots!!!! It works great for me and I pray you have the same results. Have a great day. Chris L |
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Title: Re: A really stupid O2 question Post by Sarge on Aug 28th, 2002, 9:27am Kilo, I am in North West Florida and I have 2 large tanks with a roll around stand for home use, and 2 smaller tanks with a backpack type carrying case for use when away from home. Ok, all this plus two regulators and two masks costs my insurance $120.00 for three months rental. I pay nothing out of pocket because I am in the military and it may be that the company gives them a discount. Sarge. |
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Title: Re: A really stupid O2 question Post by Ted on Aug 28th, 2002, 10:51am Kilo, you will need a presecription for the O2. Also, welding O2 and medical O2 are the same. It's the tanks that have differences in how clean they are. Welding tanks don't have to really be checked for impurities while med tanks do. But the O2 comes from the exact same supply. I paid $75 for each e-tank I have, only to find out later that the welding-supply store I get my O2 from (which also is the place all the home-health stores in the county get their O2 from) would have rented me the tanks for $15.00 per year, so look into that. regulators usually cost a couple of hundred dollars, but you can rent those too. Also, not sure if you were joking or not but the air hose filling up tires isn't O2. Here's some info at this link that you can fax/hand-deliver/mind-meld to your GP about O2 and CHs, which should get her to give you your prescription. I originally posted it for people needing help getting the insurance company to pay for their O2 but your doctor apparently needs to read it too. Then, when your insurance company rejects paying for it the first time you can send it off to them by the method of your choice above: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/wwwboard/messages/81233.html |
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Title: Re: A really stupid O2 question Post by Kilo on Aug 28th, 2002, 7:41pm Good news on the O2 front, I think. My GP called me today and said she was faxing the order to the oxygen supply company. I THINK she said she was ordering me a tank for at home and one for travel, a non-rebreather mask, and a regulator that will go up to 12 l/pm. As to the uncertainty: my East Indian doctor called me from her cell phone, and I answered on my cordless...might as well have been using two cans with a string! Next time I see a rotary phone (harvest gold, of course) at a rummage sale, I'm buying the damned thing. The supply company will call me when they get the order to arrange delivery, so I can double-check the details then. I'm sooooo relieved that they'll deliver: I was picturing myself driving the 20 miles there in my husband's 1984 Dodge Ram, assorted body parts (mine and the truck's) littering the roadway... Ted: Thanks for the insurance company coercion info! I'd read it on here earlier, but couldn't remember where it was. I'm with a major HMO here that is currently under investigation by the state atty genl. They're a little sensitive to publicity these days. Nothing like corporate flop-sweat to lube the old claims process! And yes, I did know the free air was just air, not O2--and so did my daughter, the snotty little chip-off-the-old-block! ;D Kilo |
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