almost hate to ask this because its my go to first for clusters , and dont want to discourage anyone either. I just want to know if anyone has heard about long term or high dose oxygen having a negative effect on the eyes. 

No.

  Potter

25 yrs here...and nothing but blessed, near miraculous relief. It's the 20 some meds long term effects that I fear.

Are you perhaps thinking of the problem with preemies and O2?

Best,

Jon

yes very good! my daughter has a foster baby born at 22 weeks and doctor mentioned eye problems from o2 and  a friend at work said her mom had to be on high dose oxygen and has eye problems because of it supposedly . any ways first I had heard of it.

Of course everything is worth looking into and I'm not an oxygen specialist, but........In my previous job as a navy pilot we wore our high pressure oxygen masks from start up to shut down.  Hours at a time.  I was only at it 5 years or so, but some people do that for a lot of years.  No side effects for me, except that I am a bit looney sometimes (people tell me), nothing out of the ordinary.

Maybe a chronic who uses oxygen multiple times every day of their life would notice something??  And I would definitely suck down some O2 before I got into the heavier pharmacueticals if possible.

No clusters while flying, ever, so I guess oxygen worked for me.  Un/mis-diagnosed at the time if you are wondering.

--Shaggy

horsegirl wrote on Mar 20^th, 2010 at 2:29pm:

yes very good! my daughter has a foster baby born at 22 weeks and doctor mentioned eye problems from o2 and  a friend at work said her mom had to be on high dose oxygen and has eye problems because of it supposedly . any ways first I had heard of it.

No dear...not very good...TOTALLY different situations...too much of ANYTHING at the WRONG time is a problem.....please don't extrapolate to our situation....

Best,

Jon

100 % O2 causes side effects after 24 hours of  continuous use. 5-30 mins 5 times a day is mostly harmless.

horsegirl wrote on Mar 20^th, 2010 at 2:29pm:

yes very good! my daughter has a foster baby born at 22 weeks and doctor mentioned eye problems from o2 and  a friend at work said her mom had to be on high dose oxygen and has eye problems because of it supposedly . any ways first I had heard of it.

This is a ch forum.  Why bring that question here?
   You would be better served by google.  I was.
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        Potter

itotka wrote on Mar 20^th, 2010 at 3:18pm:

100 % O2 causes side effects after 24 hours of  continuous use. 5-30 mins 5 times a day is mostly harmless.

Yes - this says it all.

The problem is that medical professionals from nurses to doctors are taught about the very real dangers of continuous, long term exposure oxygen so they automatically remember only that, when the subject comes up.

I have spent literally hours researching this and I cannot find any credible information anywhere showing even a slight mount of permanent damage caused by using 100% O2 at 30-40 liters per minute for less than 30 minutes at a time. Even 10-15 times per day is OK as long as there is a break between sessions.

Marc

Potter and István's posts are spot on...  I doubt many of you have a sufficient number of large home oxygen cylinders to stay on 100% oxygen continuously for more than 12 hours...  That would make the risk of pulmonary oxygen toxicity a non-problem...

Moreover, as none of you reading this post are premature neonates in an isolette/incubator, the risk of going blind from 100% oxygen is also a non-problem...

I started breathing 100% oxygen in 1967 when I started flying Navy jets...  After more than 15 years and over 3000 hours flight time sucking down 100% oxygen at flow rates frequently greater than 40 liters/minute on flights averaging more than 2 hours... No problems... 

I've flown several extended missions lasting nearly 5 hours with two lasting more that 7 hours... Again... no problems...

Navy and Marine Corps pilots have been breathing 100% oxygen for over 60 years while flying tactical aircraft and we get annual flight physicals... 

I've checked with the Flight Surgeons and Aviation Physiologists at Naval Aerospace Medical Institute (NAMI) in Pensacola FL where they keep all the flight physical records and there are no indications of any problems due to breathing 100% oxygen if procedures are followed... 

With well over 250,000 Naval Aviators in this category over a 60 year period... that would make this the single largest retrospective study on the effects of breathing 100% oxygen...

The US Navy still requires Navy and Marine Corps pilots flying tactical jet aircraft to breathe oxygen on all flights from takeoff to touch down...  and these jets cost well over $35 Million each...  Again... No problems.

I've also used 100% oxygen at flow rates that support hyperventilation to abort my cluster headache attacks for more than 4 years... I'm 65 with no problems...   

I had frequent medical checkups the entire time on a monthly basis including annual chest X-Rays while taking part in a clinical study for another condition at NIH...  No problems noted...

My doctors at NIH knew about my cluster headaches and use of oxygen therapy so kept track of that as well...  Again... no problems noted...

If you breath 100% oxygen to abort your cluster headaches you can expect a few minor short term side effects that usually clear in a few seconds...

Many people will cough during the first 5 or 6 deep breaths of 100% oxygen...  This is due in part to the dryness of the oxygen that your lungs will adapt to rapidly, but more that likely the coughing is due to a temporary condition called atelectasis...  particularly if you awake from sleep and immediately start on oxygen...

Atelectasis is defined as local areas in the lungs where the alveolar sacks have collapsed and are stuck together with mucus...  This happens to most of us, usually while sleeping where the respiration rate and tidal volume is low.

Atelectasis results in an uncontrollable urge to cough as some of the alveoli start to inflate with each inhaled breath...  and coughing re-inflates the remaining collapsed alveoli.  This condition is very normal and usually clears after 5 to 6 breaths of 100% oxygen.

If you breath oxygen at too low a flow rate like 7 to 9 liters/minute and even up to 15 liters/minute, it's possible to encounter two more minor side effects...

Oxygen flow rates this low frequently require longer periods of continuous oxygen therapy particularly when the pain levels are Kip-6 and above...   That's not necessarily a side effect, but rather something to think about...

Accordingly, spending more than a 10 minutes at these low flow rates will result in a drying of the mucous membranes in the mouth and nasal passages... 

This problem is easily fixed with a sip of cold water or your favorite power beverage...

For example, data we've collected from fellow CH'ers using oxygen therapy on over 600 aborts indicate that attacks at these lower flow rates at an average pain level of Kip-7 will require an average of 25 minutes of oxygen therapy to abort... 

I might add that data on 265 aborts using higher oxygen flow rates that support hyperventilation at the same average pain level, abort in an average of 7 minutes...

If that's not enough...  research the results of related clinical studies on your own and draw your own conclusions...

Take care,

V/R, Batch

Batch wrote on Mar 21^st, 2010 at 6:36pm:

..............  I doubt many of you have a sufficient number of large home oxygen cylinders to stay on 100% oxygen continuously for more than 12 hours...  ..................

Wanna bet?  ;D

Luckily I only need 3-6 minutes since I discovered how well hyper-flow O2 (cool term huh?) works at 40+ lpm.

Marc

Neverthe less, there are side-effects which really must be considered - particularly dropping an oxygen bottle onto your little toe while standing barefoot on a cold tile floor. Neighbourhood disputes can also result from rolling empty cyclinders down the outside steps at two o'clock in the morning, having run out when you need it the most.

Additionally there can be repercussions should you stop for a cigarette at half time.

Oh heck, I forgot about those................

Good point.

Hey Brian... 

Bonzer good points from down under...  All wool and a yard wide...  There's obviously no stopping someone intent on removing themselves from the gene pool by smoking immediately after using oxygen...  For those not familiar with oxygen safety... see the man from LOX video for the crispy critter results...  START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

Granted gaseous oxygen is a little safer than liquid oxygen...  Having said that... clothes saturated with 100% oxygen can go up in a flash like a vintage Sylvania Blue Dot Flashbulb...  It only takes a spark...

Dropping an oxygen cylinder on a bare foot little piggy must have hurt something awful...  And I can see where making gong... gong... sounds by bouncing oxygen cylinders down the steps at 2 in the morning might tend to wiz off a few neighbors around the billabong...

Marc...  as you know, I knock my cluster headaches down quite rapidly at the same high flow rates...  However, according to the calculator at: START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

I'd need all three of the big green cast iron M-size oxygen cylinders I keep on hand fully charged at 2250 psi to get a little less than 12 hours continuous oxygen at 15 liters/minute...  Then I'd need to hook up my aluminum M60 I use for a roadie and work to go over 12 hours...  but that, as Svenn would say, would be reeealy stuuupid...

Take care,

V/R, Batch

your correct potter , why would I come to this site with an o2 Question , silly me . and jon ," very good ," figure of speech , meaning you understood , without knowing what information I had heard . Big bold letters people , cute . Thanks for the info .

Pete,

I was teasing because I use welding O2 and I have two large T tanks in my garage at all times. I didn't want to chance running out using those little baby sized M tanks.

Each T tank holds roughly 9300-9500 liters of golden goodness.

It's REALLY inexpensive in larger quantities. I figure that's about 18 hours per tank at normal tidal volumes.

Marc

horsegirl wrote on Mar 21^st, 2010 at 8:53pm:

your correct potter , why would I come to this site with an o2 Question , silly me . and jon ," very good ," figure of speech , meaning you understood , without knowing what information I had heard . Big bold letters people , cute . Thanks for the info .

Figure of speech...fine...just realize those don't necessarily come across in written form as they are intended. I feared the phrase "implied" you thought...aha...there IS a problem...and I attempted to dissuade.

As for BOLD letters...that's a style...Batch's style...a guy WITH style..not to mention CLASS  and COMPASSION...and SMARTS...and SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS to the battle. You asked a question...you got an answer...you're welcome.

The "cute" comment was uncalled for....try the archives...there are UNBELIEVABLE amounts of information...some of it in BOLD.... collected, collated, commented on...and lived by people like Batch and too many others to mention...who pour their souls into the effort...nope...not cute..you'll find that in the General Posts section........

Best,

Jon

I owe an apology to batch dont recall seeing his text before . I guess I'm a little gun shy .

My apologies for the original post.  I have a family medical issue and I think I read into a post the wrong way.  Thanks Potter for sending me a private message, I appreciate it when people handle conflict with respect and honesty in a direct manner. 

horsegirl, I hope your fears have been assuaged and you are feeling better about O2 use.

Horsegirl,

The only side effect I have found from O2 usage is relief!  Please put your fears at rest.  Read the oxygen info section carefully and follow the precautions for safety and you should have nothing but pain relief in store for you.

Jerry

horsegirl wrote on Mar 20^th, 2010 at 2:29pm:

yes very good! my daughter has a foster baby born at 22 weeks and doctor mentioned eye problems from o2 and  a friend at work said her mom had to be on high dose oxygen and has eye problems because of it supposedly . any ways first I had heard of it.

Preemies are put into high oxygen incubators 24/7.  Their eyes are are exposed to and sensitive to the oxygen - in such a case, high levels of oxygen will oxidize the delicate outer lens. It isn't good, but it is better than letting the preemie go hypoxic (low oxygen) as their lungs are not fully formed/functional.

A person that breathes high flow rate oxygen for a total of an hour or two a day is at much lower risk (and it wouldn't be the eyes that are affected).  The lungs could be affected if someone was on pure oxygen 24/7.  But intermittent oxygen allows time for recovery.

I don't see it as a big risk. If you are concerned, consider taking a modest dose of anti-oxidants (vitamin C, E, selenium, NAC, etc) to reduce what little risk there might be.

Horsegirl,

I have suffered from CH for almost 30 years...since I was ten years old.  I just got o2 this past Dec.   When I think of all of the damage I may have done to myself with handfuls of Tylenol, Advil, Excedrin and later on Imitrex, not to mention all the needless hours of excruciating pain I endured,  I realize what an idiot I was!   

I will NEVER again let CH run my life... never.   Oxygen and the people here who convinced me to give it a try, have been such a blessing in my life.   

PF wishes to you,

Jeannie

I have received a MAJOR side effect from using o2.....relief :D

  My daughter was studying the effects of oxygen and free radicals in school. She talked to me about it and I did a little digging myself. I use exercise to get rid of my attacks which can increase the body's intake of o2 20 to 40 times the normal resting rate. This also generates free radicals, but the body in response ups the antioxidant defense.
  From the studies I've read on divers and pilots, altitude and barometric pressure will also have an effect on the body's reaction to 100% o2.
  With what we have to work with I would say o2 is your safest bet behind exercise. If exercise doesn't work for you, it still may help your body in building an antioxidant defense.

john

Jeannie wrote on Mar 26^th, 2010 at 2:15pm:

Horsegirl, I have suffered from CH for almost 30 years...since I was ten years old.  I just got o2 this past Dec.   When I think of all of the damage I may have done to myself with handfuls of Tylenol, Advil, Excedrin and later on Imitrex, not to mention all the needless hours of excruciating pain I endured,  I realize what an idiot I was!    I will NEVER again let CH run my life... never.   Oxygen and the people here who convinced me to give it a try, have been such a blessing in my life.

I hear ya Jeannie - this place and Oxygen changed my life.

Horsegirl,
Apparently, you asked a question because you didn't know the answer and wanted some input from what is suppose to be a forum of experienced people.  If you needed the answer, you should have gotten it without the sarcasm.  I am sorry that you didn't experience that.  I don't use O2 so I cannot answer your question, but if it was something you feared, it was a good question.  It usually never hurts to ask!

People have different view points because they see things from a different perspective.  Learning to realize this and accept it in others is a high functioning critical thinking skill.  There are people on this forum that understand this.  I suggest seeking them out and writing a private message.

Good luck!!!

thank you joni , that was very sweet , I realy only asked about the side effects because my daughter brong up the fact that my eyes got bad and needed glasses after I got turned on to o2 , and her new baby has eye problems because of o2, but thats because his eyes wernt developed yet , mine because of age Im sure , I knew when I wrote it it would cause a stir because so many people use it , it works, and its great cause apparently there arnt any side effects to speak of. I know I would be lost without it now because I dont use Imitrex and such, but what is sacred to me Is my sight , and my lungs . Thought if anyone knew of side effects from 02 this is the best place to ask, but if you told me my right arm would fall off if I used high flow o2  I would continue to use it , but don't mess with my sight or lungs . Having said that I smoked for  30 years just quit a year and a half ago . So ... by the way it didn't change the Ha . but chomping on this nicatine gum makes the shadows worse .LOL. just curious have you ever tried it or why don't you use it .I did pm a couple of great guys and they were so helpful I realy can't thank them enough , awesom guys!