Posted by gary g on January 01, 1999 at 02:06:23:
In Reply to: Fighting for Oxygen posted by Jackie M. on December 31, 1998 at 11:42:20:
after 28 years of CH - am now trying O2 at therapeutic levels - WOW - a MIRACLE !! (it had been tried before a couple times, by another doc, but at the 1-2 liter level commonly used for respiratory therapy - so, decided it was useless and never tried it again UNTIL reading all the good input on this msg board !!!!! called my doc, he said "go for it" - been using it nearly a month now - keeping fingers crossed it isn't "beginner's luck"
going at 8 liters/min, with the bag type inhaler;
if I get on it at the first sign of aura, or very early in the pain ascendancy - 10-12 minutes & it's gone ! I've learned to stay on it until attack is 100% cleared; if I get impatient & stop when it gets down to "tolerable" it comes back fast & hard
as far as insurance goes - been paying myself so far ( $58/mo to rent the rig, $18 refill cost for the tank size that lasts 100 - 120 minutes @ 8 liter rate; it's the largest portable size);
the supply people told me they have had CH patients approved by BC/BS but it takes insistence & good paperwork - letter from Dr, etc - I'm now doing research to find research reports on the web, etc to back up the claim - when I have a good bunch of them, I'll post the URLs here