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Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies >> Can O2 be bad for the lungs? http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1279462656 Message started by Peter B on Jul 18th, 2010 at 10:17am |
Title: Can O2 be bad for the lungs? Post by Peter B on Jul 18th, 2010 at 10:17am
I've found that whenever I cycle and use O2, my lungs get a little 'tighter' (if that is the word to describe it). Hard to breathe deeply without coughing. Can O2 be bad for the lungs? If I have 3 or 4 headaches a day - can I be using O2 too much?
thanks in advance, -peter- |
Title: Re: Can O2 be bad for the lungs? Post by boski on Jul 18th, 2010 at 2:02pm
Hey Peter:
Going to nuro tomorrow and will ask. I was a heavy smoker for years and have stopped for 9 years now but do feel funny in lungs after breathing heavy O2 for awhile. I have also asked that question. I feel it mostly on the left lung. But I feel something there I don't normally feel. I found this article from 2004 which I was Razed about. But it is good to know before you do something that does damage because of some other thing you did in your life. It is from a Doc they talk about on this site! From the newsletter Headliner, 2004, Issue 33, published by the Michigan Head-Pain & Neurological Institute. Reprinted with permission. "High Oxygen Flow Rates for Cluster Headache" by Todd D. Rozen, M.D., Neurologist As discussed in previous issues of the Headliner, cluster headache patients require effective abortive therapy due to the extreme intensity of their pain. The two most effective cluster abortives are injectable sumatriptan and inhaled oxygen. However, since a large percentage of cluster sufferers are cigarette smokers and at high risk for coronary artery disease, many cannot be treated with the various triptan medications. In these cases, oxygen therapy becomes the preferred option. Oxygen, the safest of all cluster therapies, is usually prescribed based on a landmark study by Dr. Lee Kudrow. In this study, patients were instructed to use 100% oxygen via a nonrebreather face mask at 7-10 liters/minute. Although usually effective, a certain subset of cluster patients do not achieve relief from this treatment. The author hypothesized that treating patients with higher flow rates of oxygen, up to 15 liters/minute, might provide relief to those sufferers who had not responded to standard oxygen therapy regimens. Because MHNI has many intractable cluster patients, it was decided that a higher dose of oxygen therapy would be utilized in a few patients. Several important cases recently reported in the medical literature, found this therapy to be quite effective in patients who previously did not respond to lower dose oxygen inhalation. MHNI's experience indicates patients who do not respond to the standard flow rates should be given the opportunity to use up to 15 liters/minute. However, prior to initiating this therapy, patients must obtain clearance from their primary care physician since serious lung disease and other conditions can make oxygen therapy unsafe or inappropriate. In addition, such oxygen therapy should not be used for more than a maximum of 10-20 minutes at a single setting. The basis by which oxygen turns off a cluster headache is unknown at this time. Oxygen's constrictive effect on cerebral blood vessels may play a significant role. Further study and a larger sample size is needed to provide conclusive evidence regarding the usefulness of high oxygen flow rates for difficult-to-treat cluster headache patients. Headliner is published and privately distributed by the Michigan Head-Pain & Neurological Institute for informational use by our patients and friends. Rights to reproduction belong exclusively to Michigan Head-Pain & Neurological Institute. For additional copies or further information contact: Jeffrey Pingel, Ph.D., or Scott Madden, Editors, Headliner Michigan Head-Pain & Neurological Institute 3120 Professional Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 Last modified: 2004 |
Title: Re: Can O2 be bad for the lungs? Post by Ginger S. on Jul 18th, 2010 at 3:11pm
I was speaking with my son recently who is majoring in Neuro-Biology about quitting smoking. We got on the topic of things I might experience while trying to quit, he mentioned that one thing I might feel is a tightness or heaviness in my lungs and that this would be due to my lungs beginning to heal.
Just a Thought... :-? The O2 could be having a "healing" affect on your lungs if you were or still are a smoker. <edited to add the following info.> Quote:
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Title: Re: Can O2 be bad for the lungs? Post by Batch on Jul 18th, 2010 at 6:21pm
Peter,
Good question so I'll start by saying I'm not a doctor and this is the kind of question you should ask your primary care physician or neurologist. Having said that, I'm a retired Naval aviator and fighter pilot with over 3000 hours in Navy fighters flying on and off aircraft carriers for nearly 15 years. All of that flight time was spent breathing 100% oxygen from takeoff to landing on missions lasting over two hours. It was common to fly two missions a day and if you were lucky, three. I can also attest to the fact that the flow rates we used were frequently well over 40 liters/minute at several points during each flight depending on the mission. High G-Force air combat maneuvering created the greatest work and highest demand for oxygen and increased lung ventilation to remove carbon dioxide. I've also used a method of oxygen therapy with flow rates that support hyperventilation for over 5 years to abort my cluster headaches and during high cycles, that can be an average of 3 to 4 attacks a day/24 hours. If this method of oxygen inhalation therapy is used properly, the average time to abort for pain levels 3 through 9 is 7 minutes. I'm 65 years old, doing fine, and I still pass my annual physicals. I'm not an isolated case. Over 125,000 Navy and Marine Corps pilots flying tactical fighter and attack aircraft have been breathing 100% oxygen for over 70 years. All of us must pass an annual flight physical each year to remain on active flight status. That physical involves a very thorough exam by a Navy Flight Surgeon, blood tests, hearing tests, and chest X-Rays. If there was any lung damage, these X-Rays would have found it. On top of that there are annual requirements for aviation physiology training courses that include altitude chamber runs up to a reduced pressure equal to an altitude of more than 25,000 feet where we would take off our oxygen masks to experience hypoxia, ejection seat training, and water survival including runs in the Dilbert Dunker... I've checked with the senior Flight Surgeons and Aviation Physiologists at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute (NAMI) at Pensacola, FL and asked if there were any documented cases of Naval Aviators experiencing problems associated with breathing 100% oxygen. The answer was no. There were no instances of lung problems associated with 100% oxygen as long as procedures were followed and the total exposure time for continuous use did not exceed 12 hours. The US Navy also mandates that all pilots and aircrew flying ejection seat equipped tactical aircraft such as the F/A-18 Hornet use 100% oxygen from takeoff to landing. These aircraft cost from $40 to $60 Million dollars so the US Navy thinks breathing 100% oxygen is safe. It's normal to experience a short period of coughing when using oxygen therapy. I experience coughing nearly every time I start using this method of oxygen therapy to abort a cluster headache that woke me from sleep, but it always clears in 5 to 10 seconds. Coughing during oxygen therapy can be due to two reasons. These are the dryness of the oxygen where coughing occurs as soon as the dry oxygen reaches the lungs as you start to inhale, and a condition called atelectasis - where small areas of alveolar collapse have occured usually during sleep. Aviators encounter a slightly different version of atelectasis during high G-Force maneuvers where several seconds of high G-Force squeezes the lung and some of the alveoli collaps. As soon as the pilot relaxes the G-Force the first reaction is an uncontrollable urge to cough and the act of coughing re-inflates the collapsed alveoli. Nearly the same thing happens when using oxygen therapy immediately after rising from sleep only the coughing occurs as the lungs reach the point of being fully inflated. This causes the collapsed alveoli to re-inflate and that sensation creates an uncontrollable urge to cough, further inflating any collapsed alveoli. Again, coughing from either cause usually clears in 10 to 15 seconds and it occurs in both smokers and non-smokers. I've also checked the results of the cluster headache survey taken by 1134 folks diagnosed with cluster headaches. 25% of the participants were currently using oxygen therapy and there were no adverse effects noted with its use If coughing continues after a minute, call the primary care physician or neurologist who prescribed your oxygen therapy. A feeling of tightness in the chest area is not a normal reaction to the use of oxygen therapy. A feeling of tightness in the chest area is very common when using triptans like imitrex or zomig... That is the primary reasion I stopped using triptans to abort my cluster headaches and switched to oxygen. With the exception of an occasional snort of imitrex nasal spray during airline travel, I use only oxygen inhalation therapy for my cluster headaches. I take no other cluster headache medications. Hope this helps. Take care, V/R, Batch |
Title: Re: Can O2 be bad for the lungs? Post by boski on Jul 18th, 2010 at 6:55pm
Dry O2 induces Cough, Sounds sound batch!
Tightness from imitrex was nonexistent after cutting back on the dose. I use 1/3 or less and never have that feeling anymore. Let me tell you when I was overdosing on that stuff back in the day, I was having that feeling. Now I can use it up to 6 even 7 times out of 2 vials. but I guess doc doesn't like the long term everyday use of it either. I was using a lot when I was younger before the vials came out well over the 2 6mg a day and I'm still here but guess not good for body! Had too nothing else was working back then and I was working. Darn STAT dose has air in it and that needle is like a nail !!! |
Title: Re: Can O2 be bad for the lungs? Post by shaggyparasol on Jul 18th, 2010 at 11:46pm
I concur with Batch. Oxygen good, more is better. Or is that 'speed is life, more is better'.
5 and 1/2 years of Navy flying on 100% pure oxygen. 5 or 6 hours was the most at one time. No side effects other than being a little nutty every now and then :D --Shaggy |
Title: Re: Can O2 be bad for the lungs? Post by Peter B on Jul 19th, 2010 at 11:06am
good to know and thanks for the responses.
I still have to figure out my personal reaction. I definitely cough more and even long-term after a bout I find it harder to use my lungs fully. I suppose its time for yet one more MD visit. but once again, thanks for the quality responses |
Title: Re: Can O2 be bad for the lungs? Post by Batch on Jul 19th, 2010 at 6:18pm
Peter,
Coughing can be due to a number of reasons... That it occurs most during a cluster headache bout might be a good clue. Seeing your MD is always a good idea when things are not "normal." In the mean time look for other causes. Check the filter in your air handler is also a good idea. Take care, V/R, Batch |
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