Hi Brent & welcome

Below is a piece I picked from somewhere? & at the foot of my post you will see a link to Mushy's the info there is about getting o2 in Oz but will give you an idea of what your looking at.
Cheers
Barry

Oxygen Therapy Q&As

The following questions and answers were extracted from briefings on Oxygen Therapy developed by Michael Berger and Pete Batcheller and presented to neurologists and other medical professionals treating cluster headache sufferers.

The following is provided for information purposes only.

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Do not attempt any of the following treatments without direct supervision of your physician or neurologist.

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What causes cluster headache attacks?

Medical science has yet to identify the cause of cluster headaches or the triggering mechanism that starts each attack and keeps it going. Neurologists and researchers have found that the hypothalamus plays a role and that some kind of vasoactive triggering mechanism causes the arteries and capillaries in and around the trigeminal nerve to dilate. Why the pain of a cluster headache attack happens mostly on one side of the head and not both remains a mystery. Some researchers theorize the initial pain of a cluster headache attack may come from sensory nerves lining the arteries and capillaries nearest the trigeminal nerve and somehow spread to the branch of the trigeminal nerve signaling severe pain in the areas around and above the eye, sinuses, and jaw.

The three treatment strategies for both episodic and chronic sufferers include medications that act as preventatives, abortives, and a transition strategy of medications used for short periods of time while waiting for the preventatives to start working. As cluster headache sufferers are all wired differently, no single medication or combination of medications produces consistent results. When the efficacy of the preventative and abortive medications are unable to bring relief after several combinations have been tried, the chronic cluster headache sufferer is considered intractable.

Why use oxygen therapy as an abortive for cluster headache attacks?

A combination of oxygen therapy and imitrex is the most commonly prescribed abortive strategy. Of these two treatments, oxygen has proven to be the safest, most cost effective, and least invasive abortive treatment for most people suffering from cluster headache attacks. Moreover, the side effects associated with oxygen therapy are low to non-existent when compared to other prescribed cluster headache medications in use today.

What flow rates are used during oxygen therapy for cluster headaches?

Most doctors and neurologist currently prescribe medical oxygen at a rate of 7 to 10 liters per minute. However, a growing number of neurologists familiar with study results published by Dr. Todd Rozen, MD, in 2004, have started to prescribe oxygen therapy at 12 to 15 liters per minute. Dr. Rozen is a leading neurologist who specializes in cluster headaches at the Michigan Headache & Neurology Institute (MHNI) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He found that some cluster headache suffers that did not respond to oxygen therapy at 12 liters per minute were able to abort or shorten the length of their cluster headache attack by breathing 100% oxygen at a flow rate 15 liters per minute. He further concluded that even with intractable cluster headache sufferers, neurologists should try a treatment strategy that includes oxygen therapy at a flow rate of 15 liters per minute prior to trying more invasive treatments.

How does oxygen therapy work as a cluster headache abortive?

Oxygen therapy works as a cluster headache abortive because it elevates the amount of oxygen absorbed by hemoglobin in the red blood cells above normal levels as they pass through the lungs. The term used in respiratory physiology for this temporary condition is called hyperoxia, and hyperoxia has been know for many years to act as a vasoconstrictor. Like imitrex, hyperoxia causes the muscles lining the arteries and capillaries to constrict reducing the diameter of these blood vessels. The level of constriction is more pronounced in the cerebrovascular system than elsewhere in the body.

As cluster headache pain is associated with cerebrovascular dilation in and around the trigeminal nerve, any vasoactive agent that constricts these blood vessels back to a normal or smaller diameter appears to be part of the mechanism that aborts the pain of a cluster headache attack. Preliminary studies have shown that the higher the oxygen therapy oxygen flow rate, the lower the time required to abort the pain of a cluster headache attack. These same studies have also clearly demonstrated that the higher the level of pain during a cluster headache attack; the longer it takes to abort the attack with oxygen therapy. For example, a cluster headache at Kip-6 may take as little as 6 to 10 minutes to abort using an oxygen flow rate of 15 liters per minute, but an attack at Kip-8 or Kip-9 could take 30 minutes or much longer at the same oxygen flow rate.

What is hyperventilation?

Hyperventilation is a physiology term describing the process of ventilating the lungs at higher than normal respiration rates. Simply put, breathing much faster than normal.

What is the normal respiration rate?

At rest, the normal adult respiration rate is 15 to 18 inhale-exhale cycles per minute. With a tidal volume of a half-liter, that works out to a flow rate of 7 to 9 liters of air per minute moving in and out of the lungs. During hyperventilation, the respiration rate is much higher than normal and so is the tidal volume.

At what respiration rate does hyperventilation start?

Although the onset of hyperventilation varies due to body size, age, and other factors such as smoking, a flow rate of 24 liters per minute is a good low average for people to start feeling the effects of hyperventilation. This works out to a hyperventilation rate of 24 inhale and exhale cycles per minute with an average tidal flow of one liter.

What happens to our body when we hyperventilate?

The primary effect of hyperventilation is expelling or casting off CO2 faster than the body produces it. Most of us are familiar with the symptoms of hyperventilation including dizziness, a tingling of the lips and extremities, and possible visual disturbances. All these symptoms clear rapidly in less than a minute when you stop hyperventilating. Hyperventilation drives the body into a voluntary condition called respiratory alkalosis. As hyperventilation reduces CO2 in the bloodstream and as CO2 dissolved in the blood becomes a weak acid, lowering the CO2 shifts the pH upward from slightly acidic to slightly alkaline. Another name for this condition is called hypocapnia meaning lower than normal levels of CO2 in bloodstream. Hypocapnia is also a vasoconstrictor.

What happens when we hyperventilate on 100% oxygen?

Three important things happen that are particularly beneficial for cluster headache sufferers when they hyperventilate on 100% oxygen. (1) The oxygen levels in the arterial bloodstream rises to 100% saturation (hyperoxoia). (2) The CO2 level in the bloodstream falls (hypocapnia). Remember, both hyperoxia and hypocapnia are vasoconstrictors. And (3), an elevated pH increases hemoglobin’s affinity for oxygen enabling each blood cell to carry more oxygen to the brain than possible at a flow rate of just 15 liters per minute.

The resulting combination of hyperoxia, hypocapnia, and an elevated pH above 7.4 that superoxygenates arterial blood flowing to the brain all serve to constrict the arteries and capillaries in and around the trigeminal nerve aborting the pain of a cluster headache attack much faster than the traditional oxygen flow rates that do not support hyperventilation. It’s important to know that even with cerebrovascular constriction and a slightly reduced arterial blood flow, several studies have shown the oxygen content in brain tissues is actually higher under these conditions.

How much is enough when hyperventilating on 100% oxygen?

The simple answer is we don’t know. The results of preliminary studies are largely anecdotal due to a limited sample size, but they are very promising with no adverse effects. We expect the answer to this question and many others in 2008. A larger clinical study of this therapy is in the final planning stages with a more than sufficient number of study participants planned.

Brent212 wrote on Aug 20^th, 2008 at 7:20pm:


You are not playing with a full deck are you?  

The doc writes the script for EVERYTHING, you take it to an 02 supplier and they give you EVERYTHING you need!

There you have it!  

Quote:

The best way to find an O2 supplier to work with by working with your insurance company.

The best single source for all things O2 is the supplemental guide to aborting CH with Oxygen on the OUCH-US web site here:

Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

This link goes to a page with loads of other O2 info.  Just click on the supplemental guide link and read.  It should clear a lot of this up for you.

Good luck...

-Dennis-

Batch wrote on Aug 20^th, 2008 at 7:10pm:


You dont, unless you want to pay for it. Most insurance pays for it.

If you want to pay for it you just buy a regulator off ebay, buy your own mask and hit a welding supply joint to rent a tank.

There you have it!  

Edit to add: Dont tell the welding joint you will be breathing it!

Got it. Thanks for the replies. This is exactly the type of info I was looking for.

Hey Brent, I'm coming in a little late on this.  I'm with you in that I found all the 02 stuff very confusing at first! Not having any experience in the welding trades, (*jonny's profession) or in the medical field, the terms, variable flow regulators, re breather vs. non re breather vs, nasal canulas! It's a boat load to digest! For me it was well worth the battle, it's been my silver bullet when it comes to stopping an attack in its tracks.

Don't hesitate to call Batch, he means it when it comes to offering help, is our resident guru on oxygen, and a hell of a nice guy! Welcome to the board.

Guiseppi

Brent--Don't be afraid of coffee--most on this board agree it's a huge help in time of clusters.  If you drink endless hot cups for comfort and a degree of pain relief in the middle of the night, you're almost guaranteed to go back to sleep (exhausted) when the headache ends.
It seems that the caffeine only causes insomnia in non-cluster times, and then not always.  

I'm glad you have persevered, getting the oxygen info.  You're not the only one posting who has found it all confusing.

Much luck--Barbara

You can buy regulators off e-bay with a higher flow rate. I'd ask the doc if he's open to prescribing a higher one first, and if he isn't willing, grab one off the net! Try the 7LPM, some can achieve success at that level, the higher flow rates just seem to work faster and more often.

Guiseppi