SUPPLEMENTAL OXYGEN?

[srlevine1]

What is the point where supplemental oxygen is recommended and supplied under Medicare? 
Does anyone use tanks or do they use oxygen concentrator?

[SarcasticDave94]

In my understanding, if a patient has lung disease like COPD, their oxygen level needs a boost. If the oxygen level is recorded as under 89% for 6 minutes, supplemental oxygen would be indicated. As for the type, bottles or concentrator, then it comes down to how much of the day oxygen is required and if the user is disabled in such a way so as they're not able to carry bottles.

[staceyburke]

When I got mine it was 88% or below for 5 minutes (that was at least 15 years ago) and if you met that they gave me a concentrator and bottles incase there was a power outage.  I still use the concentrator with a long tube.  The concentrator is in another room of the house and I don't hear it running at all.

[sauerkraut]

srlevine;
When I was diagnosed with sleep apena, My Dr. said I was a border line case for supplemental O2 at night ..
I believe My Dr. said O2 dropping to or below 88% for 10 minutes made Me eligible for supplemental O2 ..
I do not have lung or heart disease .. Just sleep apena .. I am retired and on medicare .. We talked about
using an O2 concentrator at night only .. Medicare would pay for the concentrator ..
I decided against it because of noise and space limitations .. Living in a 5th wheel I
have no room for the concentrator .. Like a cpac/apap machine there would be minimum use restrictions ..

For over night use I don't think O2 tanks would work very well .. I would expect needing a 80 cu. ft. tank for
over night use .. They are large and heavy approaching 150 lbs. or more ..
If someone already has breathing problems moving them would be a real chore !!

[srlevine1]

Many thanks all. -- Steve

[Per Laursen]

Supplemental Oxygen for Central Apena -became Obsolete after a while. 

Two years ago, I was on an high dose of betalblockers that I unfortunately couldnt tolerate, and I got severe lifethreathening arrythmias. In order to solve that, doctors gave me a cheap Pacemaker that paced only the right part of the heart. After that my CPAP suddenly showed CSA in the level of 30-40 apneas an hour. I then recorded the nightly oxygen saturation in my blod, and discovered that it fell dramatically, below 88%. So I got a huge noisy machine generating oxygen, and connected it to my cpap hose. After some weeks, the Central apneas gradually fell a bit, so the oxygen helped to some degree. Then 10 months ago I got another Pacemaker(CRT type) that triggers both part of the heart, and after that the Central apneas decreased to a level of 5-10 an hour, but it couldnt be cured fully. Then I heard of the socalled “False Central apneas”, that can occur if you at a certain point in time, recieve more oxygen than you actually need, which makes the brain think …”well that fine, I take a long pause in breathing”, and that was  registred on my cpap, -as Central Sleep apneas. After gradually reducing the oxygen, my CSA now disappeared completely.

[greatunclebill]

alot of concentrators are pretty loud, like put it in another room, close both doors and still hear it. on the other hand my wife had one at the end of the bed and we never heard it. i don 't remember the name. if o2 is in the conversation get ahead of it and window shop eligible dme's and see what they sound like. then when and if the time comes you can tell the doc where to go and what to ask for. this also applies to anyone else reading this. you don't have to settle for a noisy one. you don't have to have copd to need o2.