1. < COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Profile picture for barbdusek

Oxygen level up and down

Posted by barbdusek @barbdusek, Aug 25 9:26pm

My husband is 71 years old and was diagnosed with COPD 2 years agp. He uses oxygen at night 4 to 5 liters. He is currently in the hospital recovering for a strep infection in his gut, infection cleared but his oxygen need are also increased. His oxygen goes up to 98 but will drop with movement to mid to low 80’s. No chest pain, no coughing, no congestion. Will the oxygen level stabilize with time?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Support Group.

Profile picture for dameemaw63
dameemaw63 | @dameemaw63 | Sep 9 6:53pm
In reply to @masscopd "Hi one of my doctors told me to keep my O2 at my stable baseline which..." + (show)
Profile picture for masscopd @masscopd

Hi one of my doctors told me to keep my O2 at my stable baseline which is 2L 24/7. Unfortunately when I have worse days I'll increase to 2.5 or 3.0. I use a bipap at night with O2. My lungs like the bipap but it's a pain to keep clean.

Jump to this post

@masscopd I keep a couple of sets of hoses and masks so that I can clean without waiting to use. I got a spare water receptacle too. It’s cheaper on Amazon than through my insurance and I deduct medical thanks to all of this. If you have a health savings that would be a good use. My mom hated her BiPAP but I love mine. I just have to over prepare. My brother in law taught me to keep back up energy sources in case of power loss. I take it with me on trips even just over night. One thing that I just realized recently was that I was under utilizing my rescue inhaler. You really have to be forward thinking with that because once capacity decreases it’s tough to inhale the medicine.

REPLY
Profile picture for jlk12
jlk12 | @jlk12 | Sep 10 6:36am

Sorry to hear that your husband is on the hospital. It is hard to say whether your husband’s oxygen levels will improve with time. I was on 4 Liters of oxygen at nighttime only when I had a COPD exacerbation which put me in the hospital for 2 nights. Unfortunately, I came home wearing 4 liters 24/7. Since your husband was not admitted to the hospital for anything COPD related, his oxygen levels may improve again with time. Praying it will. 🙏

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.