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Finally a diagnosis, on 3 antibiotics, anyone else on oxygen at night?
MAC & Bronchiectasis | Last Active: Aug 2, 2022 | Replies (16)Comment receiving replies
I was on oxygen at night for over a year up until about 6 weeks ago. My oxygen was dropping in the low 80's at night and I had a dull headache every morning. The pulmonologist at UNC-Chapel Hill ordered a sleep study. I have sleep apnea. It was determined that I needed CPAP. Got the CPAP and am have not used oxygen since. Was afraid to let the oxygen concentrator go, so the doctor ordered all night pulse ox. That was completed a couple of days ago. However, my FitBit for the past 6 weeks has shown average oxygen each night to be anywhere from 92 to 95. So apparently the oxygen dropping was the Sleep Apnea. It will probably be a week or more before I hear the results of the overnight pulse ox.
7% Sodium Chloride: 3 percent which does not good at all. However, there are times when I have used the 7 percent and there is still a lot of mucus in my lungs and the 7 percent is beginning to burn. I mix 3% and 7% in the nebulize cup to make a 5 percent solution and that works to get even more mucus out of my lungs. I don't know whether a 5 % is made or not, but I make it by combining the 2 . It does not burn or make me cough but does work to get mucus up.
Replies to "I was on oxygen at night for over a year up until about 6 weeks ago...."
Raney, you now have me wondering if all I need is a cpap machine instead of sleeping with oxygen, My dr wanted me to do a sleep study last year, but I declined as the benefit to doing one wasn't clearly stated to me. I would love it if I didn't have to have oxygen at night. That would make traveling so much easier if all I had to lug was a cpap machine! How about when you walk? Do your oxygen levels drop down below 90?
Thank you for your comments.
My previous doctor put me on 10% saline which just hurt but did get the mucus up. I had to ask my new doctor to reduce it to the 7% and although it still gets the mucus up, I can still feel it in my chest after the treatment. I’ve gone from nebulizing 3 x a week to 2x daily. The mucus and this disease have definitely moved into high gear since the first of the year.
On oxygen at night, I did a sleep study and a 3 day blood oxygen monitor. I don’t have sleep apnea, I have hypoxemia where my blood drops to 82 while sleeping depriving my tissues and organs of oxygen they need.
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Hello Raney! Just read your post. I was going to suggest to Josey als0, to cut the 7% saline with the 3% until she can build a tolerance to it. It was my understanding that the 7% saline is supposed to burn a little and make you cough. It causes your lungs to be irritated to the point of coughing so that you bring up the phlegm. NIH did a study and found that it takes the 7% saline to kill the mac bacteria. I have been nebbing 7% since 2013 and have such a tolerance to it now that I don't even feel it or cough. It is still necessary to do it because the salt keeps the bacteria from flourishing.