Guest guest Posted April 4, 2000 Report Share Posted April 4, 2000 Hi! I've been away from this list for a while, so I don't know if this has been discussed here, but some of us have tried using oxygen on airplanes, and I can tell you it REALLY makes a difference! They keep lowering the standards for fresh air intake and recirculation rate on airplanes, and on anything longer than about an hour's flight, I ended up a wreck. Completely fatigued, weak muscles, headachy, cognitive difficulties, you name it. I recently got the opportunity to go to Kauai for a week (friends have a timeshare, I had frequent flyer miles :@), and got my doctor to write an rx for " O2 at 2 L/min by nasal cannula, for flights longer than 90 minutes " . I phoned the airlines to set it up, and it wasn't a big problem. That's not very much oxygen, but it was enough to do the trick: I got off that long flight feeling like a human being rather than a dishrag. I highly recommend it for anyone who needs or wants to travel but has had problems with airplane travel in the past. One caveat: once you are in the system as requiring oxygen, they will not let you on the flight unless (1) you have the doctor's rx in hand when you check in, and (2) the oxygen is there. And they have to follow certain formulas for how much oxygen to have on hand that gives a certain safety margin in case the flight is extended due to weather, having to circle above the airport for a while, etc. Plus, there are no refunds or credits for unused or partially used cannisters. So even though I only used one cannister each way, I had to pay for two. It looks like my insurance is going to cover at least part of it, though, so I don't mind. It was such a joy to arrive at my destination ready to enjoy myself, instead of having to crash for two days before going out of my room! In fact, it was my positive experience with O2 on the flight that led me to ask my doctor for O2 PRN at home. It's wonderful for headaches. I'm still waiting on the rebreather mask, though - my respiratory therapist wasn't satisfied with what I printed out (Cheney protocol). -- el - andrea@... (IFF " FNORD " appears - remove it from my email address to reply) " ...wake now! Discover that you are the song that the morning brings... " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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