Too tired to breathe and pure oxygen?!

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charlotteb13
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Joined: Tue Aug 20, 2013 4:50 am

by charlotteb13 on Tue Aug 20, 2013 4:56 am

Too tired to breathe and pure oxygen?!

Hi my daughter has a severe form of m.e and she sometimes becomes to tired to breath during a severe flare up of her m.e she is unable to talk during this time and just rolls in and out of sleep she can't drink or eat as she doesn't have the energy to chew or swollow. I was just wondering whether this is part of her m.e or whether it was part of a chronic pain condition she has similar to fibro? Also I was wondering has using oxygen just pure oxygen from the tanks via a breathing mask help in any way? She was offered oxygen while in an ambulance by a doctor on call and they said it would help, why is this? Is it because her pain condition or has it been proven to help m.e suffers? Thank you very much.

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Dr Charles Shepherd
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Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2013 11:30 am

by Dr Charles Shepherd on Tue Aug 20, 2013 9:44 am

Re: Too tired to breathe and pure oxygen?!

What you are describing with breathing can certainly occur in people with severe ME/CFS but I hope you will appreciate that a doctor cannot make a diagnostic conclusion about breathing problems over the internet - this can only be done by taking a proper history and examining a patient

From what you say it sounds as though your daughter needs to be properly assessed in relation to ME/CFS, especially in relation to pain management - as well as her breathing problems

We have already covered severe ME/CFS in previous questions, and the unacceptable lack of hospital based services for this group. But you could enquire as to whether the local hospital based service also does domicilary (home) visits

There is a full list of all UK hospital based services for people with ME/CFS on the MEA website:
http://www.meassociation.org.uk

Oxygen therapy should only be initiated and used in conjunction with medical supervision. This is NOT a form of self treatment because it can upset normal blood gas concentrations and cause serious adverse effects if given to people who do not require extra oxygen
Dr Charles Shepherd
MB BS, Honorary Medical Adviser, ME Association

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