Are these oxygen concentrator generators any good?

[Peter C]

I don't suffer from OSA, but Autonomic Instability giving me a low blood oxygen content whilst asleep.
Whilst I wait for the NHS to do something, (only been a year so far), is it worth getting one of these oxygen generators?, how do they work?, do they take air from your room and take the oxygen from it? Is there any danger from upsetting the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide that the Autonomic Nervous System detects and reacts to in the blood?
Anybody else use them?
The symptoms I am trying to eliviate are a constant fatigue, feeling I am drunk and dizziness.
Thanks.

[palerider]

I don't suffer from OSA, but Autonomic Instability giving me a low blood oxygen content whilst asleep.
Whilst I wait for the NHS to do something, (only been a year so far), is it worth getting one of these oxygen generators?, how do they work?, do they take air from your room and take the oxygen from it?

They're oxygen *concentrators* not *generators*.
What they do is filter the nitrogen out of the air, nitrogen is around 78% of normal air. They suck up air through a compressor, pump it into a sieve bed that absorbs the nitrogen, then they vent the oxygen into a holding tank and flush out the nitrogen.

Is there any danger from upsetting the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide that the Autonomic Nervous System detects and reacts to in the blood?

That's not how it works, your respiration cycle is driven by CO2 in the blood, not oxygen, which is why you don't have a lot of effects from low oxygen... or oxygen supplementation.

Anybody else use them?
The symptoms I am trying to eliviate are a constant fatigue, feeling I am drunk and dizziness.

Lots of people use them.
Maybe you DO suffer from OSA.

[Janknitz]

Good answer from Palerider, just to add that if you do have sleep apnea, the oxygen supplied by the concentrator via nasal canula will NOT keep your airway open. Have you been tested for sleep apnea?

[Peter C]

I get low oxygen when I am awake as well, the hospital machine was constantly bleeping at 87% whilst I was awake, so I dont think its OSA, I literally forget to breathe sometimes, especially when talking of relaxing. I have seen my oxygen at 99% and lung function tests are good.
Not every night is as low as 85%, more often it is averaging 90%, maybe a quarter of the time its 85. So of course when I had a sleep apnea clinic appraisal, it was on pne of the 90% average days, when I showed the doctor it was sometimes in the area he said they would have been concerned about, he said I probably had a sweaty finger and so dismissed me. This is the NHS these days, this is why I am looking at treating myself, the NHS couldnt find I had Ventricular Tachycardia for two years until I bought my own ECG machine and showed them.

[Julie]

Well, the desats are actually just below the cutoff for low 02 line - 88% - though of course that''s not ideal, but what you experience is not horrendous either compared to some who desat to low 60's at times without Cpap. But do try and get tested for apnea anyway - are there no 'home' tests available there (if she won't schedule you for a lab one)?

And you said you have times when you just don't breathe - it would be important to know if that happens when you sleep because it could indicate 'clear airway' or central events (centrals happen when your brain does not signal you to breathe) and there are special machines that treat that.

[Peter C]

Just lying in bed on the computer now and my sats are 90%.
This all started the day the put me on beta blockers for my Ventricular Tachycardia, I described feeling as if my lungs no longer worked. Turned out I was allergic to them so they took me off a year ago, but the symptoms remain. I dont feel hunger much now either. So I think its a Autonomic Nervous System, brain not functioning thing rather than an airways blocking thing.

[palerider]

So I think its a Autonomic Nervous System, brain not functioning thing rather than an airways blocking thing.

Which doesn't mean that you couldn't benefit from a little help breathing at night.

[Peter C]

Well I bought one, an a Dedakj https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vogvigo-Portab ... op?ie=UTF8 I had seen it top of a review of the ten best machines. However, it states it produces 90% oxygen, I am using the tube that goes up each nostril, yet my blood oxygen only goes up between 1 and 3 percent at the most. How much would you expect one of these machines to improve your sats by please?

[raisedfist]

The flow meter goes from 1 - 6 liters/min. What setting is yours at?

[Peter C]

The flow meter goes from 1 - 6 liters/min. What setting is yours at?

Seems the machine has a fixed amount of oxygen, (even though the manual claims both flow rate and oxygen concentration are adjustable, but there is only the dial for flow rate). So, the 90% oxygen appears when the flow rate is at the minimum, increasing the flow rate dilutes the oxygen concentration. Its fine for me as I get the max concentration of oxygen without a gale blowing up my nose.

So I have it just after one, but I did try all the way around to six liters and found it made no difference at all to my blood oxygen.

[raisedfist]

The flow meter goes from 1 - 6 liters/min. What setting is yours at?

Seems the machine has a fixed amount of oxygen, (even though the manual claims both flow rate and oxygen concentration are adjustable, but there is only the dial for flow rate). So, the 90% oxygen appears when the flow rate is at the minimum, increasing the flow rate dilutes the oxygen concentration. Its fine for me as I get the max concentration of oxygen without a gale blowing up my nose.

So I have it just after one, but I did try all the way around to six liters and found it made no difference at all to my blood oxygen.

Sounds like the machine you got is a cheapo unfortunately...

I would look into getting a Respironics Everflo Q machine if you can find one. The amount of oxygen purity stays the same with all flow rates.

[palerider]

So, the 90% oxygen appears when the flow rate is at the minimum, increasing the flow rate dilutes the oxygen concentration.

Not unless it's broken.

[Matt00926]

So, the 90% oxygen appears when the flow rate is at the minimum, increasing the flow rate dilutes the oxygen concentration.

Not unless it's broken.

Oddly, looking at the photos of the unit - for some reason the percentage does seem to actually change when you adjust the l/m flow. I've never heard of such a thing. But I imagine that's what you get for less than $500 USD? The product description is pretty misleading...

[palerider]

So, the 90% oxygen appears when the flow rate is at the minimum, increasing the flow rate dilutes the oxygen concentration.

Not unless it's broken.

Oddly, looking at the photos of the unit - for some reason the percentage does seem to actually change when you adjust the l/m flow. I've never heard of such a thing. But I imagine that's what you get for less than $500 USD? The product description is pretty misleading...

Ok, not broken, just junk.

[Peter C]

So here is a oximeter report from my first might with it, deepest sleep I have had for a long time and as you can see, the basal average of 91.8% for sleeping is fine and the best I have ever seen it since I had an oximeter.

I was thinking I could send it back and pay 3 times as much for one that delivers 90% oxygen at faster rates than 1lt a minute, but on consideration, this 90% I get at 1lt will be as good as 90% at 1lt a minute from a better machine, and as this level is enough of an improvement, would I even use the faster flow as I dont like the feeling of a faster rate of air being blown up my nose anyway.

Would still like to hear figures from other people what their Blood oxygen % improvement is when using a flow of just 1lt a minute, if it is vastly better than mine, I still might be tempted to change.