I have Pulmonary Hypertension why does O2 help ?

[Ladybug]

Question on this , Im new to this site so I hope Im posting to right area. I have a question about O2 use, I have Pulmonary hypertension on two Ph meds, the question is, I get chest pains and SOB and found that if I use Cpap or they put O2 on me I feel 100 % better when i get theses s/s. problem is My O2 stats never drop below 94-95% on Room air, but when I get like this heart rate increases to the 120-130's can O2 benifit me with decreasing the heart rate or is it a waste and non benny ? hope I made sense thanks for any help ...Michelle

[Adam Swartz]

Question on this , Im new to this site so I hope Im posting to right area. I have a question about O2 use, I have Pulmonary hypertension on two Ph meds, the question is, I get chest pains and SOB and found that if I use Cpap or they put O2 on me I feel 100 % better when i get theses s/s. problem is My O2 stats never drop below 94-95% on Room air, but when I get like this heart rate increases to the 120-130's can O2 benifit me with decreasing the heart rate or is it a waste and non benny ? hope I made sense thanks for any help ...Michelle

Michelle,

First off, let me welcome you. As to your question it helps because at a pulse of 120 - 130+ you aren't getting as much oxygen to your bloodstream and therefore your heart and your brain. This is what causes the symptoms to be so severe. Therefore when you are placed on Oxygen it allows more oxygen to reach the blood thereby increasing your oxygen level in your blood.

Sincerely,

Adam Swartz

EMT-B

[chbare]

Unfortunately, due to potential legal implications I do not feel like I could give medical advice over a public forum. I would suggest you discuss this with your medical provider. Sorry, I am not all that keen on giving medical advice on this forum regarding such a complicated situation. Good luck and take care.

chbare.

[Aussieaid]

Without giving any medical advice since I agree with CH on that, I can say that oxygen is a pulmonary vasodilator which is why it causes some relief with pulmonary hypertension.

As to your question it helps because at a pulse of 120 - 130+ you aren't getting as much oxygen to your bloodstream and therefore your heart and your brain. This is what causes the symptoms to be so severe. Therefore when you are placed on Oxygen it allows more oxygen to reach the blood thereby increasing your oxygen level in your blood.

Adam with pulmonary hypertension the pulmonary blood vessels become constricted, hypertrophied or fibrosed from numerous possible causes. This means the heart has to pump faster to get the same amount of blood through the lungs that the body needs which is why the heart rate is high. (It can also be from right ventricular overload and hypertrophy.) Giving oxygen doesn't increase the amount of oxygen to reach the blood because the problem is on the perfusion side not the ventilation side. Hypoxia causes vasoconstriction and oxygen causes vasodilation which allows more blood to flow through the lungs.

[JPINFV]

Without giving any medical advice since I agree with CH on that, I can say that oxygen is a pulmonary vasodilator which is why it causes some relief with pulmonary hypertension.

This is along the lines of what I'm thinking. Unlike the rest of the body, a higher oxygen concentration in the lungs results in vasodilation. Since the same volume of blood has to move through the lungs as the rest of the body, if it starts backing up due to high resistance, then the heart has to pump more in order to increase the pressure to over come the resistance. Dilate the vessels and the resistance drops.

However, the best place to ask these types of questions is your treating physician.