Oxygen Therapy - Trials & Tribulations (Part III)

I had been generally warned about the potential dangers of oxygen toxicity from a friend - so before I started, I researched the dangers.  The best resource I found is from the National Institutes of Health, which has an article discussing the dangers of oxgen therapy for COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).  To read the full article, click this link.  The two main concerns with oxygen therapy appeared to be (1) Carbon Dioxide Retention and (2) Oxidative Stress.  Carbon dioxide retention leads to a condition called respiratory acidosis, in which the body cannot eliminate all the CO2 generated during respiration and which causes the body's acidity increases.  Oxidative stress occurs when too much oxygen is present in the blood, which allows for the formation of free radicals that can damage cells.  Of course, I had no idea how much oxygen was too much or would create these conditions, so I determined to start off with short intervals and work up from low levels of oxygen.

The determined starting point - meditative breathing with oxygen for 30 minutes per day, once per week, for a minimum of a few weeks before changing the regimen.  My first 30 minute trial was unspectacular but with spectacularly promising results.  After the session, I immediately felt less fatigued, a slight improvement.  The noticeable improvement came that night with restful sleep and dreams - something I had experienced in years. The next morning came and I felt somewhat rested - an unusual occurrence.

With such noticeable improvements after only one session, all of my plans to ease into oxygen therapy went out the window.  If I felt this much better with one dose of oxygen, I could only imagine how much better I would feel on even more oxygen.  The next night, I indulged again - this time for a full hour.  Instead of feeling elated, I felt slightly jittery, dizzy, anxious, and nauseated.  After some thought and riding high on my improvement from the first night, I decided it would be difficult to know if my new symptoms were definitively caused by the oxygen without another data point (its the engineer in me) and so I indulged in oxygen therapy for a third straight night.  Bad idea.  The symptoms the night before intensified and worsened, making for a very uncomfortable night.  Carbon dioxide retention?  Oxidative stress?  Who knows.  I had learned my lesson.  I took a full week off of oxygen therapy to allow my body to normalize before starting again, this time a bit more intelligently...

Click the links below to read other posts in the Oxygen Therapy Series:

Oxygen Therapy - A Plausible Theory (Part I)
Oxygen Therapy - Finding an Oxygen Source (Part II)
Oxygen Therapy - Trials and Tribulations (Part III)
Oxygen Therapy - Massaging the Truth (Part IV)
Oxygen Therapy - Cardio for a Day (Part V)
Oxygen Therapy - Strength Training (Part VI)