We had a delightful session with Dr. Brian Carlin who is a Pulmonologist associated with Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh PA on Tuesdays Pulmonary Chat. He introduced a concept that I was not familiar with. and that concept is to pre load our lungs with oxygen prior to exercise. Say a minute or 2 prior to exercise you turn your oxygen up so that when you begin to exercise your oxygen does not drop as fast and you can exercise at a higher rate. Hopefully you keep your pulse oximeter handy so that you can check your oxygen at intervals during your routine.

He also discussed with us the fact that our daily routine is not like the 6 minute walk test that we are given to determine the amount of oxygen that we should be using. I had know this previously, but was not certain that my practice of leaving my oxygen at 3 during the day and not adjusting it up and down was an okay practice. He said that this was fine as long as I was active during the day that I did not need to turn my oxygen down when I sat down to rest for a while.

He also introduced the term Titrate to Saturate which I had heard before. This means that if my oxygen is falling during an activity that I can crank it up during this activity and then turn it down once I have finished. He said that it is very unlikely to do any harm. If the person is a carbon dioxide retained, then they may wish to consult with their physician.

We will have another session with this fine doctor next month. I hope that you will see fit to join us Right2Breathe