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Have you ever used liquid oxygen?
Liquid oxygen can be used at home, it can also be used away from home by using portable oxygen containers, or “strollers.” These portable units are filled from the large liquid oxygen tanks that are delivered to your home.
Learn more about liquid oxygen for PF here
What was your experience like trying to get liquid oxygen from your provider and/or insurance company? What tips do you have for us?
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13 Replies
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It would be of help to know the differences between “liquid oxygen” and oxygen gas. Who supplies liquid oxygen and what are the capacities of the tanks as compared with oxygen gas. What are the costs? Can you go further or do the liquid oxygen tanks last longer and at what rates of use?
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Hi David,
These are all good questions re: gas vs. liquid oxygen. I am not too familiar with liquid oxygen as it isn’t something that I’ve ever considered using yet. That said, I know people who do who find it very helpful and some even use both, depending on what their oxygen supplier suggests. Do you have an oxygen supplier yet, or use supplemental O2, David? Likely a lot of your great questions will be dependent on what your usage needs are.
I did a quick search though, and here is a good link for some light reading for you: https://pulmonaryfibrosisnews.com/forums/forums/reply/11940/
It looks like one of the perks of cylinders is that it is less expensive than liquid oxygen, but that liquid oxygen is lighter. I’d be curious to ask my oxygen supplier about the differences as well to see what they say.
Hope this helps a bit?
Welcome to the PF forums!
Charlene.
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No, I never have tried it. Know very little about it. Seems like I should see what it is all about and if it is a possible thing I could use. Am doing well with the home system and portable unit I have (Inogen One) so never thought any more about it.
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Hi Joyce,
I also do well with my personal oxygen concentrator (POC – I have the Phillips Respironics one) and my cylinders so I haven’t looked into liquid oxygen much either. My friend’s Mom has NSIP though and uses it, and she says she loves it. My doctor hasn’t even mentioned it as an option though, and the oxygen suppliers haven’t presented it either.
I just am flying home with my POC today and actually am pleasantly surprised how easy it is to fly with it!
Hope you’ve had a nice weekend!
Warm regards,
Charlene.
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Liquid oxygen is very scarce. Suppliers are finding it is too expensive. My supplier Norco, produces it themselves. So I have a big tank—almost the size of a concentrator for nights and I fill my Helios for the day. I need zero oxygen when sitting and 4 pulse when riding my bike. The Helios during the day is the size of a loaf of bread and weighs 5 pounds. There is a larger Helios which will fit in a back pack. I wear mine around my waist using a belt. It is not a concentrator. You cannot fly with it.
My freedom. Please let me know if you have more questions.
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Hi Jan,
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us about liquid oxygen. I certainly am glad to have learnt more, and I know others will be as well. I am Canadian so I know our healthcare is different, but in the US, do you have to pay for liquid oxygen, or is it more than a POC/tank?
Being able to wear it around your waist, or even in a backpack sounds ideal! Sometimes if I am just out running a quick errand I bring my D tank with me in a backpack but otherwise my POC is too heavy to carry on my back and I cart it around using a little trolly. This may be a silly question, but how long does the liquid oxygen in the helios last?
Thanks again for sharing, and I’m glad you’ve joined the PF forums 🙂
Charlene.
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I just changed over last week and so far, it is great. I am at 3-4 LPM resting and 8-10 with exertion. My previous setup allowed me to refill my canisters myself but it was a very slow process. I could empty a tank in less than 30 minutes and it took over 3 hrs to fill. With my LOX, a comparably sized container last 3 to 4 times as long and fills in less than 4 minutes. The biggest issue is that providers don’t make near as much money on LOX as regular O2 and many are phasing it out. Fortunately, my provider still offers it so I asked my pulmonologist to write me a script. It is a great option for heavy O2 users. I still have concentrators that I use while at home.
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Hi Rick,
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us re: liquid oxygen use! I am so glad your transition to it has gone well. Do you find you notice a difference in quality of the oxygen you are receiving? I can’t imagine so as both would probably be equal, wouldn’t they? Maybe not, but just a question I am curious about. I am also so glad to hear how quickly you can re-fill a LOX container, that must make a world of difference for you compared to the tanks!
I am a bit bummed to hear from many folks though that company are phasing it out due to the costs… wish this wasn’t the case for those of us who would benefit from it.
Thanks again for sharing!
Warm regards,
Charlene.
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I used to handle liquid oxygen (LOX), servicing Navy airplanes. In its liquid form LOX is cold (-297 F), and boils into a gas above that temperature. LOX has an expansion ration of 860:1, meaning a liter of LOX will produce 860 liters of gaseous O2. So, if you had a supply canister of 4 liters, you would have 3,440 liters of gaseous O2 available, or enough for several hours of use before refilling. Liquid oxygen warms up before leaving the converter tank, but still feels cool and fresh. I’m going to start checking into the possibility of switching to LOX because my POC is just barely keeping up with my needs when I am active.
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Here’s an excellent website on all the stuff you nee to know about liquid oxygen:
https://www.vitalitymedical.com/blog/burt-cancaster-liquid-oxygen-therapy.html
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Wow Roger, thank you so much for sharing your expertise around LOX. I found what you shared so interesting, and now I understand a little bit better why the LOX lasts so much longer than gaseous O2 options such as tanks or POCs. Why is it that it is so much more expensive, do you know? Is the quality of LOX typically better than gaseous O2? I’ve asked a few members of our forums about the quality of oxygen they feel they are providing, so I’m curious to hear their responses.
Also, thank you so much for the website! I am going to check it out, and I hope others who are interested do as well. I appreciate your taking the time to write this for all of us to learn more about LOX.
Sincerely,
Charlene.
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Yes, I have always used liquid oxygen from 2002. I finally got a portable concentrator to take when I travel. I even took the liquid on a cruise. It seems to be so smooth. It is just that the doctors don’t find out about it. More and more providers are phasing liquid out because it is too hard to manage.
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Hi Sylvia,
Welcome to the PF forums – thanks for joining us and sharing a bit of your experience with liquid oxygen 🙂
You’ve been using it for a long time it seems. What LPM do you use, if you don’t mind me asking? I’m so glad you find it smooth and easy to deal with. Have you enjoyed the POC, and being able to travel? I love being able to take mine along with me.
I think your post will remind other forum members to advocate to their doctors for their needs, and for some that might be looking into using LOX. When you refer to too hard to manage, are you meaning the cost of it for providers, or hard to manage for the patients? Curious to hear your thoughts, and if it is hard to manage for the patients, what is specifically difficult about it?
Thanks again for sharing.
Warm regards,
Charlene
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