scubasteb

Thanks for the reassurance, CHfather. I saw a few articles posted up at Airgas about some horrific accidents, which got me going down the worm hole of researching potential dangers of having the oxygen tank at home and came across some unsettling stories and images of burn victims and exploding tanks. I kid you not, my heart was pounding as I was sitting 10 feet away from the tank, trying to decide whether or not to set it all up or return it. I think I may have psyched myself out, so thanks for talking me down.

Thanks for the additional info, Mit12. I just picked up an O2 canister for the first time today and also got myself the regulator from Airgas afterwards. I also received my ClusterO2 Kit last week, so I'm all set to give this welder's oxygen a shot. I am getting a bit of anxiety about using the tank now, though. After speaking with the rep at Airgas and doing some research online, I started getting worried about fires or the tank exploding. I probably put myself into a bit of a bad mental space by doing this, but now I'm curious if any of you have any best practices to ensure proper and more importantly SAFE usage of a welder's tank, regulator, and mask. I'm almost too afraid to even set it all up now.

Wow, just wow, thank you for all your responses CHfather, Dallas Denny, spiny, & Batch! Sometimes I get bogged down in making a decision and the unknowns for me tend to paralyze my first step forward. With all your firsthand accounts of using welding oxygen, I'm feeling very confident in taking that first step and now I have another potential way to prevent my attacks with the anti-inflammatory method. Thank you all for your support!!!

Thanks for the follow up q's. Yes, I put in an order for the ClusterO2 Kit half an hour ago (haven't received an order confirmation email yet, though) and I'm planning on visiting Harbor Freight for their oxygen regulator. Just have to wait for Airgas to accept my account so that I can rent a tank, then I'll pick up both the tank and regulator on the same day. Fingers crossed that I don't get another attack before I get all the supplies.

Thanks for the quick reply and for the alternative method of acquiring O2 the "proper" way. I'm going to give a call around a few walk-ins now and see if they'll provide. However, it sounds like welding O2 is the way to go; I have an AirGas location about 20 minutes from me, so it wouldn't be to bad of a hike and I don't mind carrying around a 40 cu. ft. tank back and forth (at first) to see if the O2 works for me.

Hi all, my name is Steve and I have episodic CH's for the last 7 years. I was first misdiagnosed by an ENT and then a neurologist, then properly diagnosed by the same neurologist after a follow-up visit with CT scan. Got put on a few meds that may have worked, but considering the way CH's vary from attack to attack, I'm not sure if they really did helped. I typically get my once a year cycle in mid-to-late-November, but for some reason they came on in early August this year. Without insurance, I decided to try out MM and took 3 doses, spread out at 4-5 days in between. I still got attacks in between doses, but I'm hoping for the best after this last one (if I'm getting the terminology right, the attacks may have been "slapbacks"... I guess I'll find out soon enough if the third dose busted me out). I've learned so much from the ClusterBuster site and also from you all here on the forums, and I'm determined to get an oxygen tank. I'm in a bit of a standstill though, because I don't have insurance and so everything will have to come out of pocket for me. Neuro visit to get the script will cost $250 and after that, I'm not sure how much it'll be for the tank, refills, etc. It seems like there's overwhelming support for going the welder's oxygen route. I do have concerns here though. For those of you with long-term experience with welder's oxygen, have you ever had any adverse effects? My concern is not with the purity of the O2 (as I've read here that it's the same level of purity at medical-grade), but the cleanliness of the tanks. I'm just worried that I'll be putting unknowns into my system that is already fragile. I've already read every bit of welding info here on the message boards and I haven't read anything negative. But, like looking at the reviews on Amazon, I tend to want to hear both sides. I want to not only hear about everyone's great 5-star experiences, but also the 1-star reviews. Has anyone had any bad experiences with welder's oxygen? I'd really like to hear from you. Thanks and hope you are all pain free today! Steve