I don't know why you went from needing 02 overnight to 24/7 sort of overnight, but now you're there, you need to learn something about 02, how it works and what you can do to control and manage it. 02 is designed not to help your breathing, though it might do that, but to ensure that your 02 saturation level, as measured by your oximeter stays above 88 and preferably above 90 all the time, regardless of what you're doing. Get yourself an oximeter from Walmart or Walgreens and use it. Make notes of what it reads and what you're doing or have done just before you write it down. Go upstairs? Write down what your sats are as you start and what they are when you're up. Go down? Same thing.

02 needs change depending on what you're doing. Learn what your sats are sitting, going to the bathroom, working in the kitchen, going down the hall, taking the garbage out....whatever you're doing be sure you note your sats. Talk with your doc about what you note and get their take on what's going on. See if there are times when you should increase your liter flow. Talk with your doc and see if he'll let you set your own flow based on your oximeter readings. We call that "titrate as you migrate". Most of us who do more than just sit at home understand that we have to pay attention to what's going on and do this automatically; you can learn that too.

Responding to your body's requirements doesn't mean your COPD is progressing rapidly; it simply means that the requirements always changed; you just didn't have to respond before. Now you do. If you respond, you can keep COPD at bay for a long time.

I admit to being a bit surprized 😇 by the comments. My concentrater is set on 3.5 and I rarely ever change it. If I overdue it a bit I sit down, take a deep breath through my nose and exhale slowly through my mouth. Might take a minute or two but 99% of the time it works well. Learned that in pulmonary rehab. I do change the settings on my canisters when I'm out and about. I much prefer the steady flow of O2. I try to keep my O2 levels at 92 or above. Good luck and hope things go well.

Hi there. I was like you in the beginning. I caught pneumonia and I went from just overnight to 24/7 in a matter of a 24 hrs. They sent me home and it was at 6L with tanks. OMG are they awful things. Then I went on a concentrator. I did go Rehab and it kind of helped. Anyhow, the Pulmonary Doc at the hospital and my regular Respirologist both told me the same thing. Under 88 turn up your concentrator. Over 90 turn down. I kept doing that and eventually got myself down to 3l. I have to keep changing it every time I get up because I'm anemic and not getting oxygen to my extremeties. Oh, and I'm 67
Good luck. Wish you well.

AliceRose, Ask your doctor to refer you for Pulmonary Rehab again, keep asking, if he/she won't do it, find someone else. Rehab is wonderful and will help you so much
but you must keep it up at home after your 6 or 8 weeks with a therapist.

All great input thanks again 😃