3 things you need to know about travelling with PH

Hello
I just got a Inogen portable concentrator. I have experienced that the extra oxygen does not prevent me from getting woozy (as if I were at the end of a six minute walk) when I am doing mild exercise. Any comments?

I think that the PHA site has a form I can use when traveling. Has anyone had any difficulties with that on airlines?

Randolph,
I totally can understand that feeling especially related to the 6 minute walk test. Are you on a continuous flow or a pulse flow with your concentrator. My advice to you would be to check with your doctor and maybe have them make sure that your oxygen levels are increasing or up to where they would like it to be when you are using your own concentrator and flow rate. That way they can see if they need to adjust the setting to a different flow rate or find the best oxygen for your needs.

When I traveled i made sure to have enough batteries for my concentrator because the flight does not allow you to plug into their outlets. Make sure there are enough batteries for the whole flight time plus half of the flight time. So if it were a 6 hour flight you would need enough batteries to last 9 hours. I would call the specific airline to see what they require. Some require a doctor note for the use of the POC and they will let you know what types they allow on the flight as all of them aren’t necessarily allowed on the flight. Check with the airline and your doctor ! Especially if you are still experiencing symptoms when you are using your oxygen.

Hi Randolph and Brittany,

Actually it’s the Federal Aviation Administration that requires you have 150% battery life for the flight so this applies to all airlines. After purchasing my own portable oxygen concentrator I had very few problems flying with oxygen. Just have to make sure you jump through all the hoops and bring all the forms with you. Refer to this post, 7 Tips for Traveling by Air With Oxygen, for more details about traveling with oxygen.

Thanks for clarifying that Kathleen! The forms are important and definitely something to check up with each airline on ! I know some need doctors notes and others don’t. I always say that it’s better to be over prepared and not need things vs under prepared missing flights!

Definitely better to be over prepared! For my trip to Europe I printed 5 copies of my doctor’s note and stuck some of them in plastic bags with my medications – made security much easier!