Hello and thank you for taking my question. I am a 30 year old female who has pulmonary hypertension (mean pap in the upper 30's) and diastolic dysfunction secondary to lupus. I've been told that I can't take the medications normally given for pulmonary hypertension because of the diastolic dysfunction. Also, I can't take beta blockers, they cause shortness of breath. My rhuematologist has told me that he wants me to use my oxygen on 2L 24 hours a day, regardless of the fact that my O2 sats are usually in the mid to upper 90's. The oxygen does help when I'm having palpitations and very strong/fast beats. He says this is to keep my heart from working harder than it needs to. I thought using oxygen when you don't need it was dangerous.
My questions are:
1. Is using oxygen to treat a heart condition, without having a low saturation, normal and safe?
2. Since my pulmonary hypertension can't be medicated, should I expect the lupus to continue to make my heart worse? (He has started me on plaquenil)
I know you can't make any specific statements to my case, but your thoughts on the subjects would be greatly appreciated.