Re: give me all you got on acute respiratory failure

Acute respiratory failure can have several causes, but the jist is that the body is not getting enough oxygen in the blood for whatever reason and there becomes an imbalance of the blood gases which leads to an imbalance of the body's pH which will further reduce the body's ability to breathe. It is an acute situation which will lead to death without aggressive medical intervention. It is not a "self-treat" type situation. The person will be on a respirator and will have their blood gases constantly monitored and will try to address the pH imbalance with corrective measures such as IV sodium bicarbonate (usually the person will be acidic from too much CO2 in the blood, which further shuts down the respiratory drive). Once the person pulls out of respiratory failure, then the time comes for aggressive self treatment of the root cause. The doctors can tell you what that cause is, either lung disease, ketoacidosis from diabetes, poisoning, etc etc etc. Lung disease, heart disease, diabetes, are usual causes. My thoughts are with you. This is a case to be thankful for our medical system if they can help(I don't say that too often!) Tweet