Medical Carbon Dioxide 5&Oxygen 95%
PL 15929/0007 - November 07 - revised
Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95%
Read all of this leaflet carefully before you start to use this medicine.
• Keep this leaflet. You may need to read it again.
• If you have further questions, please ask your doctor or your pharmacist.
• This medicine has been prescribed for you personally and you should not pass it on to others. It may harm them, even if their symptoms are the same as yours.
In this leaflet:
1. What Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95% is and what it is used for.
2. Before you use Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95%
3. How to use Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95%
4. Possible side effects.
5. Storing Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95%
The name of your medicine is Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95%. Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95% is supplied as a gas containing 5% Carbon Dioxide and 95% Oxygen. It does not contain any other ingredients
1. What is Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95% and what it is used for.
Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95% is a mixture of two colourless, odourless gases, carbon dioxide and oxygen, supplied in a pressurised gas cylinder with a valve to control the outflow of the gas.
It controls how fast and how deeply you breathe in air which contains the oxygen you need for your body tissues to work properly.
Oxygen is essential for life. Oxygen breathed in with air goes into your lungs where it is taken into your blood. The blood carries the oxygen to all your body tissues. The tissues take the oxygen from the blood so that they can work properly.
It is used to help you to start breathing again if you have stopped.
It may also be used to give you carbon dioxide safely if it is needed as part of your anaesthetic treatment.
It may sometimes be used in clinical investigations.
2. Before you use Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95%
Do not smoke or allow those near you to smoke during treatment with Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95%.
Oxygen helps things burn. Oxygen can cling to fabrics. Smoking during oxygen treatment has proved fatal (due to fire and burns) to more than one patient.
Do not allow naked flames near you when you are using Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95%.
You should not take this gas mixture if you suffer from chronic respiratory disease, drug-induced respiratory depression or if your body fluids are abnormally acidic.
Pregnancy
Ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice before taking any medicine.
It is unlikely to affect pregnancy, but its use is not recommended in pregnant women.
Breast-feeding
Ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice before taking any medicine.
This gas mixture is unlikely to affect breast-feeding.
Driving and using machines.
Do not drive or operate heavy machinery whilst taking Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95%.
Using other medicines.
Carbon dioxide 5%/oxygen 95% interacts with anaesthetic agents at high concentrations and causes irregular heartbeats. The mixture also interacts with adrenaline.
It influences the uptake and use of many drugs
Please inform your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking, or have recently taken any other medicine - even those not prescribed.
3. How to use Medical Carbon dioxide 5%/oxygen 95%
Always follow the instructions given to you by your doctor. Do not stop treatment or change your treatment without consulting your doctor first.
You will normally use Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95% by breathing the gas in through a mask.
Only use the equipment supplied to you for use with your Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95%.
All equipment used with the Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95% should be kept clean and dry. Do not use oil or grease on any equipment that is used with Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95%.
Your doctor or nurse will decide how much Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95% you need.
The atmosphere a baby breathes should not contain more than 42% of this gas mixture. (Babies should not be given more than 40% oxygen).
Your doctor will tell you how long your treatment with Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95% will last.
If you forgot to use Medical Carbon dioxide 5%/oxygen 95%
Take your Medical Carbon dioxide 5%/oxygen 95% as soon as you remember, do not take a double dose to make up for the forgotten treatment.
If you use more Medical Carbon dioxide 5%/oxygen 95% than you should:
It is not possible to take too much Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95%, but a few patients have reported headaches, sweating and feeling sick after taking the gas mixture.
4. Possible side effects
Like all medicines Medical Carbon dioxide 5%/oxygen 95% can have side effects.
In newborn and premature infants treatment with oxygen at concentrations over 40% can damage eye sight and may be associated with damage to other organs. These conditions have more than one cause and can occur even in the absence of oxygen therapy.
If you notice any side effects not mentioned in this leaflet please inform your doctor or your pharmacist.
5. Storage of Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95%
• Keep Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95% out of the reach and sight of children.
• Do not smoke where Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95% is stored.
Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95% containers should be stored:
• in a well ventilated place,
• under cover
• kept clean and dry.
• where they will not be exposed to extremes of temperature.
Return any used cylinders to Air Liquide.
Use by date
Do not use Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95% after the expiry date on the label.
The Marketing Authorisation Holder for Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95% is Air Liquide Limited, Station Road, Coleshill, Birmingham, West Midlands, B46 1JY
Medical Carbon Dioxide 5%/Oxygen 95% is manufactured by Air Liquide in the UK.