Is an oximeter useful?

[Frawsey]

Hi I am new to this site.I have a 6 year old son who has asthma. We are new to this and I am unsure as to when he needs medical help. I don't want to over react or under react. Has anyone found an oximeter useful? I feel really silly asking this as I think I should know!

[Frawsey]

He has the brown inhaler 2 x twice a day and the blue one as required.

[Frawsey]

Thank you for that. I am really hoping he will grow out of it. He does ask for his inhaler so I usually go with that. He always complains that his tummy hurts rather than his chest. Is that normal? Luckily he loves sport. When you say change diet is there anything he should have in particular? I would say we have a very varied and generally healthy diet, although he has put on a fair amount of weight I the last 6 months which I am concerned is due to the brown inhaler as this is when he started taking it after having pneumonia. Many thanks for your help.

[Frawsey]

Thank you for that. We are a family that loves to cook so we have very few processed food. I will look into the allergy testing as I think that will be very helpful.

[Helen0909]

Hi, Asthma can seem a bit of a minefield to begin with, but im sure you, your son and family will soon find your own routine. I too would recommend taking advice from the asthma helpline, gp and maybe an asthma nurse. Every asthmatic is different, so maybe enquiring about allergy tests may prove beneficial. I find the peak flow meter and the oxy meter very useful. (I have had severe asthma all my life and although i recognise any changes occurring in my chest, i still find the units great tools in my asthma tool box). Kind wishes..Helen x

[Offcut]

I have had one for a few years and do find it useful. it is important that you do not get obsessed with it. I am exercise intolerant as I also have RLD and other conditions. So I can drop to 78% going up stairs but will recover to my normal 92% in a short while.

It is a good way to benchmark your day and seeing if the lungs are not as good as they normally are.

I got mine from Amazon. My tip is wait until the numbers settle as some take a little time to give the right number straight away.

Be Well

[Hidden]

I do have an oximeter, I was given one fairly recently. But I should stress that this was only done because I have another condition which can result in asthma like symptoms. If my breathing is being difficult I check my peak flow metre readings first. If they have dropped, but not to the extent that the symptoms might suggest I then use the oximeter just to double check whether or not the problem is likely to be asthma related. If you do not have a peak flow metre ask your GP for one, and also make sure they explain to you how to use it. At this stage this will be of far more use to you than an oximeter.

Different asthmatics react to different things. My younger son (who suffered a lot from asthma as a child but who is pretty much asthma free now) had a sweet tooth as a child - and always has done. His asthma has improved to the extent where it almost doesn't exist regardless of the fact that he has carried on enjoying sweets and chocolate (in moderation - I hasten to add). Far more of a problem for him are cats, damp and cold conditions, viral infections and dust - all well known and very common triggers - and we had to be careful of cheese (any cheese) when he was a young child. As djc2 says, you have to get to know what his particular triggers are. Both my younger son and I (I'm another asthmatic) did quite a bit of sport/exercise as a child. He could get away with aerobic exercise (running/football/hockey); I could not, but I did gymnastics and ballet. Keeping physically fit is important.

Other things you can do to help: air his room out thoroughly every morning. Open the window for an hour if you can (even if it is sub zero outside) and throw back the bedclothes. Towel down any condensation that has formed on the windows to prevent mold forming (mold is another well known trigger). Don't store things under his bed as they will form very effective dust traps and will also prevent air circulating around the bed thoroughly when you are airing the room.

Hope this helps