oxygen sats

[MINNIEthecat48]

I have exstensive emphesema, my oxygen sats at rest are 93/94. When I exert myself like unloading my car of a lot of shopping I get out of breath and my sats drop to 85/87 is this normal. The heavier the object I move the more out of breath I get.

[stone-UK]

Hi

This is one for your respitory nurse, a simple walk test will tell if you need further treatment.

I have the same condition and the same sats at rest. On exertion mine would drop to 83/84 which meant I was a suitable candidate for Ambultory oxygen 2lpm.

85/87 is just under the action level of 88%, it also depends on how quickly your sats return to normal.

Although a good indicater when stable, home brought Oximeters are not very good at snapshots. Which is what you would need for doing comparisons.

Breathlessness is a factor of life with the condition, the more exertion the more short of breath, the trick is to know our limitations and rest when required.

[Hidden]

Good reply stone can't add anything to that. x

[Hidden]

Morning Minnie, healthy people get out of breath exercising too, we just do it easier and quicker due to the lung condition we have. Picking up or carrying heavy things will do this due to the oxygen we breath in being diverted to ur muscles to give u the strength to carry the item, thus depriving ur lungs and making u breathless. If ur Sats return to ur normal level after a few minutes then this is quite normal for us and u just need to pace urself and rest between jobs. If ur worried u can always ask ur gp or nurse for reassurance. Take care x Sonia xx

[Nanny1086 in reply to Hidden]

Agree with all you said

[Hidden]

Hi Minnie, your sats are fine at rest, well a lot better than mine! My pulmonary nurse told me it does'nt matter how low they get on exertion as long as they come back up again fairly quickly. Well done you for trying to lift, i can hardly lift anything any more, but still got a good quality of life. Love Kin Xx

[Hidden]

Good Morning, You sound very similar to my husband. But we didnt find that out until he had an assessment for pulmonary rehab. Do you have a respiratory nurse? It might be you need a walking assessment which will determine whether you need oxygen.

My husband SATS are the same as yours 93/94 at resting but on the six minute walk test dropped to 85 within a couple of minutes. As I understand SATS, less than 87 for any period of time can affect your other organs so ideally it is best to keep your SATS above 87. My husband was given ambulatory oxygen which has worked fantastically - given him a new lease of life. He doesnt use it much in summer but in this cold weather it has been great.

The best of luck, TAD xx

[CornishBrian]

Every single living person suffers from breathlessness....it just means that your body is needing more oxygen than you are giving. Carrying a heavy load alters your body shape and so can restrict your diaphragm movements, which is essential to breathing. You are simply doing something that your body is not used to and you haven't prepared it for. If you go back to when the weightlifters were common TV programmes, you will remember that before they attempted weights, they would stand upright and concentrate on their breathing for several minutes before even touching the bar and then once they were in position, they undertook breathing control just before the lift. Oxygen is needed to feed the muscles....no oxygen, no muscle movements. Once you start lifting, your sats are doing exactly what they should do...dropping....you are using loads of oxygen. The secret is not how much they drop but how quickly can YOU get them back to normal.

[MINNIEthecat48 in reply to CornishBrian]

what I mean by breathlessness is struggling to breath and have to stop, and wait a long time to recover and continue.

[CornishBrian in reply to MINNIEthecat48]

I fully understand that but it is not the main part of our condition....have you never seen an athlete on their knees, gasping for breath after giving their all in an event? They have trained for months for that and are still breathless. Walking, talking, doing things uses every muscle which in turn uses oxygen. When the muscles run out of oxygen, they hurt and stop working. We have to train our lungs just as athletes and every one else does. It take more out of us doing normal tasks but if you stop doing those tasks for a while, you start at point zero. You can exercise and train yourself out of a very severe situation....you will still get breathless but your recovery time improves. If you then combine breathing exercises with every day tasks, then they can become possible again. If I rest in my chair, take my sats , they will probably be around 86. A couple of minutes of breathing control, will bring them up to 93. However, if I walk into the kitchen, make a cuppa and come back and sit down, I will be breathless but my sats will be about 88 and within two or three breaths they will be above 90....my body rcognises that I have gone from resting to active and responds by automatically increasing my breathing rate. The whole purpose of PR, apart from education is the link between exercise and breathing control. Get them working together,breathless isn't the problem it has been because we are now working to stay active.

[Nanny1086]

Hi, that sounds just the same as me ,my oxygen levels drop drastically ,,,,,,

[O2Trees]

Nothing much to add to the great replies you've had.

Only thing occurred to me is that you need to breathe OUT on the exertion, i.e. when you are actually lifting something. That is standard weightlifters practice and Brian's post reminded me of this. Light weightlifting is part of pulmonary rehabilitation which your GP could refer you for. It will increase your fitness and enable your muscles to use oxygen more efficiently.

[Offcut]

I am the same 93/94 at rest but with the paralysed diaphragm just bending over to put shoes socks on will make me breathless. Swimming is out as it makes me so breathless. I am exercise intolerant but do recover well most of the time. Walking up my stairs on a good day will make me drop to 87 but it is not unusual to go to 75.

As what has been said earlier it is knowing your limitations, by all means push but know when to say enough! My Sympathetic GP has summed it up with "You just have to Live with it!"

Be Well

[warwickstag]

That's pretty good for me. My sats quickly drop below 80 on any exercise, but I'm on LTOT and despite being stage 4 severe I still cope OK. Are you on oxygen? It sounds like you probably should be.

[MINNIEthecat48]

respiratory nurse called into oxygen sats down to 91 [was /9394 four weeks ago] at rest. Resting pulse is consistently over 100 ... 107/110 and I get out of breath easier and more than before my cold. Findings are going back to the respitory teams hq.During short 20 metres walk sats down to 89/90......... lifting shopping 85/87. ECG MONDAY.