If oxygen goes to 86-89 should I start antibiotics ?

Was doing OK but got into smoky area and oxygen after a week going occasionally to 86-89. Will taking antibiotics help get it back into the 90's ? I have been off oxygen for 7 months since hospitalized last February for exacerbation.

[aberdeenman]

I think if it goes down to 86 its oxygen that you will need

[Hidden in reply to aberdeenman]

Thank you.

[Pantani]

Antibiotics will only be of use if you have a chest infection. If your chest is tight and you just have a lot of mucus and are short of breath then steroids will be more helpful. You need to see your GP or respiratory nurse .

[Hidden in reply to Pantani]

I know it is for infections but was wondering if that means I might be getting an infection? (I am allergic to most steroids so pretty much out of the question to taking pill forms of steroids).

[jojam]

Do you need to replace the batteries in your oximeter? If you have been in smoky atmosphere try to use your reliever inhaler & give it chance to work then avoid smoky areas .Antibiotics will only help if you have an infection.

I suggest you see your doctor or respiratory nurse to get checked out.

Best wishes

Jo

[Hidden in reply to jojam]

Thank you. Will do.

[Hidden]

Good morning winded,

Definitely see your doctor soon as possible. Let us know how you get on?

[Billybob10]

The Buteyko breathing method is worth checking out.It's quite a revelation to me.Cheers and good luck.👍

[Mandy6513 in reply to Billybob10]

Buteyko breathing baffles me simply because if it works as well as many people say why are people like us not given any information in it.....Did you find it helped

[Hidden in reply to Mandy6513]

I already do all the Buteyko says to do. On my own. It is what we all are suppose to do, anyways. I do it religiously every day. Have not been to hospital since either. I also was using Cannabis oil suppositories nightly up until a week ago? Maybe I need to start that up again? CO is a bronchodilator. I am worried about now if I can get my previous breathing back to what it was after being in the smoke. I refuse to go back onto oxygen again. I fought too hard with diet change and exercising since February to go backwards.......And my doctors are not much help so I must figure things out myself.

[Mandy6513 in reply to Hidden]

Then perhaps its you stopping the CO as the timing seems the same.....but it could be an infection starting to get checked over and rule it out...I hope you sort it out

[Mandy6513 in reply to Hidden]

How much oxygen were you on ? Would love to know what you did to get off it if your willing to share

[Hidden in reply to Mandy6513]

Mandy6513:

I have shared on other sections of this site....

After i got home from hospital February 3rd, I was told to go on oxygen. I have an oxygen concentrator plus and InogenOne G3 at home. I use the 3 Liter setting.

I did Rehab twice a week for 12 weeks, plus did my own exercises at home watching 2 programs on PBS Monday through Friday from 2pm to 3pm called "Body Electric" and "Sit and Be Fit". If I didn't do it with the TV programs, I would not do it very often. I make it a ritual to be home and do it daily.

I also began the Cannabis Oil suppositories nightly. I could not purchase the oil and began to make my own. (Go and join "Treating COPD with Cannabis" on Facebook).

I found I was able to get off the oxygen a 2 weeks earlier. (It usually takes me 8 weeks of being on oxygen before I can go off it and my readings stay above 90. This time it took 6 weeks).

The exercise is most important to build up your chest and diaphragm. Plus I do the 4-7-8 breathing exercises when I think about it: Breathe in through nose to the count of 4. Hold to the count of 7. Breathe out to the count of 8. Really helps. (Somehow our lungs have forgotten how to breathe).

Even a recent surgery with anesthesia can bring on troubles breathing because they give you an apparatus that breathes for you during surgery. That's all it takes. So I try to avoid anesthesia but had an appendectomy last summer and came home wondering why I was having troubles breathing and had to go on oxygen. (My doctor said anesthesia would not do that. Well, I researched it and, yes, it can!)

I also changed my diet to more healthy. Smoothies in the morning with kale mixed in. Plus 6 different vitamins.

Just exercise, change diet, and it helps. Lose weight if you can as the added fat around diaphragm makes it difficult to breathe. I am trying to lose 10 pounds I gained in February from steroids. Breathing got worse just gaining that small amount!

Good luck.

[Billybob10 in reply to Mandy6513]

I am finding it a big help.I even put paper tape over my mouth going to bed so I only breath in through the nose,(as we're all supposed to do).It helps psychologically too.It's the 'establishment' yet again ignoring the evidence.Using diaphragm more also helps with digestive health.It works!!!

Good luck!

[Mandy6513 in reply to Billybob10]

Yeah and helps keeps the germs out too but couldn't tape my mouth although i think my children would think its a good idea

[aberdeenman in reply to Mandy6513]

A woman with tape over her mouth, now that sounds very quiet lol

[Billybob10 in reply to Mandy6513]

Yes,I've found it helps enormously.I have breathed in through mouth all my life .This was wrong but nobody told me! Inhaling mouth and stomach acid vapour MUST cause lung damage and must explain a lot of lung probs.I now breathe in through nose only.This does 30 good things inside! Actually feel lots better overall.😀

[Mandy6513]

My sats do drop when i have a chest infection but having said that my sats drop for all sorts of reasons and i often fall below 88 ....... Being in a smoky area may make them drop at the time but they should go back to normal when you leave that area i would have thought...

If you have any of the symptoms of a chest infection perhaps you could do a sample and take it to the doctors with you just to be on the safe side.....f is only your sats dropping and you have no other symptoms have a chat with the team who assess your oxygen

Best advice is dont go anywhere near smokey areas

[Hidden in reply to Mandy6513]

I have one bad vice.....I love to go to the casino. I know. I know.......I usually go when nobody is hardly is there. But this time I went when they had a drawing and there was just too many people there smoking their heads off. If that happens, I will be like this for a few days, but it always goes away. But this time it is hanging on. I just cannot go even one more time to any of the drawing nights.......

And, no, the sats don't always drop while you are in the smoky environment. It is afterwards when the damage is still going on in the lungs. Now I have to work to improve the lungs, again and get them back to how they were.

[joyce741]

each one of us is so different Doctors like mine to be between 88 and 92 but I can walk a few yards and mine can drop to 75. I'm on oxygen as it was taking to long for my levels to get back up. sitting here now my oxygen is 94 and my heart rate is 91 (which is really Good for me) as its normally over 100, it's not just how low it drops but how long it takes to come back to what it normal for you