Does this seem strange to you?

[Yumz199725]

I did a video standing up doing my blood oxygen and heart rate with my oximeter, and this is weird it kept going up and down heart rate went down to 53 and blood oxygen kept going up and down between 70-90 then went up to 99 again at the time my chest felt tight and and I was breathing weird but I'm fine now?? So Strange honestly, I was videoing it so I can show to my consultant in November was seeing if my heart rate changes when I stand up and boy did it!

[Hidden]

hi I’d repeat what you did regards monitoring / videoing each day just to see if a pattern or was one off. Maybe over a period of a week? . Difficulty is replicating the same circumstances when take readings! Monitoring over a period - That’s something a consultant might not brush off as a one off if that makes sense,

if you feel very very weird again you’d best ask a GP at least in meantime.

👍

[Yumz199725 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks hun is it best to do it at the same time every day for a week and see if it was just a one off x

[PhyllisK in reply to Hidden]

Always good to monitor readings over a period of time. The Consultant can then average out the results .

[Hidden]

Here's one for you had my stress test today. Any way wore the appropriate clothing. Shorts, trainers and a power vest. That's my excuse. Any way it was cold today and sitting on the bike I was a little cold but I got on with peddling. But the nurse could not get an oxygen reading. She laughed and said your dead. And there iam peddling and it gets harder and harder. So to get an oxygen reading she had to use a thumb clip device . The ear lobe one would not pick anything up. She said your oxygen stats are low I said yes they do go low but if iam relaxed and laying down warm I can go to 93%. She said a normal person with your stats would be out of it. Just glad I live at sea level.

[devonian186 in reply to Hidden]

I often wonder if those who live on the flat, like East Anglia are picked up as early for Heart conditions as those who live in Hilly areas like Devon. Walking up hills definitely raises the heart rate or brings on angina very much quicker than in flat country

[fishonabike in reply to devonian186]

i heard that populations in hilly and mountainous areas have lower rates of heart condition, possibly because of the benefits of regular exercise on slopes - so there may be fewer people presenting with symptoms of heart conditions anyway!

[Hidden in reply to devonian186]

I think if I had lived in hilly areas I might have been picked up earlier. I think the exercise on hills help alot. But I think congenital issues might be picked up earlier?. I am just guessing. Possibly when I went up to kinder scout when I was about 18 I thought I was dying should have known then but these thing do progress slowly. It is a good point you make though.

[devonian186 in reply to Hidden]

I think what is needed is a £5 million study to determine if those in Hilly areas display heart ailments earlier than those living on the flat. I will selflessly offer to undertake it.

[fishonabike in reply to Hidden]

i was refering to general heart health rather than people with congential conditions - in many hilly or mountainous areas i'm guessing that access to health services might be poor so people with pre-existing conditions might not "make old bones", good heart health could be what helps them survive to an age where people wih better access to health services start developing heart conditions due to "lifestyle" factors ( insert emoticon for wry smile here!)

[Hidden in reply to fishonabike]

Oh well I might as well dig a 6 ft hole as I will not make old bones

[jayjay10000 in reply to Hidden]

I feel the same as you do

[Hidden in reply to jayjay10000]

You mention a arota root dilation. I assume you ment aortic. And I assume if it is an aortic root dilation is that a congenital issue. Because if it is you should be able to be seen at a grown up congenital heart department?

[fishonabike in reply to Hidden]

if the poor old NHS continues to crumble at the current rate we should all be doing the same!

[Hidden in reply to fishonabike]

Well it's already crumbling take the dentists. I suppose it's one way to reduce the population. Go private or secum to what ever fait awaits

[jayjay10000 in reply to devonian186]

Hi there. Iam the same as you, I live in a small village. There is a steep hill to go up to our nearest town. Each time I try to walk up it after around 15min-20min of walking my blood pressure starts to go up and I also start to get a tight chest, because I have an Arota root dilation any stress on the heart makes things difficult for me, I wish I didn't have this condition, my doctors don't take me seriously when I go there to explain that i struggle everyday with daily routine. I haven't even been referred to a Cardiologist team at our local hospital. I had my first set of tests back in March this year and got my results in June this year only by chance. My echo is due this month but I have no appointment, my CT or MRI is due in December this year and I have no appointment for that either.Iam just left and forgotten about. Take care.

[uzininemm in reply to jayjay10000]

Hello I do know why you feel this way but you won't have been forgotten about, it is just the waiting lists and the shortage of staff.

In the last 3 months I have had appointments early evening (with the heart consultant) a CT scan on a Sunday and I have a further procedure this Sunday lunch time, (plus I have already had 3 others this week).

If you saw the hospital car park for our local hospital you can see they are as busier as ever.

[MWIC]

Were you experiencing any AFib at the time - I used an oximeter and thought it was great - quick way to check but started to get very odd results on heart rate - up and down and got a Kardia and checked and seemed to be unable to determine what my heart rate was when having an episode - was at 180 at times on Kardia and @ 80 on oximeter

[fishonabike]

your heart rate increases as soon as your body needs more oxygen or fuel, so it will increase when you use your muscles to move from lying to sitting and sitting to standing, but it slows again when you are still - so if you are standing still your pulse rate will slow

i don't know how you are measuring your oxygen levels but the accuracy of the reading can be affected by a variety of factors

you use oxygen to burn the fuel which you need for making energy - so as soon as you are active you use more oxygen which is replaced when blood passes through your lungs - when your body needs more oxygen for activity your heart and lungs have to work harder to keep up the supply, so your pulse rate rises as your heart pumps more often and your breathing rate rises as you shift more air through your lungs

if your heart or lungs are not working efficiently it will take longer to get enough oxygen and fuel to where it is needed so your breathing and heart rate will take longer to settle, and you may feel breathless and/or light headed

so, your heart/pulse rate will vary according to what you are doing, but it should stabilise as it adapts to the demands made by your body - you might want to take that into account when you monitor your heart and lung activity

most of don't notice this until something goes wrong or we start monitoring it

as UnScrambled suggested, continue the monitoring regularly over a period to see if the pattern stays the same

[Yumz199725 in reply to fishonabike]

I will ok thanks I wasn't aware of that I thought when you stand up for long periods of time your rate increases not gets slower, it was only 5 minutes I could manage x

[fishonabike in reply to Yumz199725]

that would depend on how much effort you are expending to stay standing and what your BP is like - if you are active or have low bp or blood volume (e.g. due to blood loss) your heart would have to work harde, but if you are just sanding still your heart is not really having to work much harder than if you are sitting

[Wingnutty]

A lot of these cheaper finger tip oximeters are unreliable. I sent one back once because it was useless with readings all over the place. Perhaps try what you did on someone else to see if they have a similar variability because if they do, you know where the problem is.

[Yumz199725 in reply to Wingnutty]

That's a good idea thank you, sorry to hear yours was no good x

[HHH2017]

When I take my mum to the GP he always gets her to stand up/sit down for BP readings. She has a leaky valve. I have a different heart condition caused by permanent damage to heart muscle and my GP doesn't make me do this🤷🏽‍♀️ Not sure if its therefore linked to heart condition or GP preferences but Im sure it will be useful info in gaining a full picture of your heart issues 🤞🏽

[Yumz199725 in reply to HHH2017]

That's really interesting I have leaky heart valve aswell and my consultant or go never does this???

[HHH2017 in reply to Yumz199725]

Minefield isn't it 🤷🏽‍♀️ Definitely show your video. I'll be very interested in hearing how the consultant reacts/explains it. Good luck.

[Yumz199725 in reply to HHH2017]

Yeah definitely! I'm so nervous to show him because he will think I'm crazy to be honest I think I am aswell most days 😭😅

[Hidden in reply to Yumz199725]

My doctor done that once where he took the reading sitting down then I stood up and it did not change by much, but that was before I was on my blood pressure medication and I have done it at home and the blood pressure drops quite considerably. Thats why you get light head. But I would like to do it again with him as I think until they see the problems thay assume everything is fine. That's the issue I find is they put you on a certain tablet and it does its job but you have to live with the side effects. Not them.