Hi everyone. I'm trying to understand why everyone else's sats drop when they move around. Mine are 95-96 when sitting, and raise to 96-98 when I'm moving around.
Doesn't make sense. Anyone else this way? Can anyone explain it? I even Googled it and got no answers.
Thanks
Rubyxx😊
hi ruby my stats normally around 94, but drop can drop to 89 if do to much, don't know how yours goes up when you move strange one.
tam
I would assume that it may be because you are, in moving about, exercising. Thus processing more air.
Also you should allow for a couple of degrees just for normal fluctuations during the day. Until you are sub 92 I wouldn't worry Ruby
Mine are just erratic, can go up, for a short exertion, but also if I am on my feet and doing something like a supermarket trawl then they drop to 90%. What about your heart rate? Mine goes up as soon as I move. I assumed it is because my heart is compensating for what my lungs can't do.
Haven't a clue really.
Last walking test sats dropped to 79%.
I've given up thinking about it.
K xx
Are you on oxygen? Your heartrate should go up, when your moving around. I'm just confused as to why I'm opposite of everyone else. Your sats are probably higher when your sitting.
Rubyxx😊
Katinka, it worries me that you are not on ambulatory oxygen if your sats dropped to 79% on your walk test, as 88% is the usual cut-off level, below which you risk damage to your heart and major organs. Of course we are asked to "do our best" with our 6MWTs, and you may well not walk so fast normally - i certainly don't 
90% is fine but life is not a level supermarket and for example walking uphill might be a problem, where your sats are likely to fall below 90% and possibly below 88% even if you walk slowly.
Maybe you have a resp physio you could talk to?
Thanks for your concern. I think my sats are usually fine. Long, long story about resp physio. How long have you got? Current, excellent consultant is bothered about exercise induced drop in sats but as He I is still scratching his head about what my condition is I am happy to wait for a diagnosis and then we can talk about therapy.
K xx
Hope you get some certainty soon Katinka x
Thanks. Intrigued by living below sea level? Are you a mermaid? Fen country? If so no wonder the bicycle.
K xx
Whitstable, Kent. We have flood defences to protect the town. My road is about the lowest in the town - in the big sea floods in 1953 our house was flooded up to picture rail level. So would be fun, and useful, to be a mermaid
I ride my bike much less than i used to but have done big coastal rides in 2007 an d 2009 to raise awareness of copd and money for blf.
Maybe i'll take a ride today . . .
Where are you living Katinka? x
A thousand feet up in the Pennines just inside the Peak Park. Fantastic place to be. Walks of every length from the doorstep with barely a footstep on tarmac. But, sadly, neither of us can do them any more. (My husband was knocked off his bike, cycling to work 23 years ago, broke his neck and back.) But we know they are there and right now I can see wonderful hillside, and across our valley.
Thanks for your interest.
K xx
Hi O2
How about you? Your sats?
How are you? Don't see much of you now days. You doing okay?
Rubyxx😊
Not been a good time Ruby, plus all the shenanigans on the forum have just got me down. See my reply - one of the few - on the post about Why did my post get deleted.
Been very depressed and just now feeling a bit better as I've just had some news re biopsies i was waiting for being clear - hurray!!
But its been a hard time but I'm a bit better having started antidepressants.
My sats are around 93 resting. Dip to anything between 85 - 90 when walking. But when doing my PR exercises, Im mostly ok around 91-2 except for stepping. All weird and we're all different.
Im fed up with carrying the O2 when I'm out, it doesn't embarrass me, just pulls me down with the weight of the cylinder on my back but i can go faster than if i was pulling a trolley.
Hope you're good Ruby. Maybe i will get back to posting more but at present its just when something takes my eye and I'm not too low.
I think of my friends - you and others - here most days. but the forum has changed so much even though there are some really nice newcomers.
You take care Ruby,
xxxxx
Hope you feel better. I imagine it is a pain with the oxygen. The forum has changed a lot. Some days I don't bother either. Thats actually part of the problem. Less and less people participate. Try to stay positive, as our Suzy always says.
Love
RUBYXX😊
My stats fall to 86/87% when walking but are mid 90s other times. My DLCO is 72%. Interested to see you use O2 as this has not been mentioned by my consultant but I get dizzy on occasions and at the moment seem to be struggling to get enough air in. I have IPF.
Hi David, consultants seem to say different things - hard to understand that.
Please can you remind me what DLCO is?
Thanks
Hi Its how the lungs deal with gas exchanges
Actually no. Can drop to low nineties. And no, I'm not on oxygen.
Never been mentioned. Paramedics sometimes give it when I'm struggling and when of the GPs sends them in.
Just thought these things are weirdly individual.
K x
Ruby when your moving around & taking in big breath you O2 sat increases. Lots of times if a patient's Sat is in th low 90's if you ask them to take a few deep cleansing breaths the Sat rises.
Hi Samcar, I was reading some older posts, and here I am! Still stumped by my sats going up when moving about. You said about when you take a deep breath. So why do most people get lower? Theirs should increase also. Just don't understand it. Rubyxx 😊
Hi mine are often as low as 91/92 when sitting but rise to 96/97 when I am moving. So you are not alone there Ruby. x
We are backward. Everyone else gets lower when they move around. That would be us backward. Guess we're lucky 😊
😊xx
My posture when sitting can lower my sats, and I've had to stop wearing tight belts! I have to watch for hyperventilating when I do exercise, too. That would make my sats lower sitting than exercising, at times.
How low do your sats go when sitting. I'm thinking about the posture part of it too. The way I sit, I'm not giving my lungs any space. Hows the singing?
Rubyxx😊
My sats tend to lower when sitting, having a degenerative spine is my bug bear. I tend to lean forward relieving the pressure on the back and consequently closing the lungs. Since finding out about the copd I am always aware I need to be upright. Im hoping the PR sessions will help with this.
xx
Does it help sitting up straighter? I'm trying to work on that also.
What is Spotify?
☺xx
Yes I think it does help sitting up as I can breath deeper, and use the diaphragm.
Spotify is a music (legal) streaming program. You can use it free of charge and get adverts, or like my family do, pay 9.99 per month with no ads, I do that because I use it a lot on the phone while out. Though I use it on comp a lot too. I don't have a tv and with music Im not tied to a chair, plug earphones in and take it anywhere.
xx
Sounds similar to what I have. Its called pandora.😊xx
Hi Ergendl , I'm reading some older posts. How are you? Wondering how you can tell when you're hyperventilating. I haven't been on much lately. Ruby🌹
Hi, Ruby. I seem to be breathing a lot more, usually fast and shallow, and I start to feel dizzy and faint.
They drop to between 90 to 95%, sometimes a little lower. Normally my sats are around 99 to 100% as my breathing control helps me recover quickly. Since I spotted my poor posture sitting I've taken more care to sit in a more upright position to give my lungs and diaphragm more freedom of movement. That's helped a lot.
My Breathe Better Sing Together group met for the first time last week, and six people attended, all very interactive, which helped a lot. It was a fun session and I'm hoping they'll all come back. I'm also trying to incorporate all their good suggestions into the next session this week.
Yesterday I sang at a nearby church's Strawberry Tea fund raiser and was delighted to be told that people thought at first they were listening to a CD. The songs I sang included Ave Maria, St Patrick's Breastplate, Pie Jesu from Faure's Requiem, and He Shall Feed His Flock/Come Unto Him from Handel's Messiah. Quite demanding, and like a full physical work-out!
Your oxygen levels sounds pretty good! But yes I am also familiar with the situation of sats going up when moving about. My dad is 89 on a bad day or 94 on a good day but can always go up a couple of points by walking tho mostly he doesn't feel like it unfortunately. Very exhausted and light headed all of the time. I suppose that just comes with the illness (COPD) and his age (81).
It makes me wonder tho if sats going up when moving is a sign that lungs not TOO bad as far as structure or being gunged up just lacking the pump action to push the oxygen around? Muscular problem?? Something that could be improved by right exercises perhaps??? I've yet to find a doctor who can answer that one but would live to know.
Exercises to improve chest wall muscles and the diaphragm, including singing and breath control exercises are worth a try. They needn't be expensive to do - there are videos online like the BLF ones. If you try them, look on it as a longer term project - try for a few months and see if you feel you've improved over time.
Would love to hear you sing
Ergendal...
I will try some exercises and want to do some for my posture.
Don't you get out of breath when your singing?
Rubyxx😊
I often run out of breath, but don't get out of breath singing. I've been singing with training for over 40 years.
Sometime soon, I'll see if I can put a video or audio file on for you to hear me.
Don't think u will get a answer either. I'm 76 180 pounds I have cpod & lung cancer stag 4. my highest reading r in bed where it might get up to 83 84 percent
during the day I have hard time keeping it above70 or 72 I'm on 8 lpm. sure get tire fast can walk ten feet & have to rest. don't know what I will do when it gets worst.
hey anyone know how can put my picture up on the site. ty
gusski
usa nys Syracuse.
Hi gusatny, I have Emphysema and stage 4 lung cancer but on a good day, not a chemo week, I can walk up the stairs often. I actually do it to keep myself active.
My oxygen levels go from 94 to 97. I'm not on oxygen.
Sorry to hear you aren't doing too well.
My energy levels do dip very low at times along with my temper and moods.
Take care.
Suzy.
Hi all. When sitting my sats are 92-94, when walking around at home 79-88 depending on weather, has been as low as 58. A supermarket walk is impossible. I am waiting for a 6 min walk test. Should be October-ish hopefully.
cruising with oxygen 
Oxygen and100 yard challenge
Home oxygen advice needed!
Having Oxygen Installed
