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Oxygen saturation is low.

Posted , 4 users are following.

amkoffee
amkoffee

I'm new to BX so this might seem like a silly question.

My oxygen saturation had been in the mid to high 80s all day and I've been feeling breathless all day as well. I DON'T want to go to the ER and I have an appt with a new pulmonologist tomorrow. I'm hoping he will be my permenant pulmonologist since I don't want to go back to the one that diagnosed me. Is it serious with numbers like I've had today? I've done 3 breathing treatments today all with albuterol. I also use Symbycort 2 puffs twice a day.

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • dale60748
    dale60748 amkoffee

    Posted

    Yes its low,I would say even 93 is low. I used to be low and I was on Advair. My Pulmonoligist said I was doing fine but my Family Doctor who is a MD and very smart wanted me to try Breo eliptaca and within 1 month I was doing much better. My oxygen level on Advair was 93 and the Breo brought it up to 95. I have been on Breo now for over one year and have not had any bad breathing days compared to Advair where I would average 3 bad spells a year.
  • elizabeth49611
    elizabeth49611 amkoffee

    Posted

    I know how you feel. I hate going to the ER. But, since you have an appointment with your specialist within the next day, I would wait and see what he thinks. He/she may be able to start you on an additional med, or you may have an infection and be given an antibiotic. 

    Just take it easy until you see your specialist, Beth 

  • amkoffee
    amkoffee

    Posted

    Thank you to the both of you that replied to my comment. I belong to another group for another condition I have and it's a very active group and typically my questions will get 10 or more replies. Evidently either my comment wasn't interesting enough or this is not as active a group as my other group. But I sincerely appreciate both of you for your remarks.

    Elizabeth just as you predicted my new pulmonologist added a medication. I can't think of the name of it but it is something that I use in my nebulizer. It smells like dirty feet and he warned me about this and he was not wrong. It make my lungs feel weird and not very pleasant. But it does break things lose.

    I used Brio once as a sample my doctor gave me. But my insurance won't pay for it so my doctor changed me to Symbacort. I used to use Qvar but evenually it stopped working.

  • elizabeth49611
    elizabeth49611 amkoffee

    Posted

    I wonder if the new nebulizer med is Muca-mist? (don't know the medical name). It has a sulfur smell. Years ago, I was using it. It had a slight stickiness to it. I would use it in one bedroom only and after several weeks, there would be a lingering smell and a slight stickiness to the furniture. I needed to shampoo the carpet and clean the furniture more often.

    A few years ago it was hard to get for some reason, so I don't use it anymore, my specialist started me on a saline solution instead. It's salt based, so no bad smells.

    Beth

    • amkoffee
      amkoffee elizabeth49611

      Posted

      Acetylcysteine is the generic name for the one that I'm using. It's probably the same as what you were using. At first he gave me the choice of the saline or this medication but then before I could give an opinion he said he wanted me to do this one. And he did warn me that it smells bad and that puts a lot of people off especially since you're inhaling it into your mouth. It's not pleasant but it's not undoable for me. I haven't noticed any stickiness but definitely a residual smell. But I've probably only used it less than 10 times so far. He said I didn't have to use it every time just when I felt I needed it. But right now I'm using it once a day and I mix it with my Albuterol. But that's a lot of liquid and it takes about 15 minutes to get through it. Plus it comes as a liquid in a bottle that the only way to get to it is by syringe. So I was given one syringe and I extract 3 cc's and squirt that into my nebulizer. But I've never done that before and since my husband picked up the medicine I didn't get any training on how to do that. I was not having a lot of success so I contacted my brother-in-law who takes insulin by syringe. And he told me to turn the bottle upside down and then to pull the needle out some so that it is still in the liquid. Because that was one of my problems. I did do it this morning with a relative amount of success. Though it took a while. I had to do it a few times before I actually got any fluid into the syringe. And it certainly does help with getting some stuff up. And I think that's probably the most important thing. Because I certainly do a lot of hacking and coughing after I do it.

    • elizabeth49611
      elizabeth49611 amkoffee

      Posted

      It does sound like the med I took years ago. Your Dr. seems open minded enough to try different meds to see which one works for you.

      I have never gotten medicine that required using a syringe. They have always come in either a small glass bottle, or now in small plastic tubes that you twist off the top already portioned out.

      I do know how to use a syringe, thuo! Our dog is diabetic, so I give her an insulin shot twice a day. What we do for our pets!

      Beth

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