Low pulse ox

Question

I am a 52 yr old woman with a doc who doesn't seem to care. For the past 5 years, things have continually gotten worse. I have blacked out 7 times over the past two months. Wore pulse oximetry monitor during the night, 6 nights ago. While awake, it was around 85-88%, then went to 78% while asleep. I sleep on my stomach and never snore. I wake up with feeling that someone is squeezing my heart and have to take several deep breaths, feel like cant get oxygen. I don't know if relayed or not, but I also bleed a lot, wake up with small raw areas that bleed more than normal and don't seem to heal... Take 4-6 months. But pt, ptt, normal. I am an RN, who contracted hep c from accidental needle stick 25-30 yrs ago. Went thru 2 yrs of interferon combo treatment and have been negative or tn years.. I spend about 22 hours per day in bed, my life *****. I get up to let the dog out and am so short of breath, that I have to lay down. I need help. Any ideas???

This discussion is related to Low pulse ox and bad symptoms.

ed34 · Accepted Answer

There are 2 aspects to determining Oxygen levels in the blood. The first is the standard method with Infrared clip. This will test how well each red cell has absorbed Oxygen. The second is a blood gas, which involved taking a blood sample to measure the quantity of red blood cells. Even someone with 100% on the standard test could be in a life threatening situation if the red cells are very low in numbers. Your low readings are from the standard test, which shows your red cells are not holding as much Oxygen as they should. This can be caused by a defect in red cells, or Lung problems. It is nothing to do with the heart because you are looking at how many Oxygen molecules are compacted onto each red cell. This process is done in the Lungs. If the red cells are deformed, they will not have the usual ability. Your heart could cause the symptoms you have, but not cause the low Oxygen. 
I would have some blood work done, to examine the condition of your red cells and then see how many there are in the sample. From there I would guess it's a lung function test which uses a mask sealed over your face to measure gases as you breath, which can determine how much Oxygen is being absorbed.

Karen123060 · Answer

Thank you both so much. Good information. I will try to get into pulmonologist and at least will be armed with more information.

jrbon · Answer

You say "I wake up with feeling that someone is squeezing my heart and have to take several deep breaths, feel like cant get oxygen."

This is typical of an sleep apnea, perhaps to check that can help you.

Jesus

Karen123060 · Answer

I'm sorry, I really need help trying to figure out what to do. And now it is almost 3am and my husband who went to a "work"  hockey game is still not home. I underside the fact that you don't want to be around omeone who is sick, but really... I just want to be healthy. I want to e better.