Low oxygen saturation, good pft's?

jdog · Apr 4, 2009

Hi everyone, I had a question for you all.

I'm a 25 year old male with CF and my pft's are decently good. My FVC is 98%, FEV1 is 85% and my FEF 25%-75% is 60%. Yet recently my O2 has been in the low 90's during the day and dips into the 80's at night. My docs want me to go on nighttime O2.

I'm kind of perplexed that my O2 is so low. I rarely have exacerbations and I feel excellent most of the time. I would rather avoid using oxygen if I can help it, but at the same time I understand the consequences of having an 02 below 90%.

Has anyone else here had low oxygen numbers with a relatively good FEV1?

jdog · Apr 4, 2009

Hi everyone, I had a question for you all.

I'm a 25 year old male with CF and my pft's are decently good. My FVC is 98%, FEV1 is 85% and my FEF 25%-75% is 60%. Yet recently my O2 has been in the low 90's during the day and dips into the 80's at night. My docs want me to go on nighttime O2.

I'm kind of perplexed that my O2 is so low. I rarely have exacerbations and I feel excellent most of the time. I would rather avoid using oxygen if I can help it, but at the same time I understand the consequences of having an 02 below 90%.

Has anyone else here had low oxygen numbers with a relatively good FEV1?

jdog · Apr 4, 2009

Hi everyone, I had a question for you all.

I'm a 25 year old male with CF and my pft's are decently good. My FVC is 98%, FEV1 is 85% and my FEF 25%-75% is 60%. Yet recently my O2 has been in the low 90's during the day and dips into the 80's at night. My docs want me to go on nighttime O2.

I'm kind of perplexed that my O2 is so low. I rarely have exacerbations and I feel excellent most of the time. I would rather avoid using oxygen if I can help it, but at the same time I understand the consequences of having an 02 below 90%.

Has anyone else here had low oxygen numbers with a relatively good FEV1?

jdog · Apr 4, 2009

Hi everyone, I had a question for you all.

I'm a 25 year old male with CF and my pft's are decently good. My FVC is 98%, FEV1 is 85% and my FEF 25%-75% is 60%. Yet recently my O2 has been in the low 90's during the day and dips into the 80's at night. My docs want me to go on nighttime O2.

I'm kind of perplexed that my O2 is so low. I rarely have exacerbations and I feel excellent most of the time. I would rather avoid using oxygen if I can help it, but at the same time I understand the consequences of having an 02 below 90%.

Has anyone else here had low oxygen numbers with a relatively good FEV1?

jdog · Apr 4, 2009

Hi everyone, I had a question for you all.

I'm a 25 year old male with CF and my pft's are decently good. My FVC is 98%, FEV1 is 85% and my FEF 25%-75% is 60%. Yet recently my O2 has been in the low 90's during the day and dips into the 80's at night. My docs want me to go on nighttime O2.

I'm kind of perplexed that my O2 is so low. I rarely have exacerbations and I feel excellent most of the time. I would rather avoid using oxygen if I can help it, but at the same time I understand the consequences of having an 02 below 90%.

Has anyone else here had low oxygen numbers with a relatively good FEV1?

NYCLawGirl · Apr 4, 2009

i resisted nighttime o2 as long as i possibly could as well, although in retrospect i'm not sure that was the wisest move. my pfts were in the 60s before i started using it, and even then i was fairly inconsistent and only used it when i was sick or feeling cruddy. i do remember when i would have exacerbations even when my pfts were in the 80s in my early 20s, and i often fell below the 90 range overnight at that point. i even resisted the nighttme o2 in the hospital b/c it made me feel "sick" - as though the hospital doesn't do that already! lol.

keep in mind that PFTs don't measure oxygenation - they measure lung capacity and airway obstruction. there are several reasons you could have lower o2 concentrations, including poor circulation among others. or it could be that even though you have okay lung capacity, your heart is still having to work too hard to get the o2 around to the rest of your body. which, as we all know, is NOT a good thing.

i think a lot of cystics are so focused on their lungs they can accdently ignore signals from the rest of their bodies, and heart troubles later can cause serious issues if and when you need a transplant. unfortunately i have now had to bite the bullet and am on nighttime o2 all the time, and i also use it for exercise and to fly. but i would so much rather do that than have an overworked heart! and for what it's worth, nighttime o2 is not nearly as scary and bad as it sounds before you actually go on it. yes, it's a pain to explain to people (lol) but it's not the end of the world. you can take it off right when you wake up and it so beats those evil co2 headaches that you start to get if you wait too long!

good luck!

NYCLawGirl · Apr 4, 2009

i resisted nighttime o2 as long as i possibly could as well, although in retrospect i'm not sure that was the wisest move. my pfts were in the 60s before i started using it, and even then i was fairly inconsistent and only used it when i was sick or feeling cruddy. i do remember when i would have exacerbations even when my pfts were in the 80s in my early 20s, and i often fell below the 90 range overnight at that point. i even resisted the nighttme o2 in the hospital b/c it made me feel "sick" - as though the hospital doesn't do that already! lol.

keep in mind that PFTs don't measure oxygenation - they measure lung capacity and airway obstruction. there are several reasons you could have lower o2 concentrations, including poor circulation among others. or it could be that even though you have okay lung capacity, your heart is still having to work too hard to get the o2 around to the rest of your body. which, as we all know, is NOT a good thing.

i think a lot of cystics are so focused on their lungs they can accdently ignore signals from the rest of their bodies, and heart troubles later can cause serious issues if and when you need a transplant. unfortunately i have now had to bite the bullet and am on nighttime o2 all the time, and i also use it for exercise and to fly. but i would so much rather do that than have an overworked heart! and for what it's worth, nighttime o2 is not nearly as scary and bad as it sounds before you actually go on it. yes, it's a pain to explain to people (lol) but it's not the end of the world. you can take it off right when you wake up and it so beats those evil co2 headaches that you start to get if you wait too long!

good luck!

NYCLawGirl · Apr 4, 2009

i resisted nighttime o2 as long as i possibly could as well, although in retrospect i'm not sure that was the wisest move. my pfts were in the 60s before i started using it, and even then i was fairly inconsistent and only used it when i was sick or feeling cruddy. i do remember when i would have exacerbations even when my pfts were in the 80s in my early 20s, and i often fell below the 90 range overnight at that point. i even resisted the nighttme o2 in the hospital b/c it made me feel "sick" - as though the hospital doesn't do that already! lol.

keep in mind that PFTs don't measure oxygenation - they measure lung capacity and airway obstruction. there are several reasons you could have lower o2 concentrations, including poor circulation among others. or it could be that even though you have okay lung capacity, your heart is still having to work too hard to get the o2 around to the rest of your body. which, as we all know, is NOT a good thing.

i think a lot of cystics are so focused on their lungs they can accdently ignore signals from the rest of their bodies, and heart troubles later can cause serious issues if and when you need a transplant. unfortunately i have now had to bite the bullet and am on nighttime o2 all the time, and i also use it for exercise and to fly. but i would so much rather do that than have an overworked heart! and for what it's worth, nighttime o2 is not nearly as scary and bad as it sounds before you actually go on it. yes, it's a pain to explain to people (lol) but it's not the end of the world. you can take it off right when you wake up and it so beats those evil co2 headaches that you start to get if you wait too long!

good luck!

NYCLawGirl · Apr 4, 2009

i resisted nighttime o2 as long as i possibly could as well, although in retrospect i'm not sure that was the wisest move. my pfts were in the 60s before i started using it, and even then i was fairly inconsistent and only used it when i was sick or feeling cruddy. i do remember when i would have exacerbations even when my pfts were in the 80s in my early 20s, and i often fell below the 90 range overnight at that point. i even resisted the nighttme o2 in the hospital b/c it made me feel "sick" - as though the hospital doesn't do that already! lol.

keep in mind that PFTs don't measure oxygenation - they measure lung capacity and airway obstruction. there are several reasons you could have lower o2 concentrations, including poor circulation among others. or it could be that even though you have okay lung capacity, your heart is still having to work too hard to get the o2 around to the rest of your body. which, as we all know, is NOT a good thing.

i think a lot of cystics are so focused on their lungs they can accdently ignore signals from the rest of their bodies, and heart troubles later can cause serious issues if and when you need a transplant. unfortunately i have now had to bite the bullet and am on nighttime o2 all the time, and i also use it for exercise and to fly. but i would so much rather do that than have an overworked heart! and for what it's worth, nighttime o2 is not nearly as scary and bad as it sounds before you actually go on it. yes, it's a pain to explain to people (lol) but it's not the end of the world. you can take it off right when you wake up and it so beats those evil co2 headaches that you start to get if you wait too long!

good luck!

NYCLawGirl · Apr 4, 2009

i resisted nighttime o2 as long as i possibly could as well, although in retrospect i'm not sure that was the wisest move. my pfts were in the 60s before i started using it, and even then i was fairly inconsistent and only used it when i was sick or feeling cruddy. i do remember when i would have exacerbations even when my pfts were in the 80s in my early 20s, and i often fell below the 90 range overnight at that point. i even resisted the nighttme o2 in the hospital b/c it made me feel "sick" - as though the hospital doesn't do that already! lol.
 
 keep in mind that PFTs don't measure oxygenation - they measure lung capacity and airway obstruction. there are several reasons you could have lower o2 concentrations, including poor circulation among others. or it could be that even though you have okay lung capacity, your heart is still having to work too hard to get the o2 around to the rest of your body. which, as we all know, is NOT a good thing.
 
 i think a lot of cystics are so focused on their lungs they can accdently ignore signals from the rest of their bodies, and heart troubles later can cause serious issues if and when you need a transplant. unfortunately i have now had to bite the bullet and am on nighttime o2 all the time, and i also use it for exercise and to fly. but i would so much rather do that than have an overworked heart! and for what it's worth, nighttime o2 is not nearly as scary and bad as it sounds before you actually go on it. yes, it's a pain to explain to people (lol) but it's not the end of the world. you can take it off right when you wake up and it so beats those evil co2 headaches that you start to get if you wait too long!
 
 good luck!

jdog · Apr 4, 2009