Oximeters

[Braveheart]

Since I had my operation, I have had a bout of a-fib. Right now, I have home health care nurses coming in, and they have set up a gizmo that records weight, 02, blood pressure and pulse rate. The equipment is set to record, and send the info to the health care office.

I really feel more secure when I check my pulse rate manually from time to time. I think that the a-fib really "did a number" on me, as it was totally unexpected.

A couple of days ago, I ordered an oximeter, which records both pulse rate and oxygen levels. It was advertised as an adjunct to exercise, so when I do go back to heavier exercising, I will know where I stand.The home health care is to end soon, and they will remove the equipment.

Have any of you used an oximeter after surgery when exercising? Did you find it to be valuable?

 

[Mary]

Since I had my operation, I have had a bout of a-fib. Right now, I have home health care nurses coming in, and they have set up a gizmo that records weight, 02, blood pressure and pulse rate. The equipment is set to record, and send the info to the health care office.

I really feel more secure when I check my pulse rate manually from time to time. I think that the a-fib really "did a number" on me, as it was totally unexpected.

A couple of days ago, I ordered an oximeter, which records both pulse rate and oxygen levels. It was advertised as an adjunct to exercise, so when I do go back to heavier exercising, I will know where I stand.The home health care is to end soon, and they will remove the equipment.

Have any of you used an oximeter after surgery when exercising? Did you find it to be valuable?

The fitness center we belong too is part of the hospital, and the cardiac rehab area is available to members throughout the day. They have an oximeter that can be used by all, and after I resumed exercising after avr, I used it.
I found it very helpful. My HR frequently got so high I couldn't count the beats, and I paid attention to how well I was oxygenating. I tried to never drop below 94%.

 

[Braveheart]

I paid attention to how well I was oxygenating. I tried to never drop below 94%.

Right now, not doing any strenuous exercise, my 02 runs 96/98. How can you control your oxygen so that it stays in a reasonable area?

 

[Mary]

Right now, not doing any strenuous exercise, my 02 runs 96/98. How can you control your oxygen so that it stays in a reasonable area?

I wouldn't know until I got off the treadmill what mine was running, but I would use my physical response to the exercise to make an educated guess as to how I was doing.
If I got on the treadmill, felt tired quickly, and recognized that my heart rate was skyrocketing, then I slowed down and kept my respirations lower.
When I got off, if my oxygen sats were low, then I purposely cooled down, and took it easy, after exercising.

 

[Ross]

Sometimes you cannot control your saturation levels. Best thing you can do to improve it is deep slow breathing. Not applicable to excercise. I cannot get rid of Carbox Dioxide properly. My sats with 4 LPM of oxygen is 92% at rest and falls like a rock with simply walking.

 

[Trinityheart8891]

hey,
good idea, one piece of advice though, I'm a respiratory therapist, I use pulse oximeters in my day to day work, sometimes they can be inaccurate when you are in A-Fib, for example I had a patient in a-fib today of 140-160 beats/min and the oximeter was picking it up at 70-80 beats/min because it was so fast/erratic. . . just a word of caution

 

[Braveheart]

hey,
good idea, one piece of advice though, I'm a respiratory therapist, I use pulse oximeters in my day to day work, sometimes they can be inaccurate when you are in A-Fib, for example I had a patient in a-fib today of 140-160 beats/min and the oximeter was picking it up at 70-80 beats/min because it was so fast/erratic. . . just a word of caution

Thanks for the "heads up". I have a home sphygmomaometer which shows an icon for a-fib, but using that sometimes is a pain in the butt. If you don't get the cuff on exactly right, it shows error messages, and sometimes it takes too long to get a reading.

http://www.omronhealthcare.com/product/1117-186-blood-pressure-monitors-premium-bp-monitor-hem-780

If I think that if I am really in trouble I will use that, but I thought that the oximeter would be practical when I am out of the house and exercising. Also, when I had my bout of a-fib, I was sweating, literally dripping wet. I would suppose that if I had another incident, I would be more aware of what was happening.