Confused report

[chally]

After seeing pulmonologist dr I am a little confused.
He says my last testing indicates that my co2 it normal at 41 range being 35-50
However my Oxygen is low at I think he said 67 .
I know these are just numbers and I intend to not concern myself to much about hem but here's the thing.
With getting headaches thinking its from co2 he says it might be coming from scinusor even my glasses and or weakened neck muscles .
He goes on to say the low O might be from something about my heart and asked did I want an EKG to see if there was a problem . I said no for now till I get more info from others with ALS. He said something could be off in the cell level transfer of co2 going out and O coming in. Because I am in pwc I might not notion getting winded from exertion. Anyone have any input or experience with normal co2 and low Oxygen!
Thanks Love ya chally

 

[KarenNWendyn]

Hi Chally,

If it's related to ALS, I'd expect there to be a problem with elevated CO2 as well. However, it could be from something other than ALS.

Possible explanations for low O2 and normal CO2 can include structural causes such as chest wall deformity or severe spinal deformity, and I guess weakened neck muscles. Or it could be a problem with lungs themselves (including infection, chronic obstructive lung disease, or problems causing inflammation or scarring in lungs)-- that's where a chest X-ray would help and also a pulmonary function test measurement called DLCO which measures how easily gasses can cross from airspace into lung circulation. Heart failure due to weakened heart muscle is another cause.

A typical workup for this is a chest X-ray, EKG, pulmonary function tests with DLCO, and maybe a cardiac echo. It makes most sense to me to first repeat the oxygen saturation on a different day to see if the number is still low as sometimes chest congestion can resolve itself.

Best of luck.

 

[bigmark1954]

I had similar situation recently. Went to the Pulmo doc cuz of head aches and low O2 numbers (80-85). They did an arterial blood draw and it showed my C02 level to be on the high end of normal surprisingly. This is the doc that is recommended by my ALS clinic.

Her answer for this was to put me on 4 units 0f 02 during the day and continue with BiPap with 2 units of 02 at night.

I cancelled her 02 order and did not make it to the lung test she requested. I don't wanna be chained to the green can during the day so I said fu#k it. It is what it is.

 

[KimT]

67 sounds way too low to be accurate. Try using a cheap oximeter you put on your finger to see if the range varies.

 

[Nikki J]

If this is the level from an ABG the range is different than a pulse ox Kim. The low normal for oxygen on an ABG is 80. Which value was it Chally?

 

[KimT]

My ABG PO2 saturation is always within one point of my oximeter reading. ABG only measures a point in time whereas the cheapo method can monitor a longer period of time. Granted, it doesn't give C02 readings. ABG 02 range is 80-100 but I would want to know the saturation number.

 

[Nikki J]

They can be very different https://airwayjedi.com/2015/12/09/whats-the-difference-between-oxygen-saturation-and-pao2/