As a good nerd I bought my pulse oximeter in early days, but I (a) know that I've had poor measured blood oxygenation since at least my mid-20s, (b) have no idea how bad that actually is, either under the threat of COVID or generally & (c) have no idea how to interpret my #'s now
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Just take a baseline, don't worry about what that value means, just worry if it changes by more than a standard deviation.
I mean, OK, but does this hold if my baseline is 95%? 92%? 88%? What's a standard deviation for this measure, and is that really the right unit for concern if I'm already a standard deviation — or two — below mean? I don't mean to pick on you, but these feel like important Qs
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88% sounds bad to me, no matter the context. Is the device really working correctly? (Not a doctor)
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It could be a shit pulse oximeter, sure. No way to know but to buy another quality tier up.
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As your initial tweet suggests, you’re asking multiple questions here. What is the medical relevance of low sats when otherwise healthy? (Can’t comment) How do I know if something’s changed? Establish a baseline by measuring at 1-3 set times each day. Repeat and log.
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From there, you’re equipped to ask “how unusual is this measure from my baseline” if you *do* suspect something in the future. But you should still get some medical input on why your baseline SpO2 is low. That may affect your risk level and inform behaviour change.
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fwiw my own regular reading was ~95% and I've also wondered what to make of that
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Mine is reliably 96-98%. The only time it dipped below was when I was in the Andes 2 years ago and it got down into the 70s...
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Putting it way too glibly, you're you. Don't worry about your baseline being off if you function at oxygenation levels that would have others slurring. It's a superpower. Just document it. Are you worried you'll walk in and read 88 and they'll immediately start ventilating?
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We tell people with COPD that saturations of 88-92% is fine, but you really shouldn't have COPD. Anything sub-94% I would consider abnormal in a young person. With regards to CoVID-19, the trend is probably more important but the tech loses significant validity sub 84%
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