Heart rate

[gwcolwell]

Flying back from KPYM this AM. IFR 7000 ft. Started feeling a little light headed so I took my pulse rate & blood O2 levels.  Both were low 90's.  Not accustom to having heart rate more than mid 60's to low 70"s, although I never have checked it.  Wife's heart rate was mid 60's.  O2 saturation was high 80's.  Need a little reassuring.  Was dealing with ATC around Boston.  Suspect heart rate should have come down when near Portland.

 

 

 

[201er]

Mild hypoxia. Heart rate goes up to deliver lean of peak blood oxygen to compensate.

[Flymu2]

Flying back from KPYM this AM. IFR 7000 ft. Started feeling a little light headed so I took my pulse rate & blood O2 levels.  Both were low 90's.  Not accustom to having heart rate more than mid 60's to low 70"s, although I never have checked it.  Wife's heart rate was mid 60's.  O2 saturation was high 80's.  Need a little reassuring.  Was dealing with ATC around Boston.  Suspect heart rate should have come down when near Portland.

i'm a physician. Without knowing a detailed medical history (don't post it on the board!) it's impossible to know whether what you experienced is significant. Generally, "light headedness" can range from nothing to something major. The big problem is that if you report it to a physician you're obligated to report on your next physical, which will lead to all sorts of problems. It might be worth a call to the AOPA medical department or Bruce Chien to go over the details of what happened and get suggestions on how to proceed. I wouldn't ignore it. Good luck!

[carusoam]

I like Mike's response. The brain does an excellent job of making adjustments for LOP.

But, it's also a good conversation to have with your doctor. This will make sure that it is an ordinary response or something out of the ordinary.

It's only one piece of data, but a good follow up with the Dr. can save you from a really big hassle.

On the other hand, your wife's data was showing a difference from what you were experiencing.

That is a relatively low altitude oxygen for saturation issues.

I am not a medical expert, but my personal experience makes me respond out loud on this topic.

Was the flight more stressful than usual?

Do you smoke?

Have you checked your cholesterol level?

I would apologize if I have sent you to the Dr. for no apparent reason, but I would feel a lot worse to be quiet and have something bad happen...

And of course make sure you see a good Dr. not all are the same... (again personal experience)

Best regards,

-a-

[jackn]

I'm in excellent cardio, competitive runner/ triathlons. I use O2 at 8k or higher, or 7k at night.

[carusoam]

Jack,

With that high level of exercise, do you visit a cardiologist regularly? Or some kind of monitoring program?

Just wondering...

I'm in the mid 40's and some things seem to require more monitoring.

A JPI 700 is better than what the factory supplied initially ( sort of keeping in with Mike's LOP point)

Best regards,

-a-

[jackn]

I'm 56 and try to have a yearly physical. I like to freak out the PA by dropping my heat rate below 40. It's a good idea to monitor all your parameters, but don't go too crazy. As in everything, just use a little common sense.

[captainglen]

Coming down from altitude do not muse over heart rates below 100 as long as oxygen saturations are above 90 preferably above 95. As other users point heart rate increases to increase oxygenation through the lungs. I would worry more about your wife's oxygen sat in the 80s. Most of us pilots tend to be among the group you would call older americans and it just might be time to carry a bit of oxygen along for longer trips and trips at higher altitudes. The really good thing is that you carry a pulse-ox unit and use it so that nasty hypoxia will not sneak up on you without you knowing. I have one, I will carry it and I will use it just after each tank change as part of my routine.

[Hector]

Interesting discussion. I just purchased a pulse-ox, received it the day before yesterday and will be trying it out in my next few flights. What prompted this was my last couple of flights at 9-10K for close to four hours. I started getting sleepy with a touch of nausea. I forced myself to take deep breaths and this corrected the problem quickly. After both flights I recognized these were symptoms of hypoxia and now I really want to check my oxygen saturation at these altitudes. In fact, during my next trip I plant to chart my pulse/oxygen levels every 1K from 5K to 11K. Never done this so I'm really curious

[Seth]

As it's been pointed out, as your blood saturation drops, your heart rate increases to keep the correct amount of oxygen flowing to your brain.

 

You were dealing with mild hypoxia.  I tend to feel it beginning with a heaviness in my chest around 9,000.  If you breath with shallow breaths, your saturantion will drop as your rebreathing air that has a lower O2 content to begin with anyway.  Nice deep breaths and exhales can usually up your 02 saturation.

 

I have moderate asthma (some would call it severe) and decided to finally get O2 for the airplane.  WHAT A DIFFERENCE.  I am less sleepy after flights, no headaches after flights, and my O2 levels stay high the entire time (with a slower hearbeat).  I have not flown at night with O2 yet but look forward to seeing the world "light up" when I turn it on.

 

I have it in my plane and look forward to using it when I make trips where it make sense to use it.  I ended up getting it for my trip to the west coast and going over the mountains. 

 

-Seth