Nurses optimizing measurement. They shouldn't do that and we should not allow them to do it!

[OneMoreFarang]

Whenever I see a doctor the nurses check my weight, temperature, pulse, blood pressure and blood oxygen level.

 

And sometimes, when they don't like what they see, they do the same test again or start to make things "better".

I.e. if they think the blood pressure is too high then they test is again. And if the 2nd result is lower they take that one because it's "better".

 

With me it happened many times that they measure the blood oxygen level and it's maybe 93% or 94%. And then they ask me to take a couple of deep breath and as soon as the value comes up to 95% then they are happy and write that down.

 

I have problems with the air pollution with coughing and recently sometimes I feel like I don't get enough oxygen. When the "not enough oxygen" feeling got worse I visited the doctor again and they made the usual test and the measurement showed 91%. Not good. But what did the nurse do? She asked me to take deep breath and wanted to try the measurement on another finger to "optimize" the result.

This time I didn't let her do that. I told her to write down 91%. She couldn't understand that I didn't want that she optimizes my measurement...

 

Long story short: I told the doctor about the 91% and that I feel like I don't get enough oxygen. He made some test and x-ray and he diagnosed the problem and he gave me some medicine and within half a day I felt a lot better. No problem breathing anymore. Enough oxygen. Happy!

 

I write this here to encourage you to tell the nurses not to "optimize" measurements. Because I guess they do that not only in the hospital which I visited.

It seems if I wouldn't have told this to the doctor he would not have known because the nurses outside his office would have pretended all is normal...

 

 

[JAS21]

What medicine was that. I could do some of it... tks

[OneMoreFarang]

6 minutes ago, JAS21 said:

What medicine was that. I could do some of it... tks

A couple.

And I won't tell you which one because the doctor prescribed them to me for my conditions.

Maybe your conditions are similar but more likely not.

Better get your individual checkup and your individual treatment. 

[JAS21]

16 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

A couple.

And I won't tell you which one because the doctor prescribed them to me for my conditions.

Maybe your conditions are similar but more likely not.

Better get your individual checkup and your individual treatment. 

????

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, JAS21 said:

????

In case you want to check your blood oxygen without visiting a doctor buy a Pulse Oximeter.

I just ordered this one for 2500THB.

https://www.beurer.com/web/us/products/medical/pulse-oximeter/pulse-oximeter/po-30.php 

Edited February 12, 2020 by OneMoreFarang
typo

[Mavideol]

11 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

In case you want to check your blood oxygen without visiting a doctor buy a Pule Oximeter.

I just ordered this one for 2500THB.

https://www.beurer.com/web/us/products/medical/pulse-oximeter/pulse-oximeter/po-30.php 

did you buy it here? I am looking for a blood pressure that also does blood oxygen reading, any advise? thks

[OneMoreFarang]

10 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

did you buy it here? I am looking for a blood pressure that also does blood oxygen reading, any advise? thks

This is the official distributor in Thailand, since several years already.

Email: [email protected]
LINE: @beurerthai
Delivery with DHL free of charge in Thailand.

Best use LINE to contact and order.

 

In theory they also sell on Lazada. But when I checked some products on Lazada is was not in stock and when I contacted them on LINE I got it delivered on the next day.

Payment by bank transfer, no problem.

 

I am sure there are other brands. I trust this one and this is why I bought that one an why I bought it from the official distributor.

There are similar devices like that available online for less than 1000B. And maybe they are good. But maybe not. I think there is no point in using a no-name device for important medical information. 

[Sheryl]

With a high blood pressurecteading this makes some sense as people often tense up at first and indeed a second reading while more relaxed is likely more accurate.

 

Makes zero sense for pulse oximeter. "White coat syndrome," doesn't lower pO2.

[mickyr55]

I have history of high blood pressure and the clinic nurse always took the best reading of three tests. 

[androokery]

37 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

With a high blood pressurecteading this makes some sense as people often tense up at first and indeed a second reading while more relaxed is likely more accurate.

 

Makes zero sense for pulse oximeter. "White coat syndrome," doesn't lower pO2.

I get different values when I take shallow breaths and have bad posture as opposed to a few deep breaths with my chest out:) 

Are we measuring actual oxygen levels or the capacity to oxygenate the blood? I mean, if you get a low reading and there is no difference between the results in the two situations above, there seems to be an issue with the capacity of the patient to oxygenate the blood. Or?

Edited February 12, 2020 by androokery

[DaRoadrunner]

I have had the same experience with blood pressure reading being too low. I get the feeling the nurse would like me to run around a bit first so she could get a favourable reading.

 

What gets me is the way they always check my height, which of course, never changes....... TiT.

 

They are programmed to do their job, but have not been programmed to think.

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

if you want to have more oxygen in your blood you need to change the city.

go to a village in chiang mai or to hua hin instead of tking all those medicines.

that is the only solution, as bangkok and other cities in thailand has too dangerous 

levels of air pollution, as you can check on this site:

 

http://aqicn.org/city/thailand/pathum-thani/bangkok-university-rangsit-campus/

[offset]

 

How accurate are the watches that check for oxygen in the blood

Edited February 12, 2020 by offset

[Maestro]

Removed a troll post.

[OneMoreFarang]

9 hours ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

if you want to have more oxygen in your blood you need to change the city.

go to a village in chiang mai or to hua hin instead of tking all those medicines.

that is the only solution, as bangkok and other cities in thailand has too dangerous 

levels of air pollution, as you can check on this site:

 

http://aqicn.org/city/thailand/pathum-thani/bangkok-university-rangsit-campus/

From Bangkok to China Mai - what an idea...

from http://aqicn.org/city/bangkok/

 

And about the medicine: I live in Bangkok since more than 20 years and never took any medicine related to air pollution. Now I take it for a few days and it works great. And the idea is that I take that medicine for about a week and then (hopefully) the medicine did the job and "fixed" the my medical problem. That's the idea about most medicine: Take it for a few days, not take it long term. 

That is also the reason why I see a doctor who really checks me out. And not to the pharmacy and ask them for a quick fix.

[Mavideol]

18 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

This is the official distributor in Thailand, since several years already.

Email: [email protected]
LINE: @beurerthai
Delivery with DHL free of charge in Thailand.

Best use LINE to contact and order.

 

In theory they also sell on Lazada. But when I checked some products on Lazada is was not in stock and when I contacted them on LINE I got it delivered on the next day.

Payment by bank transfer, no problem.

 

I am sure there are other brands. I trust this one and this is why I bought that one an why I bought it from the official distributor.

There are similar devices like that available online for less than 1000B. And maybe they are good. But maybe not. I think there is no point in using a no-name device for important medical information. 

agree and appreciate the info

[PPMMUU]

If the "low oxygen" is real then you are definitely not going to be better after a few pills.

[OneMoreFarang]

2 hours ago, PPMMUU said:

If the "low oxygen" is real then you are definitely not going to be better after a few pills.

Why not?

 

Acute Bronchitis

https://www.drugs.com/health-guide/acute-bronchitis.html

 

[PPMMUU]

Patients with bronchitis so severe that would cause low oxygen level don't get better that fast with pills.

 

Unless you get a nebulized or inhaled bronchodilator, that would be possible.