Oximeter - yay or nay

[Adamandtheaunts]

Just what it says in the title - considering buying a £30ish oximeter for our medicine cabinet. It's it worth it or are they only any good if there the super expensive ones?

Someone I know who is wise in relevant matters has bought one, so I was thinking of copying!

We have one, can't remember why we got it in the first place, seems to work well

I got one from Argos. It gives mixed results! I also have poor circulation and Raynaulds disease so wouldn't be 100% reliable in the winter. However I thought it could help - especially if we feel we really do need help - at least you could tell a doctor 'my oxygen levels are'. I also thought I could drop it round to family members doorsteps if they needed it.

We’ve got one from when mil was ill and I’m glad we’ve got it, hearing more about how Covid affects blood oxygen with few symptoms.

Yes

Yes bought one back in March

I bought a Which? - recommended pulse oximeter for £36.78 (I know, a very weird amount). It works well unless you wear nail polish.

I heard that people can be feeling okay with Covid but their oxygen levels suddenly plummet. An article in a newspaper suggested buying an oximeter and a digital thermometer for covid symtoms so it seemed like a good thing to have in. I bought a relative one too as their oxygen level goes down at night.

I have one but it has completely fueled my health anxiety.

We hqve one, got one just before lockdown as youngest was poorly with a bad chest and I wanted to keep an eye on her.
On a lot of Samsung phones they have an oximeter and they work quite well on adults but not so good on little ones though.

I've got one. Mainly because after I was discharged from hospital with Covid and found there was nothing in the way of aftercare on offer I wanted to at least have some idea how I was progressing. I also want one for my family's piece of mind because the day I was admitted to hospital I was convinced I wasn't that bad and yet apparently my blood oxygen levels were so low they reckoned I was 12 - 24 hours from death if I hadn't received medical support.

Obviously the ones you buy for home use are not calibrated as accurately as NHS ones but the technology is quite simple so they should be reasonably accurate. My main regret is that I don't know what my blood-oxygen levels were prior to being infected so if you do get one I'd make a point of taking a baseline for yourself and the rest of your family. Also, just my personal opinion, but spot measurements can be misleading. I take a reading 3 times a day and am more interested in the averages and trends than in spot values.

Yes we have one as DD has asthma, has ended up In hospital on a nebuliser several times, allows me to keep a check on her, wouldn’t be without it.

Yep I bought one. When I did catch Covid back in March my GP asked for the reading.

Is there a particular one anyone would recommend?

I got one called Anapulse from amazon, it's blue

Nonin is a very good make, but pricey. Very accurate.
Some of the cheaper ones can underestimate by 3-5%
Normal values for a normal, healthy person 95-100%
For an asthmatic, figures can fluctuate obviously but when well should be hitting normal parameters. For those with COPD normal values can range from mid 80s

If you are symptomatic of covid but saturating normally try walking 40 steps or stairs. With covid there's a chance you can desaturate on exertion. This doesn't happen to everyone.
Used correctly, a sats probe is great for obtaining an overall picture along with other info such as heart rate, respiratory rate and temp etc.

I dont think a household without any respiratory/cardiac illnesses really need them.
Ppl who dont know how to use them get incorrect SpO2 levels and thats pointless.

Yes, yes, yes. 100 x yes. If you get COVID (hopefully you wont) it can be the difference bw life and death. Either because you feel not too bad but actually your lungs arent working properly and it can help you know when to seek medicalattention, or alternatively because you feel like you cant breath but actually your doing ok (in which the reassurance is invaluable).

It's honestly the best £25 I've spent in years.

@Torvean32 they are really easy to use and come with a little instruction booklet.

Don't try and use it when you are wearing black nail polish!

My asthma nurse said it was a good idea to have one.

I bought one in March when people were talking about them. I take a measure most days ((& my temp) & a couple of times I've been struggling to get my breath it has given me peace of mind that I might feel like I can't breath, but actually I'm ok.

Mine is a FANRY off Amazon. Around £30. Seems fine & when I was in hospital (not Covid) the nurses were just using various ones like this. 🤷🏻‍♀️

It's already been worth it to me.

We got one at the start of the pandemic from Amazon. It's pretty good and reassures DP who is a worrier. It's helpful to have if you ever have a telephone GP consultation too.

Got one in March. Taken lots of readings since then. Always at least 95%. I have Covid 19 and now it has dropped as low as 92% in the last 2 days. I’m not sure it has helped or just worried me. I think it was about £25 at the time.

Hope you are feeling better soon @Fossie !

@Fossie if its sitting below 94 please speak to your gp, they may be able to prescribe something to help. If it drops below 90 then go straight to hospital. Good luck.

I forgot to come back to say thank you for the recommendations, and @Fossie I hope you feel better soon