Are lower SpO2 and fast heart rate asthma symptoms?

@wangling Another thought -- what other medication do you take for bronchiectasis? Anything OTC?

Asking because I restarted mucinex recently. Again when taking it, I find I can never completely clear my airways. There's always a rattle and/or wheeze. My breathing test at the allergist this week was so bad! After a day or more of stopping mucinex my breathing and spo2 returned to normal for me.

It makes sense that when one is breathless (lower spo2) heart rate increases because heart is working harder to pump more.

There is another possible explanation - damage in the lungs from bronchiectasis and repeated infections is cumulative - so over time you can lose some lung function, elasticity and healthy tissue. This can result in lower oxygen-carrying capacity, especially during/after exertion. The body tries to compensate - thus the heart beats faster trying to supply more oxygen...
I have had asthma for near 40 years, bronchiectasis for at least 6 years but more likely 10, and have had MAC and pseudomonas infections as well as pneumonia. As it is now the allergy and bad air season (much wind, dust & pollen), my O2 sats dropped from 97-98 at rest to 95-96. On exertion, they will fall to 91-92. At the same time my resting heart rate increases from 72-75 to 80-86. This is with all meds taken on schedule and daily yoga and airway clearance. When I exercise vigorously or do light weight training, it leaps well up over 105. The longer I have asthma and bronchiectasis, the longer recovery to resting rate takes. This morning, just casual walking on level ground put my heart rate at 99, and it took 30 minutes to fall into the 70's - as a runner in my 40's recovery to base rate took only 5-6 minutes after an extended run.

So, Ling, you may or may not have asthma, but you do have damaged lungs, which in turn taxes your heart to work harder. Since the Wixela is not helping much, maybe you can talk to your pulmonologist about alternatives. For example, I find the mist inhaler Symbicort more effective than the dry powder. Symbicort uses formoterol, a long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) instead of salmeterol, a short-acting beta-agonist (SABA) so it keeps the airways dilated longer.
Another thing to consider - your doctor or your pharmacist should double-check to make sure no other medication is interacting with your inhaler. It often happens that beta-blockers such as blood pressure or heart medications like metroprolol and beta-agonists like salmeterol "fight" with each other, reducing the effectiveness of both.
Sue

There is another possible explanation - damage in the lungs from bronchiectasis and repeated infections is cumulative - so over time you can lose some lung function, elasticity and healthy tissue. This can result in lower oxygen-carrying capacity, especially during/after exertion. The body tries to compensate - thus the heart beats faster trying to supply more oxygen...
I have had asthma for near 40 years, bronchiectasis for at least 6 years but more likely 10, and have had MAC and pseudomonas infections as well as pneumonia. As it is now the allergy and bad air season (much wind, dust & pollen), my O2 sats dropped from 97-98 at rest to 95-96. On exertion, they will fall to 91-92. At the same time my resting heart rate increases from 72-75 to 80-86. This is with all meds taken on schedule and daily yoga and airway clearance. When I exercise vigorously or do light weight training, it leaps well up over 105. The longer I have asthma and bronchiectasis, the longer recovery to resting rate takes. This morning, just casual walking on level ground put my heart rate at 99, and it took 30 minutes to fall into the 70's - as a runner in my 40's recovery to base rate took only 5-6 minutes after an extended run.

So, Ling, you may or may not have asthma, but you do have damaged lungs, which in turn taxes your heart to work harder. Since the Wixela is not helping much, maybe you can talk to your pulmonologist about alternatives. For example, I find the mist inhaler Symbicort more effective than the dry powder. Symbicort uses formoterol, a long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) instead of salmeterol, a short-acting beta-agonist (SABA) so it keeps the airways dilated longer.
Another thing to consider - your doctor or your pharmacist should double-check to make sure no other medication is interacting with your inhaler. It often happens that beta-blockers such as blood pressure or heart medications like metroprolol and beta-agonists like salmeterol "fight" with each other, reducing the effectiveness of both.
Sue

I was told that metroprolol is a selective beta blocker and does not target lung receptors but at the same time I was told to take the lowest possible dose (under 100mg). I can't take other blood pressure meds for various reasons including kidney issues and leg swelling caused by calcium channel blockers. The only way to keep by bp lower is a combo of clonidine patch and metroprolol succ. er. I do have asthma. It's really hard to know what to do in my situation. (I have autoimmune disease also). Right now I am having a flare up and I worry it is the bp med but this allergy season was the worst ever so ....right now I am on doxy and extra oral prednisone starting today. I hope it works! Things get dicey when you have multiple competing problems!

May I know what is SVT?

how fast was your heart beat with the SVT? Seems like Bronchiectasis in general causes lower spo2 and also faster heart rate especially if you battle chronic infection.

My personal best (or worse?) was 220 in the CICU the day after lung surgery.
Most times I could hit 150 or 165, usually occurring after albuterol.
Funny, but I never got the shakes or anything. Once I had a 150 bpm for over an hour while driving and after complaining for years, I then finally referred myself to a pair of cardiologists.

That is high!

Thank you Scoop for sharing your thought.
I guess it is not just me. I alway wonder about it. Because except for a couple of times, I have low oxygen and a fast heart beat. I don't have other symptoms. I feel probably due to the following reasons for this diagnosis:
1, some people who have asthma also have bronchiectasis
2, asthma diagnosis is not like bronchiectasis which CT scan shows if you have or not.
3. Doctors are trained to treat patients, and asthma is likely associated with bronchiectasis, and it is something to treat. (this is just my thinking, I could be wrong)
I always discuss things with my pulmonologist. He would say: doctors are humble, we are often wrong.
I respect him for being so confident to say things like this.
Well, I give up the idea if I have or not have, I just deal with the symptoms.

Ling

Oh Ling I forgot. There is an autoimmune disease that affects the lungs and has to do with eosinophils and asthma like symptoms. It is called Churg Strauss (sp?). You might want to google it. I only know this because I have an autoimmune disease (not this one) and they checked for this by testing my eosinophil levels and other things. Also I was told not to take singular because that can cause churg strauss syndrome.