Blue Nails/lips - Low Dlco

[deucykub]

Hi everyone.

I asked this question in a different thread but didn't want to hijack that thread, so I edited it out. POTS/Fibro moment, I guess...

Do any of you experience cyanosis/blueness of the nail beds or lips? I've had this since July of this year, and my doctors have attributed it to POTS. (I also had a test with a lower - 70%, 78% adjusted - diffusion (DLCO) rate. Has anyone else had a test result like that attributable to POTS?)

If so, what have your doctors said about it?

This is separate from blood pooling, which I have, too.

I guess we are all just "colorful" people!

(Lavender, to answer your previous question, I have not gotten an answer yet to why my DLCO was low. My pulmonologist said it was just "wierd," which was so reassuring, ha! I'm changing to a new pulmonologist since this one has not been particularly helpful. No one has told me that it could be attributed to POTS so far. )

[jesse1919]

I was in Albuqurque and my nails were blue from the altitude change. My hands were even colder than normal. My blood oxygen was measured with the "finger squeeze machine" and it was 98% (95% with the "old machine") so I was relatively okay - just a bit blue. Never had a DLCO.

[Dizzy Dame]

I get blue nails on both my toes and fingers, but it's attributed to raynaud's. Blue lips, however, sounds like poor overall oxigenization (sp?). Have you spoken with a pulmonologist or cardiologist about this?

[MomtoGiuliana]

I get slightly blue lips at times.

[deucykub]

I'm in CT, so I don't think it's due to the altitude; although, I have heard that can cause it.

For those with Raynaud's, was there a test performed to confirm it? I did a self-administered cold water submerssion test, and my hands and nails didn't change color at all.

When they did the pulmonary function test, my O2 started at 100% and dropped to about 96% while taking the seated part of the test. When they walked me up and down the hall, I saw it drop to 92% on the pulse-ox, but the tech didn't include that in the report.

My pulminologist just learned of POTS during my last visit. He previously thought my shortness of breath was psychological. The PFT was done by a different doctor and hospital, and this pulminologist dismisses test results outside of his own lab (including a spirometry that showed I was breathing at 25-30% when I was first diagnosed with asthma). My cardiologist (EP) and neurologist both say the blueness could be caused by POTS, but I have only found about three people (including this survey) that are dx POTS and experience it, which makes me think something else might be happening.