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Comment by martynr | Hacker News Reader

Would you notice a cognitive difference if your cognition was affected by it?

There was a video I watched years ago where someone was on an airplane and basically tested how they'd react with a lack of oxygen. It was pretty crazy. He knew he needed oxygen, but didn't feel like he needed to do anything about it.

I think it was this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUfF2MTnqAw

I wonder if it's something you're more likely to notice in hindsight (and not at all if it's subtle). I was recently hypoxic (~78% SpO2) due to COVID-19, and felt absolutely fine at the time, but looking back, I was making some questionable decisions (waiting three hours after reaching 80% on a pulse oximeter before seeking any help) and my memory until I was placed on oxygen is pretty fragmented.

I had an attack of viral epiglottitis approximately 18 months ago and called 999 as I could feel my throat closing up. When the ambulance crew arrived they put a pulse oximeter on me, and my heart rate was above 130 and remained so even after sitting on the sofa for 10 minutes trying to breathe normally. SpO2 kept declining no matter how hard I tried to breathe, and they took me down to the ambulance and intubated me just as my fingertips started to turn blue.

Sadly I remember it all.

That sounds horrific, I hope you're OK now.

I was lucky enough to avoid intubation, but I suspect I wasn't too far away from it. CPAP with pure O2/a high-flow nasal canula at 90L/min pure O2 (I initially couldn't tolerate the CPAP mask for extended periods due to an anxiety disorder, though I felt myself becoming more fatigued over time on the HFNC) was keeping me at 88-90% (arterial blood gas measurement) initially, and that slowly started to climb a few days into treatment.

I thought I would but my talking houseplant disagreed so it's probably fine.

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