Low CO2 Level?

cathartic1

Anybody ever have a low CO2 level?  I guess the range for it is 22-30 and mine was 20.  All my other levels were normal, potassium, protein, sodium... but just this number was low.  I of course googled it and it listed some very icky things.  I got the results directly from the lab cause my doctor's office is lazy or something...so I haven't talked to them yet. 

So just curious if anybody else had a low number for this and what the diagnosis was or the outcome?  My glucose was 93 and my A1C number was 5.2 which indicates I don't have diabetes, so it can't be from that.  I noticed that my thyroid level has gone from 1.9 (which it was always steady at that level) and now its 1.3.  Dr. Google suggested that low CO2 could be from hyperthyroidism but I don't think 1.3 is low enough to indicate that. 

So, I'm only left with even ickier things of kidney disease... I had gone to the lab to turn in my 24 hour urine collection test, so I guess that should answer my question about my kidneys shortly... blah... I was all happy about my bloodwork results and then this one itty bitty thing is gonna drive me nuts.  

The other thing I'm worried about is Lactic Acidosis ... I have been taking 2000 mg of Metformin for many years and I don't really have much symptoms of it except for irregular heart beat (sometimes it pounds in my chest) and I am a bit lethargic ...but other than that no.  I would probably think if I did have it I would be having way more symptoms if it.

cathartic1

Hmm I found this online:

Respiratory tract:            

The high level of progesterone, a hormone produced continuously during pregnancy, signals the brain to lower the level of carbon dioxide in the blood. As a result, a pregnant woman breathes slightly faster and more deeply to exhale more carbon dioxide and keep the carbon dioxide level low. She may breathe faster also because the enlarging uterus limits how much the lungs can expand when she breathes in. The circumference of the woman's chest enlarges slightly.

Virtually every pregnant woman becomes somewhat more out of breath when she exerts herself, especially toward the end of pregnancy. During exercise, the breathing rate increases more when a woman is pregnant than when she is not.

Because more blood is being pumped, the lining of the airways receives more blood and swells somewhat, narrowing the airways. As a result, the nose occasionally feels stuffy, and the eustachian tubes (which connect the middle ear and back of the nose) may become blocked. These effects can slightly change the tone and quality of the woman's voice.

Which because I'm also on progesterone supplements, this could cause my CO2 level to go down.  I checked all my prior bloodwork and last year my CO2 levels were normal.  Hopefully I answered my own question and this is all it is.