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I purchased a RING O2 which fits on your finger like a ring and can stay on at night while sleeping. it can record 4 ten hour sessions and take a blood Ox reading every 4 seconds.
It will then download the data via blue tooth to your phone and you can also download the data into a computer.
As I relax and begin to fall asleep, the blood Ox leverls varies about 8-10 points at almost a 1 minute interval. It may vary from 96 to 88 back and forth every 50 seconds. Sometimes dropping to 92-92 at the same cycle rate. Occasionally, probably REM sleep, it may stay below 90 for 5 to 10 minutes. It has gone as low below 80 to mid 70's. I have a sleep study schedule for the next 2 days. Hope to find out what is happening.
Does anyone know why blood ox would cycle over a minute cycle while resting and breathing slowly. It is not obstructive sleep apnea, as I have watched the value drop while I'm breathing.
Can shallow breathing cause this if there is a somekind of lung defect in the area of the lung which is being used while shallow breathing. I do sometimes wizz with very shallow breating.
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You asked, "...Can shallow breathing cause this if there is a somekind of lung defect..." The answer is absolutely. I can sit in a chair, breathe shallowly and watch my O2 sats decline minute by minute. Similarly, I can deep breathe and watch them recover. (By the way, I do have a number of lung issues, but my day-to-day sats, except during exertion, are in the mid nineties.)
Think about the mechanics of breathing - when you breathe in shallowly, you take in a much smaller volume of air with which to replace the oxygen in you lungs. When you breathe out shallowly, you expel much less carbon dioxide, which interferes with the lungs' ability to use the oxygen you are inhaling. Also a normal full breath cycle, not even deep breathing, inflates
and empties all four lobes of your lungs, but a shallow breath either only reaches the upper lobes, or partially inflates & deflates the 4 lobes.
I used to wake often during the night - sometimes feeling like a fish trying to breathe out of water. For the past 2 months, I have been working with a therapist on deep breathing to improve my sleep and reduce pain. Doing belly breathing exercises randomly throughout the day, and 10 minutes of deep breathing and relaxation in bed to fall asleep. My Fitbit has recorded a great improvement in my sleep pattern. I wish it recorded O2, but sadly it does not.
Do you have any underlying lung or heart issues? Maybe when you have your sleep study, if they do not find apnea, you can ask about some breathing exercises to teach yourself to more fully inflate/deflate your lungs?
Sue