SpO2 and sleep Apnea

Hello @ih60, Welcome to Connect. There is a correlation between sleep apnea and oxygen levels. Here is an article on the topic.

-- Sleep Apnea Diagnosis and Oxygen Desaturation Effects:
https://www.verywellhealth.com/sleep-apnea-and-oxygen-desaturation-3014875

I was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea a few years ago and I also was not aware that I had sleep apnea. I had a sleep study done at Mayo Clinic after a conversation with a cardiologist on a different problem. I mentioned I snored a lot and after a few more questions, he suggested a sleep study which determined I did have obstructive sleep apnea. It took awhile before the CPAP treatment made a noticeable difference. I do notice that I feel more refreshed after a good nights sleep now.

Have you discussed getting a sleep study appointment with your doctor or care team?

Thank you so much for the reply. I am new to this group and it is wonderful to get responses so quickly. I have not made an appointment with my doctor yet but I will. Do you need to have CPAP on all the time now?

CPAP is only needed at night when sleeping. 🙂

SPO2 is, as you must understand, a measure of your blood saturation of O2. It isn't a measure of how much perfusion of O2 is in your tissues...just your blood.

Your heart and your brain are two continuously big users of O2. The brain is always working, even when you are asleep, but so is your heart. If your 'sat' of O2 drops for more than maybe 15 seconds, it begins to put a strain on your heart. Your heart will begin to beat more rapidly in order to supply your tissues with more O2, except that you're not getting enough of it into your lungs. This is because of 'flow limitatons'. You can have flow limitations when inhaling AND when exhaling. Both slow the process of getting another breath. Flow limitations can come from obstructions, or even a slightly pinched trachea such as when your chin descends toward your chest when sleeping on your back. You can also get 'central apnea' which is your brain forgetting to make you breath. Neither is more dangerous....they're all representative of risk to overall health. I have atrial fibrillation which, when all tests were done, including a sleep lab overnight, was due solely to my severe apnea.
If a sleep study is not going to happen, or not soon, get a soft foam 'cervical collar' and wear it at night. You probably won't like it...much...but it will help to keep your trachea open by restricting your head movement. This may buy you months of relief and better sleep.
I have used a CPAP machine for five years now. You get used to them when you're more scared of dying than being annoyed with wearing the mask at night. Even with the CPAP machine (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), my own sats get down into the low 80's at times. My IQ is still in the 130 range, or would be if I didn't have to divide the score by my current age. It's the frequency AND the 'burden' that comes from the duration as well...how often, how long. The current industrial and medical standard for AHI (apnea/hypopnea index) is less than 5 events per hour of usage. I'm often down below 1.0, so that tells you that the machines, if they're the right ones (they're not all the same) and fitted properly, can save your life.

BTW, if you want to learn a lot more, please go to one of my daily haunts, apneaboard.com and read the many thousands of informative posts from sleeprider and others. You'll get lots of help (I am not sleeprider..)

I am here to ask about SPO2 numbers. I don't have an FDA approved Sleep Oxygen/EKG/sleep apnea monitor but my observation is less about the accuracy as it is the possibility. My monitor generally shows 95% to 97% and very steady heart rate and little movement over usually 6 hour periods. However from one minute to the next and back again it went from 95% to 80% and back. Personally I doubt that is even physically possible but I'm open to opinions.
Thank You

I find those numbers to be a bit iffy, particularly if you aren't holding your breath while concentrating on something, say something intricate requiring fine motor skills. Just reading or watching TV, carrying on a conversation, etc, there's no real chance you're dipping to less than about 95%.

Thank you for your reply. Generally I wear the spo2 ring while sleeping. The brand name for it is Lookee. It records movement as well as heart rate and spo2 and other relevant data.

Steady SpO₂ and steady heart rate are good signs; the lack of good sleep is, AFAIK, due to repeated drops in SpO₂ which also show up in erratic heart rate.

Dropping below 95% while awake and calm is easy if you have central apnea. You just forget to breathe, sometimes even when awake.