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Sleep O2 Levels
#1
Sleep O2 Levels
Have seen several comments on limiting your over night sleep O2 levels .. My question is what should ones over night O2 levels be at maximum ??

I know they shouldn't drop below 88% for any length of time due to cell damage in organs that can be caused due to lack of O2 ..

Mine runs between 98 and 99% most of the night after I fall asleep .. Normally my O2 level runs 93 to 94% during waking hours with my body at rest ..

Per a doctors prescription I use 2 liters of O2 while under exertion due to my O2 levels dropping below 88% ..
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#2
RE: Sleep O2 Levels
It is pretty simple after perusing the literature and materials out there. Anything under 89% is considered respiratory distress. In order to maintain solid sleep hygiene one needs to keep their SpO2 above 90%, preferably in the 92-94% range while sleeping and especially when approaching and in REM sleep as breathing becomes shallow and one's autonomic nervous system arouses/awakens the body to tell it to breathe more deeply to get that SpO2 up there.... more to the point, it is to get CO2 levels DOWN in the blood.

I used 4L/M O2 infused for a few years as I left hospital after Influenza A/H1N1 with 65% lung capacity and "lazy" breathing due to the weeks on total life support. I rarely if ever use O2 these days. I measure SpO2 and pulse rate regularly with a Contect CMS50EW pulse oximeter taped onto my finger for the night with blue masking tape. I don't want to see any periods of excessive pulse rate nor SpO2 below 90%.

Can one have too much O2 being infused. The short answer is a resounding YES YES YES. What this does is simply makes one's breathing more dependant on the higher level of L2 in the air being taken in and encourages shallow breathing. I would try to aim for an SpO2 in the 95% range while in REM sleep. No major damage is going to occur, as I understand it, if you are running even at 99% SpO2.

The opposite is true. Low SpO2 will cause high blood pressure, rapid heart beat, etc., which all leads to bad things, the worst of which is probably a massive stroke due to skyrocketing blood pressure.

Been there, done that, got a T shirt for it. BUT, as with all 'advice' on this forum, please, please do the research yourself and digest the material. Get yourself a recording pulse oximeter if you do not already have one. We even went out and bought a refurb hospital grade automatic BP machine, but the cuff inflating every 15 minutes prevented sleep so we check pressure only occasionally.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Educate, Advocate, Contemplate.
Herein lies personal opinion, no professional advice, which ALL are well advised to seek.



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#3
RE: Sleep O2 Levels
Whitewabit: IIRC: you were prescribed O2 during the day; and you made a decision to induce it into your CPAP flow. Am I correct?
If that's true, then it sounds like you do not need the extra O2 induced into your CPAP flow.

This question might be too personal, so, let's make it rhetorical. Are you overweight -- especially central obesity?
That can cause hypoventilation -- known as Pickwickian Syndrome. The diaphragm needs to drop to inhale; and central obesity gets in the way.

I gave an oral surgeon quite a scare a couple of years ago. He was extracting a 2nd Mandibular Molar using local anesthetic, while monitoring me with a BP cuff, a pulse oximeter and a simple ECG. I tensed up and forgot to breathe -- my O2 dropped and he stopped and put an O2 cannula on me.
Admin Note:
JustMongo passed away in August 2017
Click HERE to read his Memorial Thread

~ Rest in Peace ~
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#4
RE: Sleep O2 Levels
(10-18-2014, 11:49 AM)justMongo Wrote: Whitewabit: IIRC: you were prescribed O2 during the day; and you made a decision to induce it into your CPAP flow. Am I correct?
If that's true, then it sounds like you do not need the extra O2 induced into your CPAP flow.

This question might be too personal, so, let's make it rhetorical. Are you overweight -- especially central obesity?
That can cause hypoventilation -- known as Pickwickian Syndrome. The diaphragm needs to drop to inhale; and central obesity gets in the way.

I gave an oral surgeon quite a scare a couple of years ago. He was extracting a 2nd Mandibular Molar using local anesthetic, while monitoring me with a BP cuff, a pulse oximeter and a simple ECG. I tensed up and forgot to breathe -- my O2 dropped and he stopped and put an O2 cannula on me.

No!!! At 140 pounds at 5 foot 10 I'm not over weight and No I do not use O2 infused into my machine at night ..

My O2 prescription is for when I exert myself doing exercises or walking .. and I do not use it around the house or other times .. I abide by the use of the O2 to what my doctor has prescribe for me!

My normal O2 level at rest is 93 to 94% but when I exercise it drops down to 88% and lower in a few short minutes due to my asthma.
I walk 2 miles or more each day. Half of it up a grade of 6% and then half down hill grade of 6%. with 2 miles taking me just at 50 minutes or less according to how I feel any one day ..

My concern is while I am sleeping using my VPAP Adapt my O2 level rises to 97 to 98% and peaks several times a night at 99% for short periods of a minute or less .. The lowest I have seen it fall while asleep was 92% .. but am not taking a reading for all of the night.. I spot check with my oximeter during the night by sleeping with it on till it falls off ..

My AHI has been under 2.0 this week with no centrals which is what I am being treated for .. and has been under 4.75 since I started 3 weeks ago. And haven't had a central logged yet. I was having 27 centrals out of 29 events an hour during my 3 sleep studies ..

I use a oximeter that holds readings but can't be down loaded to a program. I have checked it against the 3 sleep study's oximeter and was the same reading as was the 2 times I checked at different doctors offices. so it is as accurate as theirs were.


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#5
RE: Sleep O2 Levels
(10-18-2014, 12:16 PM)Whitewabit Wrote:
(10-18-2014, 11:49 AM)justMongo Wrote: Whitewabit: IIRC: you were prescribed O2 during the day; and you made a decision to induce it into your CPAP flow. Am I correct?
If that's true, then it sounds like you do not need the extra O2 induced into your CPAP flow.

This question might be too personal, so, let's make it rhetorical. Are you overweight -- especially central obesity?
That can cause hypoventilation -- known as Pickwickian Syndrome. The diaphragm needs to drop to inhale; and central obesity gets in the way.

I gave an oral surgeon quite a scare a couple of years ago. He was extracting a 2nd Mandibular Molar using local anesthetic, while monitoring me with a BP cuff, a pulse oximeter and a simple ECG. I tensed up and forgot to breathe -- my O2 dropped and he stopped and put an O2 cannula on me.

No!!! At 140 pounds at 5 foot 10 I'm not over weight and No I do not use O2 infused into my machine at night ..

My O2 prescription is for when I exert myself doing exercises or walking .. and I do not use it around the house or other times .. I abide by the use of the O2 to what my doctor has prescribe for me!

My normal O2 level at rest is 93 to 94% but when I exercise it drops down to 88% and lower in a few short minutes due to my asthma.
I walk 2 miles or more each day. Half of it up a grade of 6% and then half down hill grade of 6%. with 2 miles taking me just at 50 minutes or less according to how I feel any one day ..

My concern is while I am sleeping using my VPAP Adapt my O2 level rises to 97 to 98% and peaks several times a night at 99% for short periods of a minute or less .. The lowest I have seen it fall while asleep was 92% .. but am not taking a reading for all of the night.. I spot check with my oximeter during the night by sleeping with it on till it falls off ..

My AHI has been under 2.0 this week with no centrals which is what I am being treated for .. and has been under 4.75 since I started 3 weeks ago. And haven't had a central logged yet. I was having 27 centrals out of 29 events an hour during my 3 sleep studies ..

I use a oximeter that holds readings but can't be down loaded to a program. I have checked it against the 3 sleep study's oximeter and was the same reading as was the 2 times I checked at different doctors offices. so it is as accurate as theirs were.

Ah, Asthma. Now I understand. When you are you are out exercising, do you use a portable concentrator? They are kind of neat by design. They are an on demand system. (Stationary concentrators provide a continuous flow.)

I would not worry about your O2 levels while on PAP. The positive pressure is just doing a good job of packing your lungs; sort of like a supercharger on a car.

You sound like you're in pretty good physical shape. Exercise and proper body mass.

BTW -- I mistook you for user u2canbuild who did improvise a tee to flow O2 into his PAP stream. Sorry about that.
Admin Note:
JustMongo passed away in August 2017
Click HERE to read his Memorial Thread

~ Rest in Peace ~
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#6
RE: Sleep O2 Levels
(10-18-2014, 01:11 PM)justMongo Wrote:
(10-18-2014, 12:16 PM)Whitewabit Wrote:
(10-18-2014, 11:49 AM)justMongo Wrote: Whitewabit: IIRC: you were prescribed O2 during the day; and you made a decision to induce it into your CPAP flow. Am I correct?
If that's true, then it sounds like you do not need the extra O2 induced into your CPAP flow.

This question might be too personal, so, let's make it rhetorical. Are you overweight -- especially central obesity?
That can cause hypoventilation -- known as Pickwickian Syndrome. The diaphragm needs to drop to inhale; and central obesity gets in the way.

I gave an oral surgeon quite a scare a couple of years ago. He was extracting a 2nd Mandibular Molar using local anesthetic, while monitoring me with a BP cuff, a pulse oximeter and a simple ECG. I tensed up and forgot to breathe -- my O2 dropped and he stopped and put an O2 cannula on me.

No!!! At 140 pounds at 5 foot 10 I'm not over weight and No I do not use O2 infused into my machine at night ..

My O2 prescription is for when I exert myself doing exercises or walking .. and I do not use it around the house or other times .. I abide by the use of the O2 to what my doctor has prescribe for me!

My normal O2 level at rest is 93 to 94% but when I exercise it drops down to 88% and lower in a few short minutes due to my asthma.
I walk 2 miles or more each day. Half of it up a grade of 6% and then half down hill grade of 6%. with 2 miles taking me just at 50 minutes or less according to how I feel any one day ..

My concern is while I am sleeping using my VPAP Adapt my O2 level rises to 97 to 98% and peaks several times a night at 99% for short periods of a minute or less .. The lowest I have seen it fall while asleep was 92% .. but am not taking a reading for all of the night.. I spot check with my oximeter during the night by sleeping with it on till it falls off ..

My AHI has been under 2.0 this week with no centrals which is what I am being treated for .. and has been under 4.75 since I started 3 weeks ago. And haven't had a central logged yet. I was having 27 centrals out of 29 events an hour during my 3 sleep studies ..

I use a oximeter that holds readings but can't be down loaded to a program. I have checked it against the 3 sleep study's oximeter and was the same reading as was the 2 times I checked at different doctors offices. so it is as accurate as theirs were.

Ah, Asthma. Now I understand. When you are you are out exercising, do you use a portable concentrator? They are kind of neat by design. They are an on demand system. (Stationary concentrators provide a continuous flow.)

I would not worry about your O2 levels while on PAP. The positive pressure is just doing a good job of packing your lungs; sort of like a supercharger on a car.

You sound like you're in pretty good physical shape. Exercise and proper body mass.

BTW -- I mistook you for user u2canbuild who did improvise a tee to flow O2 into his PAP stream. Sorry about that.

Yes I have a Inogen 1 G3 POC (Portable Oxygen Concentrator) It is a pulse generator .. I use it on1-2 liters or less while exercising according to my breathing conditions that day.. but never over 2 liters my prescription! Allergens and atmospheric pressure effects my breathing changing it daily .. it weighs about 6 pounds one of the smallest available on the market .. about the size of a women's purse..

My asthma has just re occurred this past 2 years after not bothering me as an adult most of my life .. since I seemed to have out grown it as a child. I try to stay in as good of shape as I can for all my health problems, and at my age also .. not as spry as I use to be .. I played sports until about 15 years ago at the local gym till I hurt my back.. and still throw a ball around with the grandson and do what I can to be active ..

I have also noticed that my at rest O2 level during the day after using the machine at night seems to be going up 1-2 % much of the day which is very pleasing ..

u2canbuild bought a POC on the web with out a prescription I believe and started using O2 on his own. Much different then my situation.

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#7
RE: Sleep O2 Levels
(10-18-2014, 01:11 PM)justMongo Wrote: BTW -- I mistook you for user u2canbuild who did improvise a tee to flow O2 into his PAP stream. Sorry about that.

Doesn't look at all like him. Whitewabit has longer ears and a wiggly nose.
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#8
RE: Sleep O2 Levels
(10-18-2014, 01:41 PM)retired_guy Wrote:
(10-18-2014, 01:11 PM)justMongo Wrote: BTW -- I mistook you for user u2canbuild who did improvise a tee to flow O2 into his PAP stream. Sorry about that.

Doesn't look at all like him. Whitewabit has longer ears and a wiggly nose.

Only Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane has ever seen a Whitewabit.
(Let's see how many "youngsters" get that reference) Big Grin
Admin Note:
JustMongo passed away in August 2017
Click HERE to read his Memorial Thread

~ Rest in Peace ~
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#9
RE: Sleep O2 Levels
Woodstock, '69
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#10
RE: Sleep O2 Levels
There is a significance and meaning behind seeing a white rabbit anywhere. They are portents of the possibility of spiritual enlightenment and/or an encounter with the Divine.
White rabbits seem to be metaphors that signify an invitation to step out of ordinary time. You have been chosen; it is not necessary to know or to ponder why. They call us out from our ordinary life to go on an extraordinary journey which will lead us to an experience which will transform us in some very significant way.
The white rabbit is an invitation. It never coerces but gently compels us to let go of what we think is important to explore what is of ultimate importance. It is an invitation to enter into the realm of the real, hidden, intuitive, unconscious world that exists underneath what appears to be reality. The unlikely pilgrim will be taken to places that s/he never dreamed possible and the passage will cost more than what most are willing to freely give.
If you happen upon a white rabbit, remain awake and alert to the direction you must go and be ready to let go of everything you believed was important. Or...you can continue what you were doing and ignore the invitation. The choice is entirely up to you.
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