http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...-need-help
Since getting the ASV, and especially the extra oxygen, I've been doing better, especially over the last couple of months. Not 100%, but much less tired and sleepy and better able to function. My AHI is almost always below 1, usually below 0.5, and when it's higher it's generally due to awake/junk breathing. So success story so far.
However. . .we have been thinking for some time of moving to Santa Fe, which is about 2000 feet higher. We just spent 11 days there, and I was wiped out most of the time, despite having the ASV and a concentrator, which thanks to COVID I was able to have delivered for free. I have a pulse oximeter and was checking levels off and on during the day. The average was probably around 91 or 92, never above 94 and sometimes dipping to 88 or 87. We got home Saturday night, and it's now Monday. I was wiped out all day yesterday and am still way too tired. But my oxygen levels are back up to 96 or 97, rarely less than 95.
So what I am wanting to know is, can a difference of 3 or 4 percentage points lead to feeling so much worse? Am I nuts to think of moving to a higher altitude? Does it make sense that I am still tired after returning home? How long might it take to recover? And--is it possible that my central apnea and periodic breathing (before ASV) is partly or wholly altitude-induced?
I've been thinking it would be good to spend some time at sea level, or at least lower, to see how I do. If I did, how long would it take to get a good sense of that? It's probably not feasible to move someplace lower, but if it made a huge difference it might be worth considering.