How bad do I need supplemental oxygen?

A little disappointed I didn't hear anything from Dr's office today. I sent them an email tonight detailing my symptoms so hopefully I get a call tomorrow.

Just thought I would update with a observation. I still spot check my oxygen levels during the day and it seems that using oxygen at night has even raised my daytime levels slightly. When I just checked it I was surprised to see it range from 95 to 97%>

USMCVet wrote:Just thought I would update with a observation. I still spot check my oxygen levels during the day and it seems that using oxygen at night has even raised my daytime levels slightly. When I just checked it I was surprised to see it range from 95 to 97%>

correlation does not equal causation.

No it does not at all. My cough has become more productive as well since starting oxygen. Maybe it's the ace inhibitor leaving system that cough is getting less. Who knows maybe the extra oxygen is allowing my body to heal vs decline because of lack of oxygen.
Either way things are looking better and that's all that matters.

Has the shortness of breath settled down?
Washing away the co2 leaves more room for o2..yeah, ok, I'm making this up but reducing the co2 retention could make you take in more air to get higher o2 and keep the new co2 level. You might consider using 1-1.5 lt/m if you feel 2lt is too much.

ajack wrote:Has the shortness of breath settled down?
Washing away the co2 leaves more room for o2..yeah, ok, I'm making this up but reducing the co2 retention could make you take in more air to get higher o2 and keep the new co2 level. You might consider using 1-1.5 lt/m if you feel 2lt is too much.

Still getting shortness of breath and cough in morning is still worse then rest of day but if I don't take deep breaths in morning I'm ok. Overall coughing is down though.

I would advise a doctor visit so they can do blood tests, and perhaps other tests, to see what could causing low oxygen saturation over night and symptoms such as headaches when waking up and shortness of breath since your OSA is largely being treated. Those symptoms are classic indicators of nocturnal hypoventilation, aka being under-ventilated, but it could also be other conditions causing the symptoms as well. Carbon Dioxide levels will be important to look at most likely. If elevated, they could explain your symptoms. And if it is so, most likely bi-level machine will help you a great deal.

Thank you for great advice. Feb 9th I have titration study with Bipap and depending on how that goes my provider said maybe ASV.

Everything started getting bad originally a year ago or so when things at work got really stressful. Tons of people are burned out. So I have been working on trying to get a better work life balance. I don't know how much of this could be related to that as well.

What I didn't see is whether you have any explanation for your lower than optimal oxygen? Especially did you ever smoke or live in a smoking household?

D.H. wrote:What I didn't see is whether you have any explanation for your lower than optimal oxygen? Especially did you ever smoke or live in a smoking household?

I used to smoke and quit about 3 to 4 years ago. Exposure to asbestos which put me on a watch list for issues. I was told I was getting a referral to see a pulmonologist but no one has called me yet to set up and appointment. I see the RT Monday I think so I'll ask him about it.

You may not see the lung doctor before the sleep study, but it could have been better to get that sorted first. I wouldn't put off this sleep study, worse case, they can do another one later.

ajack wrote:You may not see the lung doctor before the sleep study, but it could have been better to get that sorted first. I wouldn't put off this sleep study, worse case, they can do another one later.

One thing I've noticed with more data is that my oxygen levels are always lowest first half of night when I sleep better. 2nd half lately i wake up more. So I'm hoping this upcoming sleep study can shed more light on things . I just know I'm struggling. Seems like things are really bad then I get CPAP and things get better for a little bit before getting worse again. Then I get oxygen and things seem to start getting better somewhat again. Now today things are getting worse. Cough is coming back more, headaches more, more brain drain and trouble concentrating. Just feeling out of it in general.

I refuse to see my current Dr. So Monday when I see my RT I am going to ask what status is of seeing pulmonologist. Also plan on asking for his general advice on how I should proceed and lastly ask him if burn out from work could be a big factor and if so if I can get a referral to someone for that.

Hard to explain it just feels like something serious might be going on because these "band aids" aren't helping as much as I had hoped.

That would be a base fear for everyone, not knowing what the final story will be. If you feel better at the start of the night, you might be getting too much o2. You might actually be better on 1 or 1.5. The cough, might even be lack of humidity, did you get a humidifier with the o2? if not, turn your cpap humidity up and see if it helps. As you would know, coughing is also a part of asthma symptoms. Given you are seeing a doctor you trust on Monday and the symptoms aren't bad enough to get you to another doctor or ER, I guess it's a matter of getting through the next few days.

I sleep better first half of the night regardless of oxygen . The oxygen doesn't have humidification per say but I run it into my humidifier on CPAP. I have humidifier on max with hose set on 2. My humidifier is now almost empty every morning.

I decided to zoon in on data from last night.
Am I having more events then machine is detecting that could be fragmenting my sleep even if I don't remember waking up at those times?
https://imgur.com/a/uvsx7