Oximeters: What is the target O2 level to aim for?

[mwink]

I recently bought a recording Oximeter (Nonin) and my oxygen levels gererally stay above 90 with APAP. However, some nights at about 3 AM, it falls to ~85 and my pulse rate goes up. I have read some of the other posts about oximters. I have a sense that if you are above 90 that you shouldn't worry about it??? Or should you be trying to stay at 95? Should I try changing my APAP settings to try avoid falling below 90 for even a few minutes? I would appreciate hearing from any of you closet pulmonologists or anyone else who is knowledgeable about these issues.
Thanks

[Sleepless on LI]

When I had my test done recently, they said above 92 sleeping is best. However, anything under 90 is where you start to question. If you are only falling for a couple of mins. out of an entire night's sleep, that is nothing to worry about. I AM NOT A DOCTOR SO TAKE WHAT I SAY IN THAT LIGHT. I had dropped to 88 for just under two mins. and 86 for 28 seconds. They told me I was fine and not to worry. My mean sat. during the night was 96%, so they said it was fine.

Overall saturations drop when you are laying down, let alone in sleeping mode where it falls naturally even further. But if you stay below 90 for extended periods of time I think is where you start to have problems. According to my DME, you have to stay under 90 for more than five mins. for Medicare to pay for any type of therapy to treat your oxygen desats. Hopes this helped. Maybe Christine, the RRT, can answer this more fully. If my son, the RRT, got home on time this morning from his night shift at the hopt., I could ask him, too. He is now going to start to train to do sleep studies one night a week at the hopt. That should bring a lot of interesting info to this forum...

[IllinoisRRT]

I usually say that anything above 90 is safe, like Lori said, it usually drops when *anyone* is sleeping. If the desats to 85 were very brief, it probably isn't anything to worry about, but if it stays that way for more than a minute or two, you might have a reason to be concerned. As far as adjusting your APAP settings, you didn't mention what your current settings are. If your medical history includes any other kind of respiratory problem (chronic), you might need to bring it up with your doc about adding oxygen. Hope that helps!

[mwink]

thanks for the info. I will keep an eye on my O2, but I guess my APAP is taking care of things. I noticed that a couple of times a night my pulse goes from 65 to 100. I wonder what that is about? Am I having a great dream?

[john5757]

[quote="mwink"]thanks for the info. I will keep an eye on my O2, but I guess my APAP is taking care of things. I noticed that a couple of times a night my pulse goes from 65 to 100. I wonder what that is about? Am I having a great dream?


I am not a doctor but if my pulse jump from 65 to 100 while sleeping I would be concerned about it until I get a meaningful answer. For me that could be a desats problem, paradoxical sleep issue or a vivid dream. That would be some thing worth finding out.