Oximetry reading

[peterg]

Hi Peter,
Here is a whole night shot and an overlay of my O2 and ResScan data. After the 12 second obstructive apnea you can see that my flow increases and my O2 spikes. On the others it doesn't but goes back to about where it was. His seems to drop and spike repeatedly.
During my sleep study I only had 11 apneas an hour but had over 40 arousals an hour disrupting my sleep.

thanks for that effort, Ill have to go do some research. - I don;t have the benefit of the data, just AHI for the night and the O2 meter for now.

still, looking at your O2 graph mine had a dozen spikes and several steps. I'll try and get this posted here soon for your perusal.

and yes, I did hold my breath with the O2 meter on, quite fun and scary when you think about what is happening at night (or was before CPAP) , for minutes in some cases.

I suppose it begs the question, what does a good O2 graph look like that does include some spikes?

[GoodNight Kiwi]

Regarding basal Sp02, the average altitude around here is 350 ft above sea level, so I wouldn't say that is a factor.
Probably having been a heavy smoker is one though!

I agree, 350 ft wont reduce the oxygen the amount we see on his overnight graph.

Smoking may be a factor - but I would have thought it would take "more" than 15 years to reduce the efficiency of the lungs that much.

Does he have a bit of a belly? (like a pregnant woman).

Having seen an autopsy of a BIG man with BIG belly - I was surprised to see how "small" the lungs were. Because the lungs give so easily (like a pregnant woman who temporarily has squashed lungs), an overweight person with LARGE abdomen can have the same thing going on. They may have an enlarged heart - but have the lungs of a child. Something I always think of when seeing a very large person gasping away doing very simple things !

I think the consensus so far - is that your friend needs a "Sleep Study".

If he is not so keen on that, perhaps buying his own oximeter, and spending a few more nights testing - may convince him that his body is not working the way it should.

Regards, Geoff (New Zealand).

[Bluecat]

Does he have a bit of a belly? (like a pregnant woman).

No he is a very fit guy.
Haven't found time to speak to him alone today to encourage him to go for a sleep study.