Nocturnal hypoxemia
I had a home sleep study last week. My PCP ordered it because I sleep really badly. Have a hard time falling asleep and wake up many times at night sometimes need to take inhaler sometimes not.
The sleep study showed I had a saturation under 88% for 101 minutes. It was suggested I do a split night sleep study in the lab.
When I asked my asthma doctor what she made of this she said she is not familiar with sleep study results. Really?? Isn’t part of asthma nocturnal symptoms? I am a little díada pointed with this doctor right now. Anyone has similar situations?
Hey,
-- thanks for reaching out to us. Your picture uploaded super small, so unfortunately I can't read it, but that's an issue on our end. Regardless, sleep medicine truly is its own field. While some people with asthma also have sleep disorders, your asthma doc normally wouldn't have lots of training in managing those conditions. Same thing with your PCP. When did these results come out? Similar to other testing, I expect that a doctor or someone from the sleep clinic should reach out to you soon with information and next steps. If this hasn't happened yet, you can definitely call them. (It's a good idea to include a sleep doctor on your team, especially if it turns out you have a chronic issue that requires care.)
Lastly, we have a sister site for people with sleep disorders, and they are wonderful and knowledgeable. If you want to dig into this further, the website is www.sleep-disorders.net.
Do you have any updates since you first shared this last weekend? I'm glad you're taking good care of yourself by having sleep studies done. Ideally you will be resting more comfortably soon!
Keep us posted, okay?
Melissa, asthma.net team
hi there! My asthma specialist referred me to a pulmonologist who specialized in sleep studies. Although he was a specialist, my test was interpreted by a different Pulmo who was trained in this specific task. So, it's not uncommon for your asthma doctor to not be knowledgeable in this area since it is a specific medical specialty.
Additionally, pulse oximeters purchased over the counter may not be 100% accurate. They are not the same grade/quality as devices used in the clinic setting. It's hard to say which device may be incorrect, so continuing to find answers is probably your best bet.
Please keep us posted on your progress. ! Lorene, team memberUgh, that's frustrating. I was really hoping for a definitive answer in either direction for you. I hope you're able to clear things up soon! -Melissa, asthma.net team
hi there! Thanks for starting this discussion. As my colleagues have mentioned, sleep is a whole other beast as far as specialties. Some pulmonologists you might see for asthma are board certified in Sleep Medicine as well, but others are not and may not have as much knowledge. I have also done an at-home oximetry study, but the one I did was interpreted by the medical company (?) the study came from, and my doctor just placed orders based on results. I would definitely recommend finding someone who can give you better answers on these results - maybe a Sleep specialist? Wishing you luck and keep us posted! -Corinne, moderator
