Can AF cause low blood oxygen levels during sleep?

I've just purchased one of these oximeter and used it for the first time last night while I slept, and when looking at the charts it spat out it seems my blood oxygen drops as low as 88% at times during the night, and rarely gets above 95. Could that therefore just be a by product of AF, or could I potentially be suffering from sleep apnea?

Low blood oxygen levels and sleep apnea are associated with AFib, and may be a cause,

Thanks for the reply dnvrfox.

I'm aware of the link between AF and sleep apnea, but I was wondering if AF alone can cause the decrease in blood oxygen overnight, hence my readings are not a sign of sleep apnea but purely a result of the AF. If not, then, it seems I may have sleep apnea, which could of course explain my AF.

Not during sleep, but during the day, when I'm in afib & check my pulse/oxygen thing, I've noticed that my oxygen is just as high, if not higher, during afib. For what that's worth.

In other news, I do have apnea and have been on CPAP mask therapy for over a decade.
Nancy

Here's the scoop as I understand it, to be corrected by those much more knowledgeable and experienced on this forum...

(1) AFIB on its own CAN cause a drop in SpO2. How do I know? Been there. One of the jobs of the heart and lungs is to circulate your blood through the lungs and out to vital organs keeping everything oxygenated. AFIB creates an issue where your heart is not pumping out a full load of blood and therefore your blood supply is not being circulated through your lungs and thence into your blood circulation. Simple. That is why AFIBBERS are often short of breath and fatigued.
(2) SLEEP APNEA comes in a variety of flavours but the bottom line is that during an "event" where you are not oxygenating your blood, your SpO2 will drop, often dramatically and dangerously low. I have recorded SpO2 as low as mid 60s using a recording pulse oximeter and lining the graphs up with my APAP data. I was put on 3-5L/M of oxygen at night, infused into the APAP line to increase the oxygen percentage in the air I was breathing under pressure to eliminate this and eliminate the issue it did, on the first night. The problem was mainly that during REM or pre-REM sleep my breathing became shallow, my SpO2 plummeted, by autonomic nervous system rang the alarm bells and woke me up sufficiently to get me breathing deep enough to bring my SpO2 over 90%. I aimed for 95%. Below 90% is considered an URGENT deficiency by the paramedics. The heart goes into overdrive attempting to bring your SpO2 up and increases your chance of a massive stroke, especially if you have AFIB. BE FOREWARNED. Research it. Do NOT take a single medical opinion on it. Digest it. Make up your mind what your path will be. My GP, on reading the information I presented him, immediately wrote me an Rx for an oxygen concentrator. My respirologist suggested I should have gone into medicine or police work.

Is OSA associated with AFIB? I would not venture a guess, but reports seem to indicate as much. Why would you want to take a chance anyway? And if you are getting readings of 89% SpO2, you are exhibiting warning signs at the very least... of SOMETHING that needs further investigation. AND BTW... you MUST MUST MUST be your own advocate. Medicine is nuts out there. Trust me. I fell on May 19 and had the back of a chair strike my back (around T10). Over the WEEKS that followed I was a virtual cripple and in perpetual pain. Where did I wind up? In Oncology. ONCOLOGY. I asked why and suggested that I was not a doctor but putting 2 + 2 together they were coming up with 5. The logical answer was damage to my spine to go along with my broken ribs, right? Not to them. They took me through the ringer, everything coming back negative for any signs of cancer. Even did a bone marrow tap and biopsy (still hurts). Nothing. Final answer? Come back in six months for a checkup. MY ANSWER: Referal to the top neurosurgeon/oncologist in the region and am now waiting for imaging and a consult. He says, after reading all of the reports, "come and see me". "There is no way it is cancer and I have no explanation for why you were sent down that road". So, advocating for myself I am seeing someone who will be able to examine me for spinal chord and nerve damage while continuing to rule out any sign of cancer. ADVOCATE for yourself until you have the answers you are looking for. You only get one shot at this so you had better make it good.

The good news is that OSA (if it is indeed obstructive) is easily treated with a CPAP machine and other methods. Still, one must ADVOCATE. My wife was diagnosed with CENTRAL sleep apnea 4 months ago. The gave her a CPAP machine and sent her on her way. I dumped it and got a data recording APAP machine, titrated her pressure as THEY should have done, and her AHI is now approaching zero. CENTRAL sleep apnea indeed. Quack. Quack. The benefits of social medicine. She may have one or two events on a bad night and one may be a central or interpreted as a central. They just would not spend the time and money to investigate further. ADVOCATE.

So, the short answer, IMHO, is that AF can indeed affect blood oxygen at ANY time. If you snore or stop breathing for more than ten seconds while sleeping, wake up in a sweat or gasping for air, can't get a good night of sleep, etc., chances are that you have sleep apnea and it needs to be investigated and treated immediately as FOR SURE it will have an effect on your blood oxygen while sleeping. You want your blood oxygen over 90% all night. If it is dropping significantly your body will respond by increasing blood pressure and working to pump out more oxygenated blood. Stroke time.

Apologize if I alarm you but these are the facts as I know them having been there and having the T shirt. My story is a bit more complex but I wont' bore you. I think you have the picture. Now you need to educate yourself and advocate for yourself. Take medical opinion with a grain of salt and check results. Good luck. You can correct the problem(s).

Murray L

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Tikosyn uptake Dec 2011 500ug b.i.d. NSR since!
Herein lies opinion, not professional advice, which all are well advised to seek.

Thanks for that Murray. That's quite a story you've got!

I've actually taken oximeter readings over the last 3 nights. The first I mentioned in the post above, but the 2nd one was a little bizarre. This is an image of the first hour....



... and here's the summary report...



If that's to be believed then my SPO2 levels were all over the place, and were frequently dipping below 40%. I'm assuming the machine is giving false readings, as surely that can't be possible.

I took readings again from last night and it showed SPO2 as being mostly between 90 and 95%.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2015 10:40PM by GaryM.

Some nights are better than others. It is the BAD nights that will create an environment for a stroke. I had good nights and on my BAD nights my SpO2 often (regularly?) dropped into the 60's and below at times, until my body aroused itself from REM sleep hollering "breath, breath!". If you have EVER awoken in a cold sweat or gasping for air, you MUST add that to the equation as well. It often points to low SpO2. You are on the right track now anyway.... just don't sit on it and procrastinate.

Murray L

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Tikosyn uptake Dec 2011 500ug b.i.d. NSR since!
Herein lies opinion, not professional advice, which all are well advised to seek.

I definitely do wake up soaking in sweat very often, in fact I'd say at least 50% of the time I wake up like that.

I posted my charts over at the Apnea Board Forum and the general consensus was that the oximeter was giving erroneous readings, probably due to movement during the night. The suggestion is that I should trying taping it to my finger to get a more consistent reading.

Gary, better safe than sorry. Go to whoever you have to go to in order to be referred for a sleep study, and do it right now while you have breath to request it with. If your home device turns out to be defective and giving false readings, best to find that out. If it turns out to have been correct, pat it on its little housing and buy it a nice new battery for letting you know in time to do something about the problem.
Peace and free breathing to you, and please let us know what happens.

PeggyM

I agree with PeggyM. Get thee to a sleepologist (sic) and find out what gives. You really need to relate the SpO2 readings to the data from your APAP in order to get a decent picture of what is going on but I would not bet my life on the oximeter being defective. You are playing with fire. It may indeed be defective. And yes, for sure, you should use some blue or green masking tape to ensure your oximeter is stable on your fingertip. DO NOT procrastinate on this one.

Murray L

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Tikosyn uptake Dec 2011 500ug b.i.d. NSR since!
Herein lies opinion, not professional advice, which all are well advised to seek.