Would increasing pressure help compensate for dropping oxygen ?

[DaveCar]

Lets say you normally have an O2 of 99, and caught omicron. You check your O2 (if you happen to have an oximeter), and see that it's dropped to 95%.  
Would nudging the pressure range of a pap do anything for this ?

[SarcasticDave94]

I'm not sure if will help or if it needs to be addressed actually. 95% could still be an acceptable number, that's where I am frequently in the daytime.

Is that drop causing issues, or is the number itself a concern?

[Gideon]

Those are IMHO good numbers. I wouldn't address them, monitor them yes.

In general it is PS, EPR, Flex that lacking other issues could impact SATs.

Post OSCAR charts, both standard and advanced and your oximeter reports and then we can see if something needs to be addressed.

[DaveCar]

Sorry for misleading.. it was just a hypothetical situation (my O2 is generally good, 98/99).
I did read today that if you think you have covid (omicron), and your O2 gets to around 92, you should be presenting at the hospital.
So.. I became curious if our machine settings could provide (a very limited, obviously) therapy in a pinch.

[Gideon]

the answer is a qualified yes, see above.

[zellem]

in certain circumstances yes, but this is too difficult to discuss without any other conditions.

[desaturator]

I did read today that if you think you have covid (omicron), and your O2 gets to around 92, you should be presenting at the hospital.

UK governmental guidance is the same, except that they've recently amended to say that the "92%" figure only applies if it's normally much higher than this. I suspect that many people who read this forum have oxygen saturation figures that hardly go above 92%

Personally, if my oxygen saturation were 95% and I had Covid, I wouldn't be fiddling with my machine settings to try to get it higher. I'd just be happy that it was that good. Even if my saturation were always over 98% I don't think I'd be concerned about 95%.

I guess it all depends on the context.

Best wishes, DS

[Geer1]

Hospitals have been using bilevels to treat covid. It is the pressure support more so than pressure that helps keep oxygen levels up.

That all said unless there is absolutely no way to get to a hospital trying to self treat with cpap or even a bilevel is unlikely to work well. All it takes is one period of sleep where your breathing worsens and you won't wake up again.

The nurse that keeps an eye on you, monitors sats, adjusts pressure support, adding oxygen, performs resuscitation etc is just as important as the bilevel is if your body is no longer maintaining oxygen levels on its own. If sick and oxygen levels are dropping get to a hospital.

[desaturator]

If sick and oxygen levels are dropping get to a hospital.

Hell, yes. The problem is that you have to have some sort of baseline against which to compare your oxygen saturation. If I went to hospital every time my SpO2 was below 92%, as my Government advises, I'd be living there.

Best wishes, DS

[Ratchick]

Hell, yes. The problem is that you have to have some sort of baseline against which to compare your oxygen saturation. If I went to hospital every time my SpO2 was below 92%, as my Government advises, I'd be living there.

Ditto, lol. But yes, in this specific hypothesis, I think everyone is presuming that it's not normal for their oxygen levels to drop below 92%. So you're right, of course, it very much depends on what your "normal" looks like.