Have you ever read anything by Noah Greenspan? He's pretty plainspoken about the fact that there is not always a correlation between dyspnea (air hunger) and oxygen saturation. The rest of this post is quoting him. You can find articles by him online, and I'll put the name of his book at the bottom of the post.
_____________
"There are many, many factors besides just the respiratory system and pulmonary function that can affect how well or how poorly we breathe. These include things such as cardiovascular health, level of conditioning (or deconditioning), medications, emotional state, and weather, among others.
"This means that you can be short of breath, even extremely short of breath, even in the presence of normal oxygen saturation. Conversely, you can be hypoxic even if you are not particularly short of breath or disproportionately to your shortness of breath.
“Recovery from Shortness of Breath:
"1. Stop the activity you are doing. You either have to reduce your demand for air or increase your supply. The best way to reduce the demand is to stop whatever it is you’re doing.
2. Talk to yourself, reminding yourself that you know what to do (assuming that you do actually know what to do. If you don’t know, consider enrolling in either an in-person or online pulmonary rehabilitation program.)
3. Change your position. Certain positions help regain control of breathing, including several variations of bending over or leaning forward, resting arms on thighs or on a stationary object. This allows the abdominal contents to drop forward, improving respiratory mechanics.
4. Begin controlled breathing techniques. These include diaphragmatic and pursed-lip breathing, among others. Again, if unfamiliar with these techniques, a pulmonary rehabilitation program, either in person or online, can provide guidance.
5. Reassess and adapt. After catching your breath, reassess the situation and continue the activity (if you can) using controlled breathing techniques and modifying the activity.
6. Consider using your rescue inhaler (with your doctor’s blessing) to further increase your air supply. In an ideal world (and with your doctor’s blessing), you might consider pre-medicating approximately 15 minutes before activity."
His book is called "Ultimate Pulmonary Wellness."