oximeter people! I got mine, what do these graphs mean?

[elena88]

HI Gerry,
You are so nice to help me!

yes, I have these questions from the last page above my summary graphs:
My questions:
1. It doesnt look like I had too many bad desats on my side and stomach, could I have mild apnea in those positions and severe on my back?
2. I only had a few graphs before, but NOW looking at the summary, does it still look like I need to wear the apap all the time?
3. is my pulse rate pretty normal on both the graphs? ..what does pulse 173 mean?

Since I just got the oxi, Im not familiar with what numbers are mild, moderate, severe.. I havent had a chance to read up on all that yet,
its all new territory for me.

If you are above ninety all the time, isnt that considered normal? Because I am mostly there, so it doesnt appear that I have an ox
problem with or w/o the apap, or much of one if I sleep on my side or tummy. ..

[elena88]

I finally had a few minutes to find something about ox numbers:

How Is Normal Oxygen Saturation Determined?

http://www.wisegeek.com/how-is-normal-o ... rmined.htm

Normal oxygen saturation can be determined by using a device called a pulse oximeter, which was developed to measure a patient's blood oxygen level. The small machine is attached to the end of a finger or earlobe into which it sends different colors of light and then measures the amount of light that is returned. A pulse oximeter might be clipped to a toe when measuring for a pediatric patient. It then determines the blood oxygen saturation level and displays the reading on a small screen. If the reading displayed is between 96 and 100 percent, the patient is said to have normal oxygen saturation.


Some oximeters use different wavelengths of light, which permits them to measure the level of carbon monoxide in the blood in addition to the level of oxygen. A reading below 96 percent indicates a condition known as hypoxia, or an insufficiency in the supply of oxygenated blood reaching the body's tissues. Readings below 86 percent indicate significant hypoxia, and readings below 85 percent indicate severe hypoxia.
Determination of normal oxygen saturation might be part of evaluating the effectiveness of a medical intervention, but health care providers cannot always rely on the readings of a pulse oximeter for an accurate revealing of normal oxygen saturation in a patient. Situations in which the device cannot be trusted include patients who are suffering hypoperfusion, more commonly known as shock, and victims of hypothermia, or lowered body temperature by exposure to cold, because not enough blood will be flowing through capillaries for a true reading to be obtained. Carbon monoxide poisoning also will produce readings that are higher than the actual oxygen saturation.

[gpk111]

Elena,
You must keep using the XPAP machine. Your oxygen is generally above 92%, the magic reference number, but that's nowhere near the whole story. There are 11 desaturations per hour (a measure of disrupted sleep). There are only 2 per hour with your CPAP. Related, you had 17 unusual pulse patterns per hour without the CPAP and 11 with the CPAP machine. While your CPAP nite showed a respectable AHI of 2.8, it was only because you were supplied with continuous air pressure (of 10). These numbers by themselves are not always conclusive, but they sure point to a CPAP machine in my book. Sorry!

To your other questions:

yes, I have these questions from the last page above my summary graphs:
My questions:
1. It doesnt look like I had too many bad desats on my side and stomach, could I have mild apnea in those positions and severe on my back?
Plenty of desats (see above), but can't tell what your sleeping position was from your data.

2. I only had a few graphs before, but NOW looking at the summary, does it still look like I need to wear the apap all the time?
Absolutely. You can't just look at the graph. You should reread this thread for creating and interpreting CMS50 data
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=50672&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

3. is my pulse rate pretty normal on both the graphs? ..what does pulse 173 mean?
Pulse rate is on the high side (no big deal), but variable (medium deal) and identified as producing "pulse events" ( not good and probably related to aepneas. The 173 is not your pulse rate. It's the total number of pulse disruptions teh oximeter picked up. That's divided by the number of sleep hours (about 10) to give you an index of 17.

Since I just got the oxi, Im not familiar with what numbers are mild, moderate, severe.. I havent had a chance to read up on all that yet,
its all new territory for me.
re-review viewtopic.php?f=1&t=50672&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

If you are above ninety all the time, isnt that considered normal?
Yes, but again, that's by no means the whole story.

Because I am mostly there, so it doesn't appear that I have an ox
problem with or w/o the apap, or much of one if I sleep on my side or tummy. ..
Wrong. See above. Sorry to be cruel, but your wishful thinking may be detrimental to your health!!

[elena88]

Dearest Gerry,

Thank you for taking the time to explain this all to me. As you can tell, I have been trying my best to wiggle out of my situation.
Not because Im lazy, or its too much trouble, or I dont like the mask, or the machine.. I am handling all that very well now.
Its just that I think Im such a light sleeper, the air blowing in my all night long gives me restless sleep... It has been six months, I hoped I would be
used to it by now. I was also (wishful thinking) that I wouldnt have to keep at it if my oxygen was in a good range.. and even though I am on the cusp,
I guess there are other things to consider. I sort of was looking at it like having an AHI of four and not five you get out of cpap therapy..
That was my hope.... because as you know, I feel so unrested after a night with my machine, even with great ahi, and good leak control..
I would like to be one of those people who says.. OH look, its been a year, and now I feel great.. but geez, I just didnt want to feel like crap for
another six months.. my life has stopped..much like people who ARENT on cpap who desperately need to be. However, if in another six months, I feel same, horrible on the cpap, and great not using it.. Im going to stop the treatment.. because feeling like a train rain over every morning is not how I
want to live.. I have things I want to do, and people I want to see, and work I have to do, and none of its has been getting done, except on the nights
I sleep without the machine..
Thanks for all the information below, my responses are in bold color
*********************************************************

Elena,
You must keep using the XPAP machine. Your oxygen is generally above 92%, the magic reference number, but that's nowhere near the whole story. There are 11 desaturations per hour (a measure of disrupted sleep). There are only 2 per hour with your CPAP. Related, you had 17 unusual pulse patterns per hour without the CPAP and 11 with the CPAP machine. While your CPAP nite showed a respectable AHI of 2.8, it was only because you were supplied with continuous air pressure (of 10). These numbers by themselves are not always conclusive, but they sure point to a CPAP machine in my book. Sorry!

I must keep using the machine, thank you for all the clarifications on the desaturations, I did not understand any of this.
I also have never heard of the term PULSE PATTERN.. that is new to me, I guess those can disturb your sleep.

To your other questions:

yes, I have these questions from the last page above my summary graphs:
My questions:
1. It doesnt look like I had too many bad desats on my side and stomach, could I have mild apnea in those positions and severe on my back?
Plenty of desats (see above), but can't tell what your sleeping position was from your data.

I dont sleep on my back anymore, that was all side or tummy sleeping, so plenty of desats even in those positions, humf..

2. I only had a few graphs before, but NOW looking at the summary, does it still look like I need to wear the apap all the time?
Absolutely. You can't just look at the graph. You should reread this thread for creating and interpreting CMS50 data
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=50672&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

Thank you for the link, and translating the summary, and the advisement on wearing the apap all the time..

3. is my pulse rate pretty normal on both the graphs? ..what does pulse 173 mean?
Pulse rate is on the high side (no big deal), but variable (medium deal) and identified as producing "pulse events" ( not good and probably related to aepneas. The 173 is not your pulse rate. It's the total number of pulse disruptions teh oximeter picked up. That's divided by the number of sleep hours (about 10) to give you an index of 17.
It takes me an hour or so to go to sleep, but I put my apap on when I watch tv, just in case I fall asleep sooner.. Okay, so pulse 173 is a disruption
number.. I had no idea what that meant, thank you. I dont really understand pulse disruptions, so I will go look that up.. first I have heard of it.
Dont think they mention that in sleep studies do they?

Since I just got the oxi, Im not familiar with what numbers are mild, moderate, severe.. I havent had a chance to read up on all that yet,
its all new territory for me.
Thanks for the link
re-review viewtopic.php?f=1&t=50672&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

If you are above ninety all the time, isnt that considered normal?
Yes, but again, that's by no means the whole story.

As you can see, I was hoping to edit the story to fit my wishful goal
Because I am mostly there, so it doesn't appear that I have an ox
problem with or w/o the apap, or much of one if I sleep on my side or tummy. ..
Wrong. See above. Sorry to be cruel, but your wishful thinking may be detrimental to your health!!

You are not cruel, you are very experienced, helpful, and caring. Thank you Gerry..
The wishful thinking is all on me, just have to suck it up again and deal..
And thank you all so very much for helping me with this..


elena

[pulseoxstore]

Thank you so much for your kind words at the beginning of your post. I had every intention of looking at your graphs and giving you what little insight I could, but the CPAPtalkers beat me to it. That is what I love about this site. There are so many people who have first hand experience with all of this equipment that are willing to offer their help. Good luck with your PAP therapy Elena.

[gpk111]

Pulseoxstore: Any corrections or comments certainly welcome!!

We're all learning!

[Rogue Uvula]

First, I have to confess to not reading through teh entire thread.

From my own experience, you should wrap blue painters tape (or plain masking tape) around the unit after you start it. My first night (which was with CPAP) I had some short, sudden drops like you are showing. The next night I decided to use the tape and I stayed in the mid to upper 90's.
I didn't pull the tape tight at all, just made it so if I dragged my finger along the sheets, it wouldn't open a little and get a weaker signal. The tape is fixing it at the same position it sits and not allowing it to spring open.
In my sleep study, they used a velcro wrap.

If you did this...

"never mind"

[elena88]

thanks R. U.

actually this was very helpful! last night I put it on my husband, and in a couple minutes he had it off, Im out of painters tape so
I used two little tiny bandaids, and I put one on the wire an attached that to the back of his hand, and I put the other one underneath
of the little finger unit and attached to the bottom of his index finger..

I wonder if wear you tape it matters? I dont want to mess up the readings..

anyway, thank you!

I love this little pulse oximeter! Its the wrist one..