BRAIN TWISTER- WAS THIS PERSON SLEEPING? PLEASE COMMENT.

[tedburnsIII]

What prompted me to purchase the oximeter was due to my poor sleep study saturation and desaturation levels with CPAP (until they reached 12cm SaO2 while supine), and without CPAP (82% lowest). I also wanted to see if there was a correlation between the very precise titration table that was part of the sleep study, and my own findings, with the hope that I would not have to go originally recommended straight 12cm. I really enjoy using the oximeter and analyzing the reports. It looks as if Auto 9.5-12cm or 10-12 cm will suffice all the way around re saturation and desaturations, especially if I sleep on my side. And there is little doubt that I presently sleep longer at lower pressure.

(Tech comment straight 12cm from titration and sleep doc the same, but those were supine. Prescription history from cardio- Auto 6-15, then raised to Auto 9-15. It should be noted that I felt quite good at these lower auto pressures because aps and hyps were being handled. It was only through my own education that I realized that I might not be getting enough Sp02 and need to attack this issue head-on, because I did not even know of sleep docs recommendation until 2 months after I started therapy, and by that time I was getting an education, mainly here, and in talks with that sleep lab and my DME.

'Dial-winging' and my own Sp02 testing-looks like 9.5-12cm or 10-12cm will presently be best all around pressure).

In case anyone was wondering, and after reading my history as detailed in the first post and also the fact that I ate before going back to bed at 4 in the morning, I felt lousy, really lousy upon 'awakening'.

I think in the future that if I happen to fall asleep without the CPAP and with the lights on, & I awake refreshed middle of the night, that I should not eat before retiring a second time, or if I do eat, I might be better off just staying up rest of the night. I wasn't really tired after the initial sleep and after the food that was eaten.

When I did 'awaken' from this nearly terrible second sleep, with CPAP and lights off, at about 7 a.m., I just felt like laying around in bed-hose crusher comments are confirmed and sleep, if any, must have been very light.

If one looks at my pulse and my spo2, combined with the history that I gave, I think that is borne out. My pulse was too high throughout the rest of the 'sleep' starting from the 45 minute period and onward. IOW, my pulse ALWAYS goes down for long periods when I am sleeping efficiently. But other than that, and the history, it would be hard to tell from the charts and graphs in my first post! Not only was my AHI low but I was at >95% Sp02 for 46.4% of the time!

I was so tired later this morning that I took a nap with the CPAP set 10-12cm. Felt much better after an hour's solid sleep. Basal SpO2 was 94.3% and 36.5% of that hour's nap SpO2 was >95%!

Pulse averaged 60-65 bpm, with a low of 58. AHI was 0.9 with 1 apnea.

[tedburnsIII]

I'm not technical enough to interpret that graph (others can), but I will say it is almost universal that people in sleep labs will get up in the a.m. and absolutely swear they did not sleep... but in fact did, for varying amounts of time, they just drift off (all recorded) but feel so crappy in the end they're don't believe they slept at all.

I guess that perhaps I made the correct decision in sedating myself for the study. I only have a very faint, if any, recollection, of being placed on the mask.

And after they had titrated me through the higher pressures and settled on 12cm for about an hour, when I was awakened I felt a bit 'doped' from the medications I had taken but that day I felt absolutely GREAT and wasn't tired at all, not even for a moment. Hadn't felt that great for the entire day for probably 25 years.

[tedburnsIII]

Updated 4/20/2015: Just wanted to show Sunday night's readings, show my pulse rate and also how the Spo2 appears to go through stages (of sleep?)---------
It appears that I had a major desat where pulse dropped to 52 and Spo2 dropped to 78? At the worst I had a heart attack, but wouldn't pulse/heartbeat shoot to the sky? Or just that first hypnopnea last night? GGGeeeessshhh....artifact?

Just took my BP ~8:30 a.m. PDT- 133/80, pluse 74. Spo2 currently 97%.

Comments appreciated.

[Julie]

Ted, maybe you need to gather a consensus of nights, like a week at a time, rather than paying attention to 4 secs worth of anything. You seem inordinately hung up on 02 desats but you don't have a good reason to be - no more than the rest of us, many of whom have had far worse for far longer at times. I understand your wanting to understand it all, and be on top, etc., but relax a bit... give things time to get sorted out as you're early in the process and nothing's in stone yet.

[tedburnsIII]

Looks like I was cut off or PO got inaccurate or no reading due to hand movement. See 03:08:20 area. Anomaly.
It lasted 4 to 5 minutes.

[HoseCrusher]

That's an artifact. The machine lost signal and it takes a while to pick it back up and start with the averaging again.

Finger movement inside the oximeter is the usual cause, but it can be caused by you finger slipping slightly out. This requires the sensor to read through a different part of your finger.

You may have to change shades of your nail polish... or at least make sure it is even on the whole surface of the nail.







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[tedburnsIII]

That's an artifact. The machine lost signal and it takes a while to pick it back up and start with the averaging again.

Finger movement inside the oximeter is the usual cause, but it can be caused by you finger slipping slightly out. This requires the sensor to read through a different part of your finger.

You may have to change shades of your nail polish... or at least make sure it is even on the whole surface of the nail.

I will tape my finger more securely with the exterior tape, and change my brand of polish to purple rose! haha te he

Thanks for the reassuring comment about it being an artifact. I suspected the same, but you have been very helpful due to your knowledge re pulse oximeters.