Dumb(?) newbie question

[magpie]

My O2 levels dropped significantly during my sleep study(81%). My doctor called after my sleep study and mentioned putting me on oxygen at night. I have an appointment on thursday to discuss my treatment but want to be informed. Do any of the CPAP machines have Oxygen tracking ablities or do I need a seperate oximeter for that?

[Slinky]

You need a separate recording oximeter. Unfortunately.

I fail to see where that was a dumb question!!!

[magpie]

Thanks Slinky! Well if all data recording machines had that ability some might think it a dumb question LOL

Doctor doesn't have my titration study yet so maybe all this will be mote if the Cpap eliminated the O2 problem. It stinks that a person would have to buy two machines and be hooked up to two rather than one... not to mention making a place for both of them next to the bed.

ARE YOU LISTENING MANUFACTURERS?

[Slinky]

I can't vouch for the other brand names but the Resmeds, at least the fully data capable ones, require the Nonin 3012 XPod oximeter which isn't much more in looks than a cable hooked to the ResLink module which is hooked to the back of the Resmed xPAP in place of the data card module, the Nonin 8000 or 8000AA finger sensor hooked to the XPod cable and the ResScan or (I think) AutoScan software and cable. So the only "extra" you "wear" besides your hose and mask is the finger probe. Nothing bulky sitting on the nightstand or in bed w/you.

Unfortunately, the ResLink module is going to run close to $200 AT BEST and the Nonin XPod and Sensor about $900. And the AutoScan software and cable can sometimes be found if you scrounge real hard for about $75-$100 as a package deal.

[rested gal]

magpie, it may very well be that on cpap your O2 level will stay up just fine. I'd just about bet on it.

A lady here in town whom I help with her cpap stuff dropped to 43% (!!!) during her sleep study. They put her on 2 liters O2 right then and there, during the diagnostic sleep study.

After a later titration night (at which they still had her hooked to O2), she was prescribed cpap @ 16 cm pressure, AND the doctor kept the supplemental O2 Rx in place.

A month into that, with her tiny bedroom crowded bigtime by the O2 concentrator, I finally convinced her doctor to order an overnight recording pulse oximeter test with her using just CPAP and no supplemental O2. With just cpap, her O2 stayed up great...averaging 96 for the night and never dropping below 94.

Turns out CPAP was all she needed. The doctor would NEVER have checked that out and didn't hide his annoyance that I pushed for finding out. He'd have kept her on supplemental O2 along with CPAP from now on.

You really do have to be your own advocate and educate yourself about all things "cpap" so that you can have meaningful discussions with your doctor about treatment.

Hope you have a doctor that doesn't have the god-ego that the lady's doc in town had. She's going to a different doctor now. And, she's using an autopap "someone" gave her...which is letting her spend most of the night on 12 and 13, only occasionally needing to go up to 16. She's doing great.

[Guest]

Magpie,

If your O2 levels were only down to the low 80's (some of us were into the 70's and 60's), I would THINK that before you get into additional oxygen, your doctor would want to do an overnight pulse oximetry (which is free) a few weeks after starting your therapy. My O2 dipped into the 60's (with averages in the low 80's), my sleep doctor wrote 2L of O2 on my prescription but I've never used it. About a month or so after starting therapy, I got some pulse-ox devices from a local DME and did two nights over a weekend. The reports were sent to my sleep doc and I never heard from him again.....

Good luck.

Den

[Guest]

Turns out CPAP was all she needed. The doctor would NEVER have checked that out and didn't hide his annoyance that I pushed for finding out. He'd have kept her on supplemental O2 along with CPAP from now on.

I'm proud of you, RG!

Den

[magpie]

Thanks all !!! I am not stressing over this. I just wanted to be informed when I went to the doctor. My family physician opted to do the follow up himself. I do not know how knowledgable he is on the treatment of apnea.
I decided to give him a chance even though I would have preferred the follow up be done by a sleep doctor. So I am broadening my own personal data base in order to advocate more effectively for myself. Rest assured if I feel doc is not up to snuff on Cpap therapy I will take my treatment elsewhere. But he is a good doctor. I am pleased so far. He listens and doesn't balk when I ask questions or even suggest certain tests (such as a sleep study ).

[rested gal]

My family physician opted to do the follow up himself. I do not know how knowledgable he is on the treatment of apnea.
I decided to give him a chance even though I would have preferred the follow up be done by a sleep doctor. So I am broadening my own personal data base in order to advocate more effectively for myself. Rest assured if I feel doc is not up to snuff on Cpap therapy I will take my treatment elsewhere. But he is a good doctor. I am pleased so far. He listens and doesn't balk when I ask questions or even suggest certain tests (such as a sleep study ).

magpie, given your ability to research and educate yourself about this one narrow little specialty...your own sleep breathing disorder... it's probably not going to matter whether your primary care physician is "up to snuff" on CPAP therapy or not. What really matters (imho) is that he's a "good doctor" and that (as you said) he doesn't balk when you make suggestions. With that going for him -- and for you-- you'll probably do better right there with him than with most "sleep doctors."

[coldnose]

Just to back up what RG said, during my first sleep study my O2 went down to 59% without CPAP. On my second study with CPAP, my O2 was 98% with NO O2 supplement.

Sleep Well,

---gary

[ozij]

When I started cpap therapy, my results, both objective and subjective were worse than they are now.

I can imagine a person need oxygen in the beginning, while they're learning this new way of sleeping -- and I know that for some people their oxygen doesn't get high enough during the titration study. In those cases the doctors can't just shrug it off.

So first of all, it depends on your oxygen level during the titration night. But titration is just one night. See if you can come to an understanding with your doc about using a pulse oxymeter instead oxygen in the beginning, or else, about leaving off oxygen if in time (a month?) a pulse oximetry shows you oxygen level are OK.

And, she's using an autopap "someone" gave her...which is letting her spend most of the night on 12 and 13, only occasionally needing to go up to 16. She's doing great.

That must have been Cousin Euphemia*.... at least from the doctor's point of view.

O.

*"Cousin Euphemia Knows Best, or, Physician, Heal Somebody Else" by Ogden Nash

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): Titration, CPAP

[magpie]

Thank you all for your responses! You have given me much insight and the knowledge you have shared will help me get the best treatment for my needs. For now I just have to wait for my appointment on Thursday. I hope I will join the ranks of the sleeping soon!