Affordable in-home test gear?

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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Dyssomniac
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Affordable in-home test gear?

Post by Dyssomniac » Wed Jul 01, 2015 9:19 pm

Is there any reasonably affordable test gear for use at home that records data such as apnea phenomena, sleep position, etc?

I have a CMS 50D+ oximeter, but am interested in collecting the other data recorded by gear used to diagnose sleep apnea. Certainly some of this information is provided by CPAP machines via SleepyHead, but I'd like to look further at my symptoms when the CPAP machine is not used in order to understand better to what degree the symptoms are caused by sleep position vs other factors.

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HoseCrusher
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Re: Affordable in-home test gear?

Post by HoseCrusher » Wed Jul 01, 2015 9:32 pm


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chunkyfrog
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Re: Affordable in-home test gear?

Post by chunkyfrog » Wed Jul 01, 2015 10:07 pm

Dyssomniac wrote: . . . to look further at my symptoms when the CPAP machine is not used . . .
Why?
Sleeping without my machine is not something I would endure voluntarily.

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Goofproof
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Re: Affordable in-home test gear?

Post by Goofproof » Wed Jul 01, 2015 10:13 pm

Sounds like you are interested in playing games more than your are in living better or longer. That's not our priority here. Buy a night vision camera, then the will have video of cause of death. Jim
Use data to optimize your xPAP treatment!

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Dyssomniac
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Re: Affordable in-home test gear?

Post by Dyssomniac » Wed Jul 01, 2015 10:47 pm

chunkyfrog wrote:Why?
Sleeping without my machine is not something I would endure voluntarily.
Goofproof wrote:Sounds like you are interested in playing games more than your are in living better or longer. That's not our priority here. Buy a night vision camera, then the will have video of cause of death.
No games, it's just that my pattern of symptoms is probably different from yours. When I sleep on my side, my AHI drops pretty close to zero, and my sleep doctor has suggested that I may just need a sleep positioner, not a CPAP machine. Before I consider going that route, I'd like to understand better what if any downside there might be in my particular case. SleepyHead data collected with the machine on is certainly useful, but it would also be helpful to be able to see some of the more subtle points of what might be going on if I were to use a sleep positioner but not a CPAP machine.

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Goofproof
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Re: Affordable in-home test gear?

Post by Goofproof » Thu Jul 02, 2015 12:00 am

By using a properly set APAP, which you show you have it doesn't matter whether you sleep on your side or back. It does matter if you don't use your APAP. Jim
Use data to optimize your xPAP treatment!

"The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease." Voltaire

JimP
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Re: Affordable in-home test gear?

Post by JimP » Thu Jul 02, 2015 5:33 am

[/quote]
No games, it's just that my pattern of symptoms is probably different from yours. When I sleep on my side, my AHI drops pretty close to zero, and my sleep doctor has suggested that I may just need a sleep positioner, not a CPAP machine. Before I consider going that route, I'd like to understand better what if any downside there might be in my particular case. SleepyHead data collected with the machine on is certainly useful, but it would also be helpful to be able to see some of the more subtle points of what might be going on if I were to use a sleep positioner but not a CPAP machine.[/quote]

Sounds like you've already done a sleep study. How else would your doctor know that your AHI drop to near zero when you sleep on your side?

I would follow my doctor's advice and do something about my sleep position. Using the oximeter wouldn't be a bad idea if you want to track your oxygen level.

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Re: Affordable in-home test gear?

Post by JDS74 » Thu Jul 02, 2015 5:37 am

ResMed makes a non-contact sleep monitor that might help you get the data you want. That, coupled with a recording pulse oximeter, should be helpful. It costs about $150.

ResMed S+ Sleep Monitor
How it Works

It does require a smart phone or similar device to work properly, though.
It doesn't require a scrip to get one and Bed, Bath and Beyond shows them on their web site.
CAVEAT: I have no personal experience with the device.

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Dyssomniac
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Re: Affordable in-home test gear?

Post by Dyssomniac » Fri Jul 03, 2015 1:21 pm

JDS74 wrote:ResMed makes a non-contact sleep monitor that might help you get the data you want. That, coupled with a recording pulse oximeter, should be helpful. It costs about $150.

ResMed S+ Sleep Monitor
How it Works

It does require a smart phone or similar device to work properly, though.
It doesn't require a scrip to get one and Bed, Bath and Beyond shows them on their web site.
Thanks. From a quick look I'm not sure whether it would provide information that would be helpful to me or not. I'll have to look at its specs more carefully.
JimP wrote: I would follow my doctor's advice and do something about my sleep position. Using the oximeter wouldn't be a bad idea if you want to track your oxygen level.
Yes, per the doctor's suggestion I obtained and am using a sleep positioner (a Rematee belt). Using the oximeter as well seems like it could be useful, although I've never had much dip in my O2 even when I was sleeping on my back before any treatment.

I don't want to give anyone the impression that I'm playing fast and loose with my treatment here. My doctor basically told me that sleeping on my side by itself appeared to treat my apnea, and he felt a CPAP machine "might not" be necessary. He seemed to leave it up to me to decide whether to continue using it, based on whether I felt I was getting benefit from it. So I'm going through a careful process of looking at factors like daytime fatigue when I do and don't use the machine. I'm also looking at SleepyHead data to try to determine if there are important symptoms that the machine could be treating. My doctor seemed to feel that using the machine to try to reduce AHI from, say, 0.5 to 0 amounted to "buffing the chrome" and not important in his opinion.

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Machine: PR System One REMStar 60 Series Auto CPAP Machine
Mask: AirFit™ F10 Full Face Mask with Headgear
Additional Comments: PR System One Model 560, 5.5-20 cm H2O, SleepyHead