Worried about Sleep Apnoe, Des these O2 stats look like i Shoud go for a Study

Hi All

I am concerned lately that i may have Sleep Apnoea, I have recorded my snoring which can be loud the last number of nights and last night i got a Oximeter to record overnight spo2 levels( Summary attached) I have the audio recordings from last night if these would be useful to assist reading the spo2 reading?

Does this look like i should get a full study done?

TIA
ConcernedApnea18

I would say to just about anybody who seriously asks this question, "yes." The fact that you ask the question suggests that there is a basis for asking it.

I assume that you're in the UK. I don't know what the coverage and wait time is for a study or whether you can skip you GP (which we call PCP in the U.S.) and call a sleep doctor directly.

You can start here ===> https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/obstructi ... iagnosis/

Thanks D.H

I'm in Ireland myself, I have mentioned to my doctor about waking up at night at times like i got a fright or sometimes like i need air, my heart would then race. However i never had difficulty breathing when these things would wake me. He mentioned Sleep Apnoea as a possible cause but i would need a sleep study to confirm, there can be a long waiting list.

I just wanted to be proactive and monitor somethings myself that i could arm myself with the next time i visit the doctor.

It does not look like my spo2 stats really drop much from what i can see but i could be reading it all wrong.

TIA
ConcernedApnea18

I don't see a huge drop either. It's normal for the O2 levels to drop a little during sleep anyway and that might be all you see here.

That said...not everyone who has sleep apnea will have significant O2 level drops. I have a friend who has severe sleep apnea with over 60 apnea events per hour and her in lab sleep study documented that the O2 levels never really dropped more than what we might expect as normal for asleep drops.
Her O2 levels were 96% while awake and during the in lab sleep study it never dropped below 93%...but she had a truckload of apnea events. They just didn't last very long or long enough to cause much of a drop in oxygen levels.

So an essentially negative pulse ox report doesn't always mean no sleep apnea.

If you think you have sleep apnea symptoms...get the sleep study to make sure one way or the other...for peace of mind if nothing else.

Your 02 levels do not look bad at all. Better than mine and I have mild apnea. But if you think you have it, ask your doctor and they can do a take home test for you. Or you can do some mail in places online if you don't have insurance, but I am not sure how accurate they are.

If low oxygen were the definitive marker, OSA diagnosis would be easier, cheaper, and faster.

Is it possible for you to do a home sleep study?

There are some drawbacks to doing it at home, but it worked out very well for me. It was several years ago, but I recollect having to strap a small, brick-sized machine to my waist, and placing a couple of tiny hoses in my nose, plus an oxygen monitor on my finger. My results showed unequivocally that I had OSA. My dentist provided me with the test, but the test data from the machine was sent off to somewhere else, and the report was reviewed by a doctor (not my dentist), and then it was forwarded to my dentist. My dentist made sure I had my own copy of the report, and I was able to give that report to my doctor. Up until seeing that report, my regular doctor was not willing to consider the possibility that I had OSA! So, this is one instance of a home sleep study working well. I had to pay for it out of my own pocket, since it wasn't ordered by a medical doctor, but for me it was well worth it.

I want to stress that although my dentist had the home test equipment, and his staff very carefully explained to me how to use the equipment at home, his office did not interpret the data or do the diagnostic work.

Here is an article that describes the pros and cons to a home sleep study:
http://www.alaskasleep.com/blog/challen ... ea-testing