Help - newbie asks some questions

palerider wrote:

Pugsy wrote:Palerider can explain the models better than I can.

I should save this somewhere!

in short
D+ finger mounted, 24 hours on two aaa batteries, often has to be taped on to stay on at night
E like the D+ but prettier OLED display and rechargeable, lower battery cost.
F (old) wrist mounted, stays on nicely, more comfortable at night.
F (new) same, new comm protocol, needs 0.9.8-1 or better sleepyhead, has a clock to timestamp recordings.
I new protocol, like new F, timestamps, plus stores multiple recordings.

Pugsy wrote:There's been considerable discussion about pulse oximeters in the past but I never bothered to bookmark any of them.

I bought the CMD 50 D Plus some time ago and used it a couple of time then I loaned it to someone who needed and wanted it more than I did.
For my needs it was quite sufficient. I also used the rechargeable batteries with it but probably didn't even need to do that as I only used it twice. I knew when I bought it that I wasn't going to be using it often so I didn't see the need to get a more expensive model that had fancier options.
I found out what I suspected...no desats while on cpap therapy.

Palerider can explain the models better than I can. I just never bothered to really study up on the various features and just how important they might be to someone.
The CMS 50 D plus did all I wanted...which was to let me know if my O2 dropped. I really didn't care about time stamps or using it except rarely or storing multiple sessions or heck..even using it with Sleepyhead.
All I wanted to know was if I was having any desats while on the machine and since I wasn't there wasn't any real need to keep messing with it.
You would have to know a little more about me to understand...I just don't like stuff attached to me any more than I just have to have attached to me. I prefer minimal to none headgear...it's just the way I am. Unless there was an urgent need to do the pulse ox thing I sure wasn't going to do it and wear something else to annoy me.
Besides I am a tightwad and I saw no need to pay for features that I had a really good idea I wouldn't need or want or use.
Oh, BTW my O2 dropped to 73% during my diagnostic sleep study...so it was pretty bad but when I used my machine there was no drop.

GoodNightRest wrote: Also, do you happen to know, does 50F come in two color? I found in most vendors the color is turquoise.
Is this white one is the newer one?

GoodNightRest wrote:Considering that by sleeping elevated at 30 deg address my snoring (and no gasping), does it mean I have mild sleep apnea that doesn't need CPAP?

OkyDoky wrote:

GoodNightRest wrote:
Btw, I went to SleepyHead download page in sourceforge, and it seems that the latest version (0.9.8-1) is under "Testing" folder and not "Release" folder.
Is it the correct latest version under "Testing"?

If you are downloading Sleepyhead it's best to go to this site. http://sleepfiles.com/SH/index.html?TestingVersions Sometimes the sourceforge site leaves unwanted ads. Also this site can help guide you through the process. https://sleep.tnet.com/resources/sleepyhead

Pugsy wrote:

GoodNightRest wrote:Considering that by sleeping elevated at 30 deg address my snoring (and no gasping), does it mean I have mild sleep apnea that doesn't need CPAP?

No. I know that's not what you wanted to hear.
People can have really bad sleep apnea with really bad desats and not snore.

Would it be impossible? Of course not but I would want to have some sort of verification besides no snoring and no gasping.
Like some sort of sleep study.
Even using the cpap at minimum pressure and getting a nice clean boring AHI report doesn't mean that for sure cpap isn't needed because that 4 cm minimum pressure still has therapeutic value.

What you could do is lower the pressure and sleep like that and see what happens. If the events return with lower pressure then you have an answer.
If they don't return then I would advise some sort of sleep study follow up for verification.

archangle wrote:You know, we often talk about how one weakness of home sleep tests is if they can't tell if you're awake or not.

However, it occurs to me that if you're having O2 desats, that's not as big a question. Presumably, you won't get rapid "apnea style" O2 drops while you're awake, even if you have some sort of O2 problem.

GoodNightRest wrote:Btw, are you saying that the machine could deliver pressure lower than 4 cm?

GoodNightRest wrote:Regarding having sleep study follow up for verification, do you mean to get retested? Do you have good suggestion how to persuade my doctor to order a retest?

Pugsy wrote:
Yes, retested preferably in a sleep lab setting or maybe in a home sleep study but that home study needs to be more than just a pulse oximetry test. There are different levels of home sleep studies from the basic pulse ox test to pretty much all the channels that are done in the sleep lab.

Pulse oximeters alone aren't as comprehensive of a test as I would prefer.
No desats doesn't mean no OSA because people can have OSA and not desat.
Desats don't always mean OSA because there are other reasons that people desat (lung or heart problems being a couple).

How to talk your doctor into a retest?....I would just present my case along with whatever experiments and results I had from home...and the first thing would be to see what the results at 4 cm showed.
I can't breathe comfortably at 4 cm...not enough air moving and I would have a problem with that experiment. 6 cm is about as low as I can go without feeling like I am suffocating.
In my case if I was to do the experiment you are thinking about I would have my answer at 6 cm pressure because I already know that even if I sleep totally sitting up that my airway collapses. How do I know? I have fallen asleep sitting upright on the couch and I still snore and quit breathing upright...and wake myself up multiple times doing it.

GoodNightRest wrote:I thought the purpose of CPAP treatment is to treat desat....no?
Let say someone has sleep apnea but no desat, then the apnea would be considered mild (it won't harm the body and won't cause any medical condition) and no CPAP treatment needed, is it right?

GoodNightRest wrote:Let say to see if my apnea can be addressed by elevated sleep (use mattress wedge) or nose dilator, does it mean when I get retested they will asked me to use mattress wedge and nose dilator?

Pugsy wrote:

GoodNightRest wrote:I thought the purpose of CPAP treatment is to treat desat....no?
Let say someone has sleep apnea but no desat, then the apnea would be considered mild (it won't harm the body and won't cause any medical condition) and no CPAP treatment needed, is it right?

No.
Did you know that not all apnea events cause marked desats yet they can totally trash your sleep quality so you don't get any restorative sleep. Ever wonder why sleep deprivation is considered a common torture technique?
I have a friend who has severe OSA (60plus events per hour) and she never had desats below 94% and to top it off she needed 16 cm pressure to keep the airway open. Desats are just one of the potential bad things that can happen to our bodies as a result of poor sleep...it isn't the only bad thing.

GoodNightRest wrote:Let say to see if my apnea can be addressed by elevated sleep (use mattress wedge) or nose dilator, does it mean when I get retested they will asked me to use mattress wedge and nose dilator?

Of course...if you think that something else is working for you then you must be tested with the something else you are doing.
Otherwise how else would they know if it works or not?