How long is too long for an apnea?

I mean....obviously one you don't wake up from but from a statistical point.

I usually only have about 4 a night now (average), but some of them are as long as 16 seconds. My brain tells me that even one of these things is not good but at what point should I become concerned? More than 15 seconds? More than 20?, all are bad.

I'm curious. (not really concerned at this point, more curious)

Probably, concern about how low your O2 saturation levels are going .....is what you need to be concerned about.

So, the question then becomes, "How low should my O2 saturation levels go...before I become concerned?"

If your levels stay at 93% or higher...all night.....there's no cause for concern. If your levels are 92% and lower, it becomes profitable to figure out "why".....and do something to correct whatever is causing the de-sats.

The only way to answer your original question....is to turn it into one that can be quantified......and that means using a recording Oximeter to put a number on your blood oxygen levels.

Gerald

Froro wrote:I mean....obviously one you don't wake up from but from a statistical point.

I usually only have about 4 a night now (average), but some of them are as long as 16 seconds. My brain tells me that even one of these things is not good but at what point should I become concerned? More than 15 seconds? More than 20?, all are bad.

I'm curious. (not really concerned at this point, more curious)

You didn't say what your pressure and EPR settings were, but you might consider bumping your pressure up a bit or changing the EPR setting. Most apneas aren't "apneas" unless they're at least 10 sec. in duration. I don't have many apneas (typically less than a half dozen per month), but in the last four years I've had a couple that (supposedly) went for 60 and 72 seconds (early in my therapy)......and a few in the 18 and 24 sec. durations......however, most are of 10 - 12 sec. duration.

I agree, it's a little unnerving to see those durations, but prior to therapy we were probably having many more for alot longer durations.


Den

Thanks Gerald. That makes sense. I guess next on my list is one of those oximeters huh? (I was going to use eh? but figured that was much too stereotypical Canadian...LOL)

I'm not too too concerned to be honest. I know at my sleep study my oxygen (according to sleep doc) did not dip below 92 with 42 apneas an hour so I shouldn't get too wigged out about a couple. When the funding permits I'll look into the oximeters.

Den...my settings are at 7.4 (originally 7) and my epr is now at 1. I turned the epr off for a bit while experimenting with the noise issue, but found it a bit too difficult. While I wasn't having alot of AI's my HI went up. Now? It's all good.

If you think of it as holding your breath for 16 seconds, four times during the day, would you see that as a problem? I realize that the ideal situation is zero apneas but I think sometimes people get too wrapped up in trying to achieve that ideal.

Froro....

I may be way down South in the Louisiana swamps......but I undersdand "eh"......the Canadian version.

Montreal is one of my favorite cities.

I can highly recommend a SPO-7500 from Turner medical. Good machine....good software....nice people. Once you have an Oximeter, you can "cross-check" your CPAP machine....and learn what AHI scores equate to what de-sat scores. Looking at any problem (in this case suffocation...sleep apnea) from two different directions....gives a depth of understanding not possible with just one machine. It's sort of like "shooting at the enemy"....at the same time.....from two different directions. It's hard to hide from a cross-fire like that.

Gerald