SPO2 Levels

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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theoldman22
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SPO2 Levels

Post by theoldman22 » Wed Apr 23, 2014 10:53 am

I have been doing combat with apnea for over 10 years. My nose is crooked—FFMs are very hard on the bridge of my nose. The least obnoxious FFM I have found is the Quattro Air. Nasal masks also damage my nose. Nares which differ in size usually prevent a good seal on both nares with nasal pillows. My mouth must be taped if I try to use pillows.
Presently, using the Quattro Air and with the S9 VPAP Auto with settings of12/8 PS 2 cm H2O, I usually get an AHI<1, mostly CAs. A recording SPO2 shows a basal O2 between 92.5% and 93.5% . Using nasal pillows with the same settings on the VPAP AHI <2.5, mostly HAs and OAs. The basal O2 is usually about 93.0%. Not using the VPAP basal O2 is between 91.5% and 92.5%..
Is there a consensus among the knowledgeable people on this forum about the difference in the O2 levels that I experience, with and without the VPAP, causing a significant difference in overall wellbeing? I have searched the web and this forum, and the opinions I found were all over the map.

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Todzo
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Re: SPO2 Levels

Post by Todzo » Wed Apr 23, 2014 11:24 am

theoldman22 wrote:I have been doing combat with apnea for over 10 years. My nose is crooked—FFMs are very hard on the bridge of my nose. The least obnoxious FFM I have found is the Quattro Air. Nasal masks also damage my nose. Nares which differ in size usually prevent a good seal on both nares with nasal pillows. My mouth must be taped if I try to use pillows.
Presently, using the Quattro Air and with the S9 VPAP Auto with settings of12/8 PS 2 cm H2O, I usually get an AHI<1, mostly CAs. A recording SPO2 shows a basal O2 between 92.5% and 93.5% . Using nasal pillows with the same settings on the VPAP AHI <2.5, mostly HAs and OAs. The basal O2 is usually about 93.0%. Not using the VPAP basal O2 is between 91.5% and 92.5%..
Is there a consensus among the knowledgeable people on this forum about the difference in the O2 levels that I experience, with and without the VPAP, causing a significant difference in overall wellbeing? I have searched the web and this forum, and the opinions I found were all over the map.
You are, from the data from you SpO2 device, at the place where people start to think about too low.

However, I have never considered consumer grade equipment accurate enough to make such determinations. I look to other symptoms.

What is the meters rated accuracy? Is the sensor bay clean? Is the battery charged? How old is the meter?
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Pugsy
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Re: SPO2 Levels

Post by Pugsy » Wed Apr 23, 2014 12:07 pm

What is the altitude where you live?

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HoseCrusher
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Re: SPO2 Levels

Post by HoseCrusher » Wed Apr 23, 2014 5:38 pm

When your blood O2 saturation drops below 88% your organs are not getting enough oxygen to vibrantly sustain life. If you stay at that level for extended periods of time damage occurs.

If you stay in the 90 - 95% range your organs are not dying off but you may not be able to fully repair damage. You generally feel OK but not great. You can live a long time at these levels but may not have peak energy and stamina.

Normal is 95 - 99%. The body works best in this range.

Note that these numbers are for living at or near sea level. At higher elevations they drop a little.

You should take your oximeter down to the local Fire Department and bring them a plate of cookies or something nice. Strike up a conversation about local fire conditions and ask them if they could check your oximeter against theirs for an informal comparison. Another way to check is to have your doctor do a comparison with the ones used in the hospital. CAUTION: If your oximeter is taken into the hospital be sure to disinfect it when you get it back. You never know what bugs are floating around in the hospital.

I would suggest that you go with the therapy that gives you the best O2 saturation. There isn't a lot of difference between the two but over a long period of time every little bit helps.

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theoldman22
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Location: New Mexico

Re: SPO2 Levels

Post by theoldman22 » Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:42 pm

Thanks for the replies.
Altitude is 3700 feet.
The oximeter is a CMS50F, certainly not a laboratory grade instrument, and about 3 months old. Stated accuracy is +or- 2% which, if true, means, of course, that a reading of 92.0% would put the O2 level somewhere between 90)% and 94%. I had hoped that the repeatability would be good enough that the difference in O2 values in different scenarios would be usable.
Since neither the VA nor Medicare will cover any oximetry equipment, I probably won’t be getting any better equipment-- unless I can find a DME who will sell me a good recording oximeter for a lot less than the usual going price. ResMed does sell an accessory kit that allows recording pulse rate and O2 levels on the VPAP Auto, but it too is quite expensive.
Another interesting thing about the O2 level has shown up. I am old, I am crippled (walker for short times and short distances, wheelchair for longer times and longer distances). Some nights I have to urinate, some nights I don’t. When I do have to, my wife uses a urinal on me so that I don’t have to exert myself getting up and going to the bathroom (which, as slow as I am, would take at least 20 minutes). The last 3 times I have had to urinate, the O2 level afterwards was about 1% lower than it was before—and staid that way until I turned off the machine and got up. The trace appears normal but the difference between before and after was obvious. My body? The machine? I don’t have a clue.
There is one thing that says keep using the VPAP in spite of my difficulties with masks—I don’t have to urinate so much at night when using the VPAP.

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Pugsy
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Re: SPO2 Levels

Post by Pugsy » Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:58 pm

The CMS50F is still a good pulse oximeter and I bet if you compared it to one of the higher end machines that the difference (if any) would be minimal.

Talk to your doctor about your concerns. Your altitude is high enough that the air is a bit thinner in terms of Oxygen saturation and might explain the slightly lower baseline.
Check it during the day while awake...at rest and after a bit of your usual exercise to see how much it might change.
When you talk to your doctor you might request that they order another overnight pulse ox using their equipment to see how the results match up with what you are seeing...I would be surprised if the difference was very much.
Medicare will pay for the testing.
Then depending on what it shows and what you are seeing and feeling and considering where you live...maybe a trial with added O2 might be useful.

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