Recording oximeter, what does it detect?

Hello,

I recently bought a standard non recording oximeter. But was told that it is useless because you need to wear it when your sleeping and it needs to record data. You can't buy a recording oximeter here in the shops in Canberra so you need to order one from Ebay. (I recall people saying that you can buy them from Wallmart which we don't have in Australia but we just got a CostCo here in Canberra so I might have a look there one day). So I have ordered a cheapy recording oximeter from Ebay, it is a watch with a probe.

What kinds of problems can the recording oximeter pick up? What do fellow CPAPer's on this board use it for?

Sleep Apnea causes a drop in the O2 saturation in our blood. We should have a saturation of 93% or higher. A recording oximeter will detect the O2 levels while you are sleeping....and give you a report the next morning after downloading the data to your laptop.

I use a SPO7500 from Turnermedical.com. The device is made in Israel....and if you can't order it from Turner Medical, you might contact the factory in Israel....and ask them how you can obtain their product.

The purchase of a recording oximeter is a great way to cross-check the effectiveness of your CPAP machine. The AHI score is a measurement of apneas and hypopneas....not the level of O2 in your system. Apneas and hypopneas cause your O2 levels to decline......so, measuring your O2 levels directly with a tool made for that purpose will help you be sure that your CPAP machine is doing its job.

G

In addition to recording your oxygen levels, a pulse oximeter also records your hearts response to those changes, and will record your hearts response to other things such as arousals.

If you chat with a cardiologist you will find that sudden changes in pulse rate while sleeping often lead to serious problems down the road.

And there is another thing... I heard that not all the patients with sleep apnea have oxygen desaturation during sleep. So while you are using the oximeter during sleep, the device will record normal levels of blood oxygen. Now, for me this information is difficult to accept. How can you have normal oxygen levels when you stop breathing during sleep? Even if there are exceptions, it's quite difficult for me to understand this.

If every patient with sleep apnea would have low oxygen levels, then a person with extreme drowsiness during daytime could use the oximeter to diagnose if he has sleep apnea (by checking the O2 levels). I wish it would be so easy...

I believe originally the focus was primarily on obstructive sleep apnea. The oximeter works great on that. However, over the years the realization that poor sleep often includes more than obstructive apnea stimulated research into other types of apnea that interfere with restful sleep. In addition arousal may be caused by other things beside running low on oxygen.