Apple Health (watch) shows lack of deep and REM sleep - using APAP -- why?

[needzzzzs]

Been a while since I've been here. Dealing with chronic fatigue (not diagnosed as chronic fatigue sysndrome) for months.

Got a new Airsense 10 to replace the one I had, and a new Apple watch to see what additional insight Apple Health could give.

Within the myAir app, sleep stage info suggests I get little (if any) REM sleep or deep sleep. Last night I apparently got none of either.

AHI varies but under 5, usually between 3-4.

Lack of REM and deep sleep obviously correlates with chronic tiredness. I DO dream almost every night, whether REM sleep shows or not.

I have an appt with sleep doc towards the end of the month. Just wondering if anyone has suggestions/thoughts about this.

Thanks!

Deb

[ChicagoGranny]

I DO dream almost every night, whether REM sleep shows or not.

Humans dream in all sleep stages. If you are having a lot of dreams, you have a lot of awakenings. We don't remember dreams unless we awaken.

Just wondering if anyone has suggestions/thoughts about this.

As a first step, create a free account at SleepHQ.com, upload your data, and paste the link in this thread.
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Which prescription drugs do you take?

[needzzzzs]

Thanks, Chicago Granny!!

Exploring Sleep HQ now. Uploaded data but no sleep stage info available (usual stuff like AHI, leaks, etc available. Will ask for help from their support people and be back when I figure this out.

[Pugsy]

Exploring Sleep HQ now. Uploaded data but no sleep stage info available (usual stuff like AHI, leaks, etc available. Will ask for help from their support people and be back when I figure this out.

There is no sleep stage data because your machine doesn't gather any data as to sleep stages. Heck, it can't even tell if you are awake or asleep. It measures flow rate (breathing) only.

Now using OSCAR zoomed in or SleepHQ zoomed in lets us examine the flow rate/breathing and compare known awake/asleep breathing patterns so you can make an educated guess as to whether you were asleep or not.
That's it....no sleep stage reporting at all. No sleep reporting....just breathing reporting.

[ChicagoGranny]

Thanks, Chicago Granny!!

Exploring Sleep HQ now. Uploaded data but no sleep stage info available (usual stuff like AHI, leaks, etc available. Will ask for help from their support people and be back when I figure this out.

Your sleep stage data is on your Apple Watch. I suggested SleepHQ.com so we could see if your sleep-breathing is having an impact on your sleep. (See Pugsy's comments.)

[Janknitz]

If you don't have blood oxygen on your watch, you might consider a recording pulse oximeter (inexpensive on Amazon) to correlate to the data as well. And personally, I don't think the blood oxygen on the Apple Watch is very accurate anyway.

While an AHI of 3-4 is considered "normal", most of us with optimized CPAP therapy are consistently below 1.0. So the data on Sleep Headquarters will be very valuable to see what's happening.

[needzzzzs]

Yes, I did discover (after I posted) that my Airsense doesn't record sleep stages. The only way I am seeing them is through the use of Apple Watch, and I have some doubts about how accurate this info might be.

Several people suggested I share my sleep data in the SleepHQ app. Here's a week's worth (last night not included).

https://sleephq.com/public/c370a4ea-e84 ... d8121539fc

[ChicagoGranny]

Several people suggested I share my sleep data in the SleepHQ app. Here's a week's worth (last night not included).

https://sleephq.com/public/c370a4ea-e84 ... d8121539fc

In Sleep HQ, go to the menu on the left. Click on Share Links. Click on the Account Share Link for one day. Copy and paste the link for that one day in this thread. This will be much more helpful than the daily summaries. (Your personal information is redacted in this link by SleepHQ.)

[Janknitz]

I wouldn't put all your faith in the apple watch for accuracy as far as sleep stages, and NO faith in the blood oxygen levels if you have them on your watch. I compared my blood oxygen levels with a recording pulse oximeter to the sporadic readings on the watch, and the watch was WAY off. Even Apple does not claim that the apple watch blood oxygen levels should be relied upon.

Others may argue, but the way the watch reads the oxygen is janky. Try taking blood oxygen while awake and it fails often. When it does work, it takes readings for 15 seconds and averages them, so movement or any other artifact gets averaged in there. A good pulse oximeter gives a reading every second, and it's easier to access the capillaries in a finger than the wrist because they are closer to the surface.

I've heard people say, oh, the apple watch is only 2 or 3 points off the pulse oximeter, that's close enough. But it's not. The normal range for blood oxygen sat levels is 94 - 100, so 2 or 3 points off in that range is a big amount. My watch was recording sats in the low 80's at night with CPAP, when the recording pulse oximeter was showing 97 -98%. That's a HUGE discrepancy, and I'm trusting the pulse oximeter because it has so much more to support it's accuracy, plus I wasn't having ANY symptoms (I was checking because of the watch readings).

You can get a good recording pulse oximeter on Amazon for not too much money. I use this one https://a.co/d/iMwx2cb

[VVV]

I wouldn't be so sure about any pulse-oximeters.

FDA warns about limitations and accuracy of pulse oximeters - https://www.fda.gov/news-events/fda-bri ... -oximeters