Oximeter Readings

[Dpursi]

Well I have 4 weeks of Cpap use done and I guess I am very lucky since I seen to sleep well with the ResMed S8 II, and ether the OptiLife Pillow or the Somno Plus Nasal mask. I have not been happy with the Apneas or AHI readings up till the last couple of night. I found early that the OptiLife resulted in very low leak rates but that both the AI and AHI seemed Hi ( average AI 8, AHI 23). The Somno's leak rate was higher .2 to .5 but the Average AH was 3 and AHI 14. I set the ResMed for Generic Pillow when using the OptiLife and Activa when using the Somno Plus there is no Generic Nasal setting. I do not know if that is giving me a false reading or not.
On Thusday my Oximetry arrived. I though it made sense to look at the end result along with Leak rates, AI's, and AHI's. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I have had zero AI. I did increase my pressure to 11 from the sleep study 10 but the average pressure is still 9.8. My AHI have averaged 6.8, not yet under 5 but better than 14. I noticed each night my SPO2 averaged around 93 but two times out of the three night it drop briefly to 84%. When I match up the ResScan data with the Oximetry I can find no correlation between AHI events and the dip in SPO2. Any Thoughts?

[Linus]

Movement can sometimes cause the reading to be very low for a short period of time. How long was your dive into the lower regions of th oxygen saturation?

[Dpursi]

I guess the time is a necessary fact. It was both times only seconds and the level came right back to the baseline reading. I did notice there were times that the reading went up to 98% for a longer period of time in the 20 second range but it seem to be at times I was waking up and corresponded to an increased pulse.

[ca_hosehead]

If the drop in blood oxygen is real them you should see a breathing event at the same time. It can be an apnea or hypopnea. Check the clocks on the devices. If they aren't set to the same time then you won't be able to match things up. I'l make a note of when I start the ox recording and when I start the CPAP.

It's important to know how your ox readings look when you the sensor loses contact. If you still have the pulse-ox, put it on and start the recording. Once it settles in, take the sensor off for a minute and then put it back on. Do this a couple of times. When you get the report look for those events.

With my pulse-ox it shows a few seconds of "blank" on the graph indicating no reading. When it picks up contact again the ox is very low and then recovers. The pattern is very distinct and quite different from a real event.