Oxygen Levels W/O CPAP

[resistance]

I've been taking my mask off unconsciously since the last couple of nights and consequently having bad days. I have headaches, high blood pressure, low energy levels, rather bad memory and concentration. I also feel nervous and depressed without any objective reason. Anyway, one of these nights, my oximeter(CMS 50E) was taped to my finger, so it kept recording till the morning, including the hours without the mask. I hardly woke up without the mask, feeling terrible again and was curious to see the CPAP data and oximerty report.

When I examined the CPAP data, I found out that the mask was taken off at 06.00. I then checked the oximetry record which was my first without respiratory support. This was what I saw:


Everything goes normal and quite stable till the morning with the CPAP. But just after taking the mask off at about 06.00, my SPO2 first drops down to 65%, then 40% and finally 55%. All three spikes are accompanied by pulse rates up to 120 bpm. Due to CMS 50E, these numbers may not be accurate, but I don't believe they are artifacts either. I was suffocating and the diagram explained very well why I felt like dying in daytime.

This is a clear 50/50 picture of things with and w/o the CPAP. It saves our lives. I hope this also helps people who are thinking of quitting the therapy and once again reminds what fate awaits them in the long run.

[Jman2010]

[elena88]

YIKEAREENIES!

YOU REALLY NEED TO WEAR YOUR CPAP!

I have an oximeter, and wear it when I dont have my apap on, and my levels are very good, but yours OMG!

keep that mask on somehow!

[Julie]

Very, very scarey!

[adksleepygal]

Wow !! It is good you do know and are being treated. They said I was severe but I do not know why as my O2 level never dropped below 90 on my first sleep study. I did have a lot of apnea, apparently 40 + per hour and the longest one was 37 seconds so they said that was not very good I guess. I do not know what the norms look like though. Still trying to get adjusted - last night was awake most of the night again - did sleep about 1 1/2 hrs straight through which is huge for me. Today they called and said I have to have an auto machine but I have no idea what that means so I go next week to see them again. Apparently my data is not recording for them since there is no cell service where I live - they told me the router I have on my desktop would work but guess not - does this mean anything to anyone who could explain to me? I am not getting much info explained to me - just a lot of terms and numbers being thrown at me and changed. I was on 7 for pressure and they tried to change that to c-flex? by a remote adjustment - it did not work they said today so I am still on 7 until my appointment next week. So frustrating and I am resorting to naps to get along (naps are without the cpap so I can get some sleep )

[kempo]

During my sleep study my oxygen level dropped into the low 60's before they put the mask.

[Emilia]

What an amazing visual to show how deadly this condition can be. My O2 bottomed out at 76% during my study. I've used my oximeter a few times since starting my therapy and it shows my O2 holding steady above 90% all night now. You MUST find a way to keep that mask on all night....your life, literally, depends upon it.

[NotMuffy]

"IMHO", those events are artifact:



An OSA desaturation is not abrupt (it takes a few seconds to develop as the oxygen is extracted from the lung). Those appear to be instantaneous. Nor should it be that prolonged (event #1 appears to be 12 minutes long). The cardiac response to an apnea/desaturation is not that abrupt either, usually not that severe and is initially a bradycardia. Tachycardia occurs with resumption of breathing.

[resistance]

I taped the mask on my face, at least that would ensure waking up if I ripped the mask off. In the early morning hours I woke up and caught myself trying to take the mask off. The reason was clear: my nose was blocked and I couldn't breathe.

I don't have flu or cold, I go to sleep with a clear airway but somehow my nose gets blocked at night. I use saline spray before going to bed, but that doesn't help all night. The therapy is interrupted and I face the consequences.

[HoseCrusher]

NotMuffy, with that scale it is difficult to actually know if the drop off is sudden or not. It would be interesting to zoom in on the events to see what is actually going on. The second event shows a drop in heart rate, followed by an increase, but it sequence with the O2 desaturation seems a little off.

The software provides 1 and 10 minute scaling, perhaps Resistance could show the zoomed in data on those events.

[Arakis]

I taped the mask on my face, at least that would ensure waking up if I ripped the mask off. In the early morning hours I woke up and caught myself trying to take the mask off. The reason was clear: my nose was blocked and I couldn't breathe.

I don't have flu or cold, I go to sleep with a clear airway but somehow my nose gets blocked at night. I use saline spray before going to bed, but that doesn't help all night. The therapy is interrupted and I face the consequences.

You may want to try this product made by NeilMed. It works great for me.
You can get it at Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Rite-Aid ect.

Good Luck,
Ben

http://www.neilmed.com/usa/sinusrinse.php

[BlackSpinner]

You may want to try this product made by NeilMed. It works great for me.
You can get it at Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Rite-Aid ect.

Good Luck,
Ben

That is a saline rinse - exactly what the poster mentioned. Easy to create in your kitchen with distilled water, sea salt and baking soda.

[Arakis]

He typed Saline "Spray", usually that means the Small bottles like a nose spray, not as effective as the full Rinse.

Just to clarify


Ben

[resistance]

NotMuffy, with that scale it is difficult to actually know if the drop off is sudden or not. It would be interesting to zoom in on the events to see what is actually going on. The second event shows a drop in heart rate, followed by an increase, but it sequence with the O2 desaturation seems a little off.

The software provides 1 and 10 minute scaling, perhaps Resistance could show the zoomed in data on those events.

Here are the desaturations zoomed in, but at that level, the software does not show SPO2 levels under 70. So the minimums all look like 70:
DESAT-1


DESAT-2


DESAT-3

[Tracywags]

My O2 sats drop without therapy too. Have you tried a full face mask? I haven't had great luck with nasal masks, even hybrids, due to my skin and sinuses protesting. Keep looking for a solution that works for you 100%