Buying a pulse oximeter

[DrowsyDan]

I'm considering buying a pulse oximeter with memory to wear at night periodically to monitor the effectiveness of my CPAP treatment. The bottom line here is oxygen in the blood, after all. Does anyone do this, and can anyone suggest a good, cheap source for such a device?

[DrowsyDan]

Here's an interesting pulse ox unit which, though a bit more expensive than I'd like (FREE would be good! seems like it might fit the bill. Read the 1st review from an OSA sufferer.

http://www.amazon.com/Contec-Full-Colou ... r-mr-title

DD

[MikeRinCA]

I have been considering the same thing and have come uo with these two as potential candidates:

http://www.amazon.com/Contec-Full-Colou ... B0021D4G9A

http://www.pulseoximeteronline.com/cms50f.html

[MikeRinCA]

Well looks like we came across the same one and posted it at the same time.
My concerns with the finger only model is it may come off during sleep. I like the other one for the fact you can get the information to transmit directly to your computer with the available add on.

[DrowsyDan]

Mike - The potential for a fingertip one to come off at night was my main concern, too. But they are cheaper than the wrist units, etc. Take a look at a reply to the issue of the unit coming off at night by the person who rated the finger tip unit: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2NK8VWN3N ... hisHelpful

I've only been diagnosed for a relatively short time. I'm very surprised that pulse ox isn't the universal gold standard for evaluating the ACTUAL RESULT of CPAP outside the sleep lab. It seems to me this technology should be integrated into the CPAP machine itself.

DD

[Lizistired]

If you do a forum search for oximeter, cms-50, you will find lengthy discussions on various models and suppliers.

[Nemo_]

I'm very surprised that pulse ox isn't the universal gold standard for evaluating the ACTUAL RESULT of CPAP outside the sleep lab. It seems to me this technology should be integrated into the CPAP machine itself.
DD

Oximetry is good information, but it is not the be-all and end-all of apnea diagnosis. It is possible to have serious apnea even if your oxygen levels never move very much... Oxygen deprivation is one mechanism for long-term damage from sleep apnea, but the "arousals" are another. If your arousals occur shortly after the start of each apnea event, your blood oxygen level will barely budge. But those jolts of adrenaline are still interrupting your deep sleep and are bad for your heart / liver / kidneys / etc. in the long run.

That said, I agree that it would be nice to have it integrated into the machines.

My own pulse oximeter is a SPO Medical PulseOx 7500. It works well. The software is usable but not great.

[Lizistired]

An after thought... The CMS-50F wrist oximeter has been much easier than the finger oximeter, for me to keep on all night. That and not having to reset the time every night has made it well worth the extra $20 in price.

[jules]

I hated the CMS 50 E (fingertip pulse ox ) and both of the ones I got from an online vendor were POS. I had bought these several years ago so I don't know if the model was updated. I ended up trashing the second faulty one and saying I wasted that money I had spent on a very expensive toy that broke fast. I didn't like the alarm every disconnect and I had many as I am a restless sleeper.

I did buy the CMS 50F and love it in comparison. The wires on the probe did break after 7 months of nightly use and I just purchased a new probe from pulseoxstore.

[Lizistired]

I would have to agree. I can't fault my 50H finger pulse oximeter. It does what it was supposed to do.
But it was a waste of money compared to the cms-50F wrist oximeter that I am very happy with.

[jules]

I would have to agree. I can't fault my 50H finger pulse oximeter. It does what it was supposed to do.
But it was a waste of money compared to the cms-50F wrist oximeter that I am very happy with.

neither of the CMS 50E's did what they were supposed to do - the first one I sent back worked better than the second but it wouldn't turn on right - I got ONE night's data out of the second before constant error of finger out and it wouldn't turn off automatically

TOTAL WASTE - TOTAL POS

[DrowsyDan]

I can definitely see the advantage to the wrist type, I just would prefer to spend less. It's not something I'd be using every night. I do understand that O2 is not the only issue in general, but it is the primary concern in my case.

If anyone has a working pulse oximiter they would like to sell, please PM me.

Thanks for the replies!

DD

[cherylann]

I'm glad somebody started this post. I also am looking for that type of oximeter. I have the simple one and my oxygen level is always OK during the day. But week before last, my doctor ordered and overnight study using the one that tracks it and the result was that my oxygen was dropping into the 60s while I slept. So now I have oxygen bled into the mask, but of course it is only good when I am wearing the mask which I still have a lot of difficulty with. So given the way I feel most of the time, I'm afraid I'm still getting a fair amount of oxygen deprivation.

And the one the doctor ordered was the finger kind, but it stayed put all night.

[cherylann]

Here's an interesting pulse ox unit which, though a bit more expensive than I'd like (FREE would be good! seems like it might fit the bill. Read the 1st review from an OSA sufferer.

http://www.amazon.com/Contec-Full-Colou ... r-mr-title

DD

That one looks good. And the price is right. When I asked Apria what they cost, they told me "thousands of dollars".

[Muse-Inc]

When I asked Apria what they cost, they told me "thousands of dollars".

The ones used during sleep studies cost hundreds and the software thousands - those units take more readings per second that the CMS pulseoxs that most of us use. I have 2, a recording one and one that doesn't record; both have a place in my desire to improve my health.