Oximeter - How To?

[Starlette]

Hi All.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My oximeter arrived. After getting it out of the box, what's next??? At the moment I'm VERY intimidated by this gizmo. So much so, I've left it in the box for several weeks. I just now am gutsy enough to post on it.

Starlette

[KimberlyM]

You might post what kind of oximeter you bought and maybe others with that same model will chime in! Congrats on getting one. That is my next purchase.

[Starlette]

Oops I guess that info would be helpful...

Pulse Oximeter cms50 by Contec

Again, all I've done is take the box out of the packaging box and looked at it. Very intimidated by this.

Starlette

[sleepnationtv]

It looks like you bought a pretty standard oximeter. The model you have looks like it does not record the oximetry data onto a memory of somekind. To use it you have to just place it on the finger and turn it on. The bigger number should be blood oxygen saturation sp%. You want this to be in the mid to high 90 range but anything in the 90% is good. I am assuming that you want to check to see how your CPAP treatment is going. This will be a little diffucult because the only way to check it is to wake up and put it on the finger.

Hope this helps.

Dane

[HoseCrusher]

Put it on and see if you have any oxygen in your blood.

Wear it while watching a movie.

Wear it while going for a walk.

Have a enthusiastic discussion with someone while you are wearing it.

Wear it while reading a very exciting part of a book.

All of this will get you familiar with how it works and what your oxygen levels are during various activities. Once you become familiar with it you can put it on and sleep with it. Don't expect it to stay in place the first time you sleep with it, it takes some "adjustment." However, after a few nights you should have it on more than you have it off.

Eventually you will be able to tolerate it all night and then you will have another parameter to watch while you sleep, and I think it is a very important parameter that is worth any effort you have to put into collecting the data.

[barrett1179]

You did not mention which version of the cms-50 that you own?

[Goofproof]

First read the instructions, most need to be charged if they have rechargeable batteries. Find out what the exact model you have. get the manual in .pdf form and read it. Jim

[Muse-Inc]

IF it's a recording version, I have to tape the clip to my skinny finger to keep it in place and recording as I sleep...I use the 3M 1" delicate-release tape. Like the others have asked, which version of the CMS50 did you buy?

[Starlette]

Model: CMS50 E

[Muse-Inc]

Cool unit! Can you understand the User's Guide or is it so badly written it's useless?

[Sleep_Depraved]

This may be a dumb question, but what do you do with oximeter data? Specifically, what choices would you make regarding your CPAP/APAP treatment based on the results you get from your oximeter? I understand how the AHI and other data collected in an APAP can show the direct result of pressure settings, but what does an oximeter reading tell you? For example, if your saturation is low, would that indicate a need for increased CPAP pressure? Sorry if this is basic, I'm just trying to understand how this kind of info becomes more than just data for the sake of data...Thanks for any experienced pointers.

[KimberlyM]

This may be a dumb question, but what do you do with oximeter data? Specifically, what choices would you make regarding your CPAP/APAP treatment based on the results you get from your oximeter? I understand how the AHI and other data collected in an APAP can show the direct result of pressure settings, but what does an oximeter reading tell you? For example, if your saturation is low, would that indicate a need for increased CPAP pressure? Sorry if this is basic, I'm just trying to understand how this kind of info becomes more than just data for the sake of data...Thanks for any experienced pointers.

If you still have oxygen desaturation while using CPAP, the doctor may change the pressure settings if your AHI is still high or add supplemental oxygen to your treatment.

[avi123]

Model: CMS50 E

As I understand it, the PR System One REMstar Pro CPAP Machine with C-Flex Plus, does not have an Oximetry data transfer while the S9 AutoSet does. Does the CMS50 E have an output cable to plug into CPAPs?

[chunkyfrog]

My understanding: Resmed makes a separate module to plug in an oximeter; but only one, expensive model is compatible.
In other words, many dollars must be spent. No surprise.

[sydneybird]

I have the CMS-50F, which is the wristwatch version of the 50E. It will record data while you are asleep, then you download the data to a computer to get some very nice graphs of your SpO2 (oxygen) and pulse rate. The data does not go into the xPAP machine (I have a RemStar PR System One APAP) so there is no direct communication between the xPAP machine and the oximeter. Since I don't have the Encore software to get daily data from my APAP machine, I am using the oximetry data to help me decide what minimum pressure to set my APAP. The results are dramatic from letting the machine decide what minimum pressure to use to setting the minimum pressure myself. I went from having 90 nightly oxygen desaturation events with no APAP, to 35 with the APAP setting its own pressure (average 4) to me upping it to 10 and having 2 desaturation events. I'm thinking that oximetry is a necessary tool for CPAP therapy as long as you have the capability to adjust you own machine.