ReUsable Home Sleep Test - Aetna

[wizdog]

I have read on the forums how some people know the results of how they slept the night before and they keep making adjustments over months and months and keep measuring the REM and Oxygen levels each night.
This leads me to believe there is a great device I can get and KEEP at home to let me see data on my sleep each night??

Is there a device that I can use and re-use and KEEP at home so I can do a sleep test and get some results at least so I know how bad I am doing as I try to find a good solution that works for me. I have Aetna Insurance and maybe they will cover it????

Need to find one quick.

Thanks much for any help

[zoocrewphoto]

There are 4 devices. One is the actual cpap machine (cpap, apap, bipap, etc). The good ones gives us data that shows what our pressure did all night, how many events we had, what kind, when, and how long. We can even look at our breathing to see what it was doing. This is the most important one with the most useful data. Only some models give this data, so you have to make sure you get one of the good ones.

The next device is the oxygen meter. Some can be hooked into the cpap machine and the data downloaded together. Others are separate. Most of us do not have that as there needs to be a reason for a doctor to prescribe it. Otherwise, insurance won't pay for it.

Another item is the Zeo, which is a headband that measures your brainwaves and tells you what your sleeping levels were. They are estimated at 85% correct. I have one and use it soem of the time. It helps to see if I am making it through all the stages. And I can use that together with my cpap data to see if my apneas happen during one particular sleep stage or not. Many people have worse sleep apnea during REM sleep.

The last item is, I believe, an accelerator. Not sure why it is called that. But some people use it to determine what position they are sleeping in. This can let them know how much they sleep on their side or back. And if that affects their sleep apnea. For many people, it is worse on their backs. It is for me.

[TalonNYC]

It's an accelerometer, actually. That's not the name of the device itself, but rather the gizmo inside of devices that is constantly aware of position and movement. If you have an iPhone or Android phone, you have one in there - it's how the phone figures out if you're holding it up and down or sideways.

FitBit and a few other commercial devices have accelerometers in them, and record the position they're in all the time - which is how they can tell when you're walking or going up stairs for exercise tracking. A side effect of that use is that if you wear such a device while sleeping, you get to see how often you toss and turn =)

Hope that helps.

[nanwilson]

If you have an auto, data capable cpap machine, then you have it right there beside your bed. Those of us that have data capable machines can check our nightly therapy as often as we want.

[JohnO]

Is there a device that I can use and re-use and KEEP at home so I can do a sleep test and get some results at least so I know how bad I am doing as I try to find a good solution that works for me.

To further elaborate on zoocrewphoto's explanations, a pulse oximeter is a device that senses blood oxygenation by passing light through your fingertip. I find this to be an excellent tool to help ensure the CPAP machine is doings its job of making sure you are breathing and getting oxygen. I used one for about two months before having a sleep study and getting diagnosed with sleep apnea. It clearly showed I was having regular problems with keeping enough oxygen in my blood. Now checking after being on CPAP, the data is boring. All night long, all it shows is that I'm getting plenty of oxygen to my blood.

Take a look at this note for an example of before and after data from my pulse oximeter.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=81012&st=0&sk=t&sd= ... 15#p737808

John

[chunkyfrog]

The pulse-oximeter can also be used during exercise.
Both the pulse rate and oxygen numbers correlate directly to how you feel and your fitness level.
You can observe the effect of pursed lip exhalation in raising your O2 levels and its effect on your heart rate and how you feel.
A note on accelerometers: The better pedometers use them--sometimes in 3 axes.
They are far more accurate than the ones that rattle when you shake them. (those are often freebies-and worth it)