Suggestions for Oximeter

Unbelievably bad. Did you do a similar past CPAP? I have to believe some issue with measurement above. I thought my precpap was too bad to be true. But post it has come right and I seldom dip to 90%/

cpap626 wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 06, 2018 2:05 pm

Does anyone have any good suggestions for a wearable and affordable oximeter. I was recently diagnosed with mild SA and want to see if I can do things to get my o2 level back to an acceptable rate without a cpap. I saw that some of them could be hooked up to sleepy head software but another one i saw which is the BodiMetrics O2 Vibe Sleep & Fitness Monitor which would vibrate to wake me up if my 02 went below an certain level, but it looks like that cannot be viewed on a computer. Would a vibrating one work better to make my change my position?

CMS 50D+ Blue Finger Pulse Oximeter with USB and Software $32.00
(has batteries in finger sensor and may be a little heavy, no alarm function)

Contec CMS50F Wrist-worn Pulse Oximeter with Software $90
(works with sleepyhead and has software to view on computer, only has a sound alarm and no vibrate feature)


does anyone else have any suggestions? I am glad I have been made aware of my condition, I really have not accepted it yet, but at least I can take steps to work on it.

Thanks again for all your support!

Hello cpap626,

Seeing my experience using the CMS50I, which you and some others find uncomfortable, may or may not be helpful. I paid about $125 for my first one that lasted about 28 months before the "irreplaceable" battery (I believe) failed. Satisfied with it and its perfusion index data to boot, I bought a second one , about $140, I've been using for about 4 months. (I may soon be returning the newer one as I am coming to believe it is faulty and will also return the other one for a quote on battery replacement.)

Because of conditions that required a full set of heart implant hardware and because of early, long OSAs (many above 100 seconds and a few well beyond) that took SpO2 down into high 60s, I easily and happily evaluate and adopt whatever makes sense to get better and better rest. An attachment being sent along with the main-topic chart shows a long string of OSAs which are my main problem without necessary APAP pressurization.


Rather than go on and on regarding many things I've tried and then improved upon I will say that I'm down to 0.6 AHI for the past year, 0.2 for the past 3 months and 0.1 for the past month: this from an RDI in the neighborhood of 60 events per hour back in September 2015. It was Severe Sleep Apnea per an MD's prescribed home-sleep-test unit which was later confirmed by a sleep lab. I sleep so much better now, but still see a lot of flow limitations that regularly rise to small, unscored snores, the largest of which trigger bodily movement. The combination of a Resmed Autoset, P10 mask (with my DIY'd head straps), a CMS50I, a roll of Silipos Gel-E-roll (a mouthsealing bandage), a cervical collar, a tube of Lansinoh salve, a 3 axis accelerator--I got it, the Gulf Coast Data Concepts X16-1D ($89+), and began charting its data in Excel at the end of July 2018, a generous flow of good info from experts on this and another sleep forum, sufficient God-given skills and lights, and, most recently and nearly most effective, the "wearing" of a 4.5 x 10 x 13 empty cardboard box on my back I sleep well. But having lived on short and disturbed sleep so long I don't know what normal would feel like or how it would look if SleepyHead could demonstrate it. But I bet some very low number of CAs and OSAs would be registered at least occasionally by a properly set Autoset for a fully normal sleeper.

The larger chart below synchronizes and graphically presents data , from the Autoset, the CMS50I and the accelerometer. (Incidentally, I have basementdwellinggeek, a member here, to thank for finding the X16 and learning about its use). My AHI was long at or below 1.0 with occasional hiccups until I got the X16. It soon showed me my OSAs (scoreable snores, mostly) almost always happened when supine or nearly so. That challenged me to prevent rolling onto and nearly onto my back. A hard stuffed fanny pack worn backward was uncomfortable and ineffective. The Rematee "backward facing inflatable bra" looked promising but was expensive and had some poor reviews. I happened to find what I believe is an old fashioned (pre Day Glo days) surveyor's vest made of light canvas and having four strong buttons and a large pocket for rolled plans on its back. Two nested and rigid empty boxes fill the pocket and the vest stays in place. It keeps me well off my back and really does not trouble me. It has done the job of almost always keeping me positioned away from my worst airway collapse tendencies so the Autoset can handle its task at 10.4-15.2 cm with EPR at 3.


Take a look at the busy larger graph set (hopefully right below this post unless I have to shrink its size first). Ignore the blue line--it mainly indicates one lies with the length of the body at right angles to a plumb line--of the top graph trace and look at the horizontal parts of the red trace. It shows real shifts as well as (in the small offshoots, which the blue trace almost always echoes) the disturbances from unscored snores as well as from snores or big flow limitations. You will see that timing of spikes in the flow curve coincide with many of the offshoots as well as with snores, lesser spikes in tidal volume. Note that the oximeter is mounted on the flat front face of the cervical collar.


I prepared the the larger chart to ask at another forum for an explanation of the SpO2 and Profusion Index Drop between the two vertical rulers--an explanation that would include why the SpO2 and PI recovered to normal levels (just beyond the right hand ruler) where even greater snore and flow limitations arose. That contradictory behavior puzzled me and that, as well as two instances of having a sustained gaps in the CMS's record are prompting me to return the unit. One other problem: irritating false "data not found" reports at downloading that are easily worked around in a few seconds with a couple of extra clicks that only say to "look for the downloaded file again".


AmSleepnBetta

PS. I must have too large of images to post both in one post. I will try to send the smaller one in this post and send the other larger one with another post.

This is an attempt to send the second image for the post sent a moment ago.

AmSleepnBetta