Re: Need help understanding SpO2 Report, Please?
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:40 pm
Rogue Star,
DON'T use CPAP/BiPAP until you see a pulmonologist. The yellow phlegm you are spitting regularly is a sign that there is something wrong there. I don't know what that might be - it might be even some "trivial" and easily curable disease that has been left unnoticed and untreated. Try to do at least some basic tests of you lungs (I don't know much about lungs - I guess that would be an x-ray, lab study of the phlegm you are spitting, and measurements of your vital lung capacity). It will be good to have a general blood test too! It will give insight what's happening in your body.
As elg5cats suggested - wear the oximeter while you are awake. See how it changes before and after coughing.
When your wife hear you snoring - what kind of snore was it? Was it a kind that you finally were able to overcome it and inhale, or a kind of snore that ended up in "suffocation"? She could record you while you sleep and snore.
Speaking simplistically, the problem is either in your throat, in your brain, or in your lungs (or in a combination of some of the above).
If it's in your throat - than you have an Obstructive Sleep Apnea. The soft tissues of you throat are collapsing when you fell asleep and are closing the airways. When you try to overcome this obstruction you snore.
If it's in your head - than you would have a Central Sleep Apnea. The brain doesn't give timely signals to the breathing muscles and they "forget" to breath sometimes.
If it's in your lungs - than there could be a lot of things. If the problem is there doing CPAP/BiPAP therapy might be dangerous.
Looking at the detailed graph of you pusleoximeter data I see the "wave-form". I read somewhere that this is typical for apnea - you have difficulties or stop breathing (for whatever reasons) for probably 20-30 seconds, the level of the blood oxygen drops, than you breath again and it raises. And it is going that way over and over whole night. If you have nightmares - this is another sign that you might have apnea. But having so limited data we can only speculate now what (and where) is wrong. The blood test and the lung's vital capacity tests should make things clearer.
If you decide not to do any tests and want to go straight to experimenting - I feel (and I am speaking strictly of your situation) that trying small amounts of supplemental oxygen would be a little safer for you than cpap/bipap.
Although your situation is serious, there is no need to panic. You have slept that way for years, without any incidents. And I was very surprised to read that you wake up well rested. My oximeter readings look better than yours, but I feel terrible in the mornings. This is the most important indicator - the way that you feel.
DON'T use CPAP/BiPAP until you see a pulmonologist. The yellow phlegm you are spitting regularly is a sign that there is something wrong there. I don't know what that might be - it might be even some "trivial" and easily curable disease that has been left unnoticed and untreated. Try to do at least some basic tests of you lungs (I don't know much about lungs - I guess that would be an x-ray, lab study of the phlegm you are spitting, and measurements of your vital lung capacity). It will be good to have a general blood test too! It will give insight what's happening in your body.
As elg5cats suggested - wear the oximeter while you are awake. See how it changes before and after coughing.
When your wife hear you snoring - what kind of snore was it? Was it a kind that you finally were able to overcome it and inhale, or a kind of snore that ended up in "suffocation"? She could record you while you sleep and snore.
Speaking simplistically, the problem is either in your throat, in your brain, or in your lungs (or in a combination of some of the above).
If it's in your throat - than you have an Obstructive Sleep Apnea. The soft tissues of you throat are collapsing when you fell asleep and are closing the airways. When you try to overcome this obstruction you snore.
If it's in your head - than you would have a Central Sleep Apnea. The brain doesn't give timely signals to the breathing muscles and they "forget" to breath sometimes.
If it's in your lungs - than there could be a lot of things. If the problem is there doing CPAP/BiPAP therapy might be dangerous.
Looking at the detailed graph of you pusleoximeter data I see the "wave-form". I read somewhere that this is typical for apnea - you have difficulties or stop breathing (for whatever reasons) for probably 20-30 seconds, the level of the blood oxygen drops, than you breath again and it raises. And it is going that way over and over whole night. If you have nightmares - this is another sign that you might have apnea. But having so limited data we can only speculate now what (and where) is wrong. The blood test and the lung's vital capacity tests should make things clearer.
If you decide not to do any tests and want to go straight to experimenting - I feel (and I am speaking strictly of your situation) that trying small amounts of supplemental oxygen would be a little safer for you than cpap/bipap.
Although your situation is serious, there is no need to panic. You have slept that way for years, without any incidents. And I was very surprised to read that you wake up well rested. My oximeter readings look better than yours, but I feel terrible in the mornings. This is the most important indicator - the way that you feel.