Oxygen Supplementation vs CPAP

[quote="Anonymous"] So you can only imagine that with an AHI of 26 - you are still going to be tired regardless of your O2 sat.

Lori, I am sooooo sorry, that was me I got guested I was in a hurry earlier and didnt even notice I wasn't signed in... here was my post...I was actually referring to my #'s...sorry to confuse everyone...

Lori,

you have got me thinking now. Maybe when I go back to my sleep doc I shoudl ask abotu this. My o2 levels dropped to 80% during my sleep study. and last time I was there for a reg appt they always take my bp and weight and yada yada, and they do the pulse ox thing and she had it on me and it was like 98 or 99% then I bent over to get something out the floor and she was like sit up! cause my o2 just me leaning over went down to like 90% I am wondering if they shoudl do the at home pulse ox thing overnight on me too just to make sure my o2 levels are staying good. Yes I do feel better on cpap by far but I do wake up a LOT (prob 5 or 6 times)during the night. Hmmm....

Heather,

AH! Don't feel bad. Something happened to a lot of us yesterday on this site. They must have been working on it and some of us couldn't log in and others got logged out and had to relog in again.

Now I got you! But follow up on those desats, in any event. I would do a home pulse ox yourself and make sure that you're still not desaturating with CPAP. My PCP seems to think if you wear the machine/mask, your oxygen levels will be fine. Is that correct? I can only guess that it is since she's usually a pretty on-target diagnostician - USUALLY!

Sleepless on LI wrote:

DEANC wrote:Lori, am very interested to hear what your o2 sat is, as this could be very enlightning and helpful. Please keep us posted. Thanks, Dean

Those of you who know me know I will. Trust me, it's hard to keep me quiet...

And those of us who know you are glad that you are the way you are.

Awaiting the results of your O2 test.
Esther

No, just because you use CPAP, doesn't mean that your O2 levels will not drop. You may need suplemental O2 bled into your circuit at night. However, wearing O2 alone, will not stop the obstructions.

Yes Lori my sleep doc thinks ohh well if you are using cpap every night then you should have no o2 probs. I go on the 18th back to her so I will be asking about this...Like I said, I feel better but I still wake up quite a bit at night...

Hi All!
Great camaraderie! I am a sleep tech, started in 1989, have grown with the field! I, too, have sleep apnea. Although I am just 120# @ 5'3".
Point being, I understand the issues with the PAP therapy!
You must understand that the oxygen does NOT correct for the very important OBSTRUCTIVE damage. The incredible intrathoracic pressures caused while you sleep and have those obstructive apneas.
This pressure is damaging in many, many ways. Oxygen will certainly make you FEEL better, but it WILL NOT correct that damaging pressure issue time and time again as you sleep. It is cumulative. If it is not corrected, it will cause more damage as time goes on. We KNOW that the results of OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) are STROKE, HEART DISEASE, DIABETES, DEPRESSION, WEIGHT GAIN, IMPOTENCE, HYPERTENSION..... the list goes on and the field of sleep medicine is growing every day!
POINT: Protect yourselves with the pressure therapy, PAP, you CAN do it if you really want to. You DO need a competent sleep disorders center. They should be available, willing, and knowledgeable enough to help you be successful. The home care company gets paid for making sure you do well, but the sleep center should have a vested interest in helping out!
Signs that you need to go BACK and have your pressure reset: starting to not feel as rested during the night, getting up to use the bathroom during the night (when you stop breathing, you produce a hormone that causes an increase in the production of urine!), waking during the night, an increase in weight or generally not feeling well for some time. You also will have the benefit of seeing new masks and seeing if you have any new breathing issues (there are other types of apneas), check your heart rhythm and oxygen saturations during the entire night! You should see your sleep center at LEAST every 3 years. Change your mask every 3 months and clean that equipment.
You're important, don't believe everything you are reading here! I've seen some real doozies on this post alone. What looks like a study might not really be all that it is cracked up to be. Call the sleep center and ask. We will NOT lie to you. Do more research. YOU ARE WORTH IT!!!!!

One more thought regarding oxygen.....
MOST people DO NOT need oxygen along with their PAP therapy. Usually we find that the pressure is incorrect, the TYPE of therapy needs to be changed (BPAP VPAP ASV, etc).
That is the benefit of a QUALITY sleep study. Things CAN CHANGE over time. If left too long obstructive apnea can lead to congestive heart failure which causes CENTRAL apnea along with obstructive apneas (sometimes) and this requires VPAP ASV as the newest form of therapy. Higher CPAP pressures may need to be changed over to BPAP, but this is not always the case.
EVERYONE IS AN INDIVIDUAL and we all need a different approach to our mask, therapy and treatment. Hence a good team willing to assist you AND a good patient willing to keep trying!!!
Now, for those people who MAY need oxygen as well as PAP therapy. Those folks would INCLUDE those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, certain blood disorders, etc.
Oxygen is EXPENSIVE. The home care companies LOVE to sell it to you!!! Many would rather you use that INSTEAD of your PAP therapy OR the add it TO the PAP instead of correctly having you come into the sleep center and having the RIGHT therapy, they make more money. Do you see where I'm going with this? Do not get your information from THEM!!!
NOBODY really WANTS to come in to the sleep center, BUT it is quick and painless and reaps REAL BENEFITS for you and your health!!!

The unknown sleep tech has some good technical information;
but most of us would be fortunate indeed to find a sleep tech half as qualified and dedicated.
But she is mistaken about the quality of advice on this board; we share the experience of
MANY YEARS of perfunctory and often haphazard treatment.
Most on this forum are here because the industry has FAILED us
How many DME's have 24/7 help lines? Why not; in a field where ALL the problems arise at NIGHT?
The fact she had to go back nearly EIGHT YEARS to find a thread to which she could respond is evidence of that.
We are a support team here--for many, the only REAL support they have.
If the industry (Retail DME) wants our business, they can stop treating us like mushrooms,
and tell the truth about efficacy data, and stop lying and cheating.

"Holy thread resurrection, Batman!"

I think the resurrecter makes some good points, and to be fair, s/he is right that sometimes bad advice is given on the forum. Not every post is a gem and one needs to use good judgment when taking advice. We need to be careful who we listen to for sure. Well... I read the undead thread and I guess I'll feed the zombie...

While I was waiting for my sleep study, I had 02 at night as a nocturnal oxygenation study showed I spent more than 50% of my night at an Sa02 Less than 90%. I can say that wearing the 02 at night did indeed make me feel a little better. I still had frequent wakings and woke with pain (but it was a little less.) Replacing the 02 with CPAP showed much more improvement in how I slept and felt.

It seems obvious to me that CPAP, in preventing the apneic periods in the first place is superior to trying to keep the Sa02 at acceptable levels but allowing the apneic periods. It seems that most of us would have higher than needed 02 levels to compensate for the periods that we we are not breathing. While no doubt it would make anyone feel somewhat better, I don't believe it is superior to CPAP in any way and I would hate to see people giving up on CPAP because the nasal cannula is easier. Yes, their Sa02 may be better than without it, but their overall health and sleep quality would not benefit as much as with CPAP. The symptoms of CPAP are due to more than simply Sa02 drops as TechInfo correctly points out.

A study done at UC San DIego (at about the same time this thread was started!) showed CPAP considerably superior to supplemental oxygen in improving sleep.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16676791

Blessings,

Kate

I guess cpap is better than supplement no doubt that works but it can cause some unwanted effects on the health which can actually cause some kinda thing.I suggest you to prefer CPAP.