How do I know if I am cured

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 12:29 pm

lilly747 wrote:Thank You, I will, sorry if I got things off track. I just wanted to show how one night's worth of data is not always adequate to make changes or settings even with a Sleep study Lab doing the testing .

That's okay. We didn't know if you were wanting help or just commenting.
Sometimes it happens that people end up getting specific ideas thrown in another person's thread and we get confused about who gets told what by whom....if you know what I mean.

When you are ready...we are ready though....I suspect you need a bit more pressure but until we see your reports I don't want to go sticking my foot in my already big mouth.

Sloop · Post by **Sloop** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 12:45 pm

JohnBFisher wrote:
You might want to request the use of a pulse oximeter (or purchase one on your own). Then you can sleep with it and with your CPAP - and use that data as a baseline. Then try to sleep without the CPAP but with the pulse oximeter. If the pulse oximeter does not show low oxygen levels or stress on the heart, then you probably don't need the CPAP device to help you sleep.

Of course, if after a few nights you find you are really tired, you might then see if using CPAP will fix the daytime sleepiness. If yes, then you probably still need CPAP to help you sleep.

That's probably the best middle ground for not having the full blown sleep study, but knowing if the weight loss was enough to reduce the need for a CPAP device.

Hope that helps.

This is a good approach. The pulse oximeter is like the jib on a sailboat -- the jib don't lie!

JohnBFisher · Post by **JohnBFisher** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 1:21 pm

Sloop wrote:... The pulse oximeter is like the jib on a sailboat -- the jib don't lie! ...

Or you could say it's like a windsock. It's nowhere near as accurate as an anemometer (a wind gauge). But it's accurate enough for most pilots to use to land a plane.

So, like the windsock to anemometer analogy, a pulse oximeter is nowhere near as accurate as a polysomnograph (PSG). But it's accurate enough to tell you if you have problems severe enough that it causes major oxygen depletion when you sleep. If so, you should consider the need for a full polysomnograph. If you use it several nights and don't see a major drop in the oxygen saturation, then you probably don't need a polysomnograph.

It might not be "scientific", but is definitely is a practical approach.

archangle · Post by **archangle** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:29 pm

JohnBFisher wrote:
Sloop wrote:... The pulse oximeter is like the jib on a sailboat -- the jib don't lie! ...
Or you could say it's like a windsock. It's nowhere near as accurate as an anemometer (a wind gauge). But it's accurate enough for most pilots to use to land a plane.

So, like the windsock to anemometer analogy, a pulse oximeter is nowhere near as accurate as a polysomnograph (PSG). But it's accurate enough to tell you if you have problems severe enough that it causes major oxygen depletion when you sleep. If so, you should consider the need for a full polysomnograph. If you use it several nights and don't see a major drop in the oxygen saturation, then you probably don't need a polysomnograph.

It might not be "scientific", but is definitely is a practical approach.

The big limitation of a pulseox is that it only detects desaturations, so some folks with fairly severe apnea that is causing them harm will not show anything on a pulseox.

It's probably better to have "arousal" apnea than "hypoxia" apnea, but both are bad and a pulseox won't see "arousal" apnea.

How do I know if I am cured

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