Because of my horrible sleep problems I was thinking about getting an oximeter but then I saw this:
http://www.livescience.com/45679-within ... eview.html
If, for a little more money, I can get a multifunction (if imperfect, according to the review) fitness tracker, I'm starting to wonder whether buying an oximeter, these days, is sort of like buying a digital camera instead of a smartphone?
Sleep Apnea in E4
Re: Sleep Apnea in E4
G, I could not see that this watch/gadget has a recording oxygen readings, so you can print out your nocturnal dips in oxygen.
Although the recording oximeter, if worn for several nights of deep sleep, should detect the hypoxic sleep apnea, it will not detect those who constantly awaken before oxygen dips occur (like my husband has). My home oximeter reading only dipped briefly to 82 within eight hours, but in the sleep lab I was at 65 in less than two hours. My husband only has a three point drop with the oximeter, but had interrupted, horrible sleep, unlike "my restful" hypoxic sleep. Does this make sense? Bottom line, if your sleep is bad, I would recommend having the full in house sleep test, or at least the fully outfitted home test which includes a chest strap and limb movement monitors.
Although the recording oximeter, if worn for several nights of deep sleep, should detect the hypoxic sleep apnea, it will not detect those who constantly awaken before oxygen dips occur (like my husband has). My home oximeter reading only dipped briefly to 82 within eight hours, but in the sleep lab I was at 65 in less than two hours. My husband only has a three point drop with the oximeter, but had interrupted, horrible sleep, unlike "my restful" hypoxic sleep. Does this make sense? Bottom line, if your sleep is bad, I would recommend having the full in house sleep test, or at least the fully outfitted home test which includes a chest strap and limb movement monitors.
Re: Sleep Apnea in E4
Gilgamesh, Some of these health monitoring devices are still in development, most companies now pushing sales before properly tested, thus you are really getting a beta device. Everyone trying to get a piece of the pie. The oximeter I got was Masimo iSpO2 pretty easy, think I will tape my finger up before I go to sleep this weekend. Got sidetracked with a bad cold last weekend couldnt fully test other than to see it has blood oxygen level, pulse, and perfusion index and has a +/- 2% accuracy and I was able to download csv file and upload to spreadshhet no problem.
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Gilgamesh
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Re: Sleep Apnea in E4
Gina- Good point. They do seem like beta products! I think there'll be amazing fitness trackers within a small number of years, but we're not quite there yet.
K- Based on audio recordings I've made while sleeping, it seems like I'm more like your husband. It's sort of chilling to listen to my essentially constant snoring, and then the "micro-awakenings" every few minutes -- all night long!
I'm scheduled for a full sleep study in July. I'll report on how it goes.
GB
K- Based on audio recordings I've made while sleeping, it seems like I'm more like your husband. It's sort of chilling to listen to my essentially constant snoring, and then the "micro-awakenings" every few minutes -- all night long!
I'm scheduled for a full sleep study in July. I'll report on how it goes.
GB
Re: Sleep Apnea in E4
We went through the oximeters and sleep studies (which can be quite expensive) and after all that we discovered that our mother had severe sleep apnea which was obvious by simply listening to her stop breathing every minute all night long (AHI 50).This diagnosis was not especially helpful.
However, it was extremely helpful to realize that by elevating her head, the sleep apnea completely stopped.
{We discovered this while she was in hospital for a short stay. Whenever we elevated the head portion of the bed
to a certain angle, the sleep apnea would stop.} You can demonstrate this for yourself by taking a nap in a lazy boy chair or a sofa. It is almost impossible to have sleep apnea if you sleep in an upright position.
Since our mother has slept in a hospital bed, she has never had sleep apnea problems.
If you convince yourself that this will work for you, then it would be much better to spend the money on a hospital bed than a CPAP. Most people cannot tolerate CPAP and those that can generally do not use it consistently for the full night.
It is important to breath all the time! The hospital bed really helped us. Hopefully, it will help you as well. It would definitely be worth the cost.
However, it was extremely helpful to realize that by elevating her head, the sleep apnea completely stopped.
{We discovered this while she was in hospital for a short stay. Whenever we elevated the head portion of the bed
to a certain angle, the sleep apnea would stop.} You can demonstrate this for yourself by taking a nap in a lazy boy chair or a sofa. It is almost impossible to have sleep apnea if you sleep in an upright position.
Since our mother has slept in a hospital bed, she has never had sleep apnea problems.
If you convince yourself that this will work for you, then it would be much better to spend the money on a hospital bed than a CPAP. Most people cannot tolerate CPAP and those that can generally do not use it consistently for the full night.
It is important to breath all the time! The hospital bed really helped us. Hopefully, it will help you as well. It would definitely be worth the cost.
Re: Sleep Apnea in E4
Gina, good to hear you're scheduled for a sleep study and will let us know your results.
J11, With severe sleep apnea, just elevating the head of the bed is not likely to consistently resolve the problem. However, this measure will decrease the apneas and in your mother, as my brother, the only solution that they would consistently use.If your mother had desats under 90, I would have the recording oximeter to see that the oxygen is staying above 90.
People like those of us on this forum would tolerate CPAP if they were faced with constant wakings or severe desats! So many medical issues resolve with fixing apnea. The equipment now is like wearing a nasal cannula or completely with a dental night guard attached to a blowing air tube. Both my husband and I have used CPAP for three years. This adaptation is so much EASIER (in my opinion) that the dietary changes to LowCarb, let alone, the Ketagenic Diet.
Most insurance companies cover a full home study (breathing straps, oximeter, snore detector & limb movement detectors). The in-house sleep study has the advantage of wiring your brain waves, which in my case, my brain did not respond to even long apneas. My husband's EEG was jumping off the charts with constant awaking even with minor oxygen dips and partial apneas. This explains why he was fatigued and I was not fatigued, but had the medical problems due to hypoxia.
J11, With severe sleep apnea, just elevating the head of the bed is not likely to consistently resolve the problem. However, this measure will decrease the apneas and in your mother, as my brother, the only solution that they would consistently use.If your mother had desats under 90, I would have the recording oximeter to see that the oxygen is staying above 90.
People like those of us on this forum would tolerate CPAP if they were faced with constant wakings or severe desats! So many medical issues resolve with fixing apnea. The equipment now is like wearing a nasal cannula or completely with a dental night guard attached to a blowing air tube. Both my husband and I have used CPAP for three years. This adaptation is so much EASIER (in my opinion) that the dietary changes to LowCarb, let alone, the Ketagenic Diet.
Most insurance companies cover a full home study (breathing straps, oximeter, snore detector & limb movement detectors). The in-house sleep study has the advantage of wiring your brain waves, which in my case, my brain did not respond to even long apneas. My husband's EEG was jumping off the charts with constant awaking even with minor oxygen dips and partial apneas. This explains why he was fatigued and I was not fatigued, but had the medical problems due to hypoxia.
Re: Sleep Apnea in E4
This news brief cites the Stanford study of APOE doubling the sleep apnea risks, particularly severe sleep apnea:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=117398
http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00046 ... ayxml=true
I could not find the full study, but they hint that this apnea may be an early indicator of AD, disturbing when you have severe sleep apnea like I do.
However, there are many studies that cognitive decline of AD patients slows with treatment, here's a recent abstract:
http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/early/2014/ ... 4.abstract
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=117398
http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00046 ... ayxml=true
I could not find the full study, but they hint that this apnea may be an early indicator of AD, disturbing when you have severe sleep apnea like I do.
However, there are many studies that cognitive decline of AD patients slows with treatment, here's a recent abstract:
http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/early/2014/ ... 4.abstract
Re: Sleep Apnea in E4
Nighttime Hypertension—Not Daytime or Clinic—Predicts MI and Stroke in Meta-Analysis
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/825 ... c=206465DN
Could this also be related to sleep apnea?
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/825 ... c=206465DN
Could this also be related to sleep apnea?
Re: Sleep Apnea in E4
Here's part of the answer to that question...
CPAP Reduces Blood Pressure in Resistant Hypertension
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/817569
CPAP Reduces Blood Pressure in Resistant Hypertension
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/817569
Re: Sleep Apnea in E4
The OSA link with nocturnal hypertension has multiple causes:
"Even mild sleep apnea can increase nocturnal BP through different mechanisms including hypoxemia, sympathetic activation, mechanical changes and disruption of normal sleep. Sleep apnea may be an important factor in determining the increased cardiovascular risk in hypertensive non-dippers. "
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20818398
Last year my 24-hour B/P monitor had very low nocturnal B/P while on CPAP. I just regret not being diagnosed a decade earlier, to preserve my hippocampus & white matter and to prevent my insulin resistance (A1c=5.6 despite low FBS/1PP, glycation of proteins).
"Even mild sleep apnea can increase nocturnal BP through different mechanisms including hypoxemia, sympathetic activation, mechanical changes and disruption of normal sleep. Sleep apnea may be an important factor in determining the increased cardiovascular risk in hypertensive non-dippers. "
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20818398
Last year my 24-hour B/P monitor had very low nocturnal B/P while on CPAP. I just regret not being diagnosed a decade earlier, to preserve my hippocampus & white matter and to prevent my insulin resistance (A1c=5.6 despite low FBS/1PP, glycation of proteins).
