Any Apnea Apps best, that work?

[squarehead]

Hello,
I'm brand new here. Are there any sleep apnea "apps" for Iphone that actually work well?

Thanks for any help!

Keith

[C0mbe]

Hi Keith!  Welcome to Apnea Board.  I'm not sure what kind of apps you are specifically looking for:

There are apps to help determine the "quality" of your sleep, based on sound (including observing snoring), and movement.  I have never used one, but I suspect their accuracy is poor at best.  At a minimum you couldn't use them to diagnose sleep Apnea, but it might help you decide to have a PSG or home sleep test.  

If you have already been diagnosed, some manufacturers make apps that give you summary data.  These would include DreamMapper (philips respironics) and MyAir (resmed).  Neither is particularly good or enlightening.  

The best way for accessing PAP data is by using sleepyhead, which is free open source software.  You can find it in the menu above.  At present, there is no way to view sleepyhead data (except screenshots) on a mobile device.

[squarehead]

Thank you, brother!

I guess the only thing I could get is some kind of recorder, which records all night that I put beside my pillow?

Keith

[DeepBreathing]

G'day Keith. Welcome to Apnea Board.

Are you looking for software to determine if you actually have sleep apnea? Or something to monitor progress if you already have a CPAP machine? It makes a big difference to the advice we can give.

[trish6hundred]

Hi squarehead,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
An App isn’t going to actually treat your sleep apnea, you need a CPAP machine that will do that.
Hang in there for more answers to your question and good luck to you.

[squarehead]

G'day Keith. Welcome to Apnea Board.

Are you looking for software to determine if you actually have sleep apnea? Or something to monitor progress if you already have a CPAP machine? It makes a big difference to the advice we can give.

Yes, I am looking for an app if there is one, that would let me know if I have sleep apnea... if I do, I understand I would need a CPAP machine to help… I but I just need to know if I have it first…

[Sleeprider]

If you want to economically do a valid sleep test that is accepted for prescription to obtain CPAP or APAP, Supplier #30 offers that service at a reasonable price along with a physician review and prescription if you need it. Not bad at $300, and you will know the answer. The best iPhone app can only give you screening information you probably already know. If people complain of your snoring, or you wake up with sweats, or need to go the the bathroom frequently at night, feel fatigued, sleepy, etc. there is a good chance you don't need a test to know the answer.

[Beej]

One option is to pick up a reasonably priced pulse oximeter which records data for download - ex CMS 50D+ or newer. Get it with its softwear and cable (special cable; not generic USB!!)

Download the data and look for episodes of oxygen desaturations. Below 89 is a set point some use. If you find a lot of time is below that, it is worth seeing a doc to investigate further. It could be something other than apnea affecting your breathing.

[Wrz77]

Yeah I am thinking an oximeter along with recording yourself at night to listen for any gasping or excessive snoring.

I recently bought the CMS50I+ oximeter. The cheapest I saw it was around $90 but that's from a Chinese supplier on an auction website so when you buy from such it often takes a month or more to arrive in my experience. There are cheaper options that will get the job done too as long as they can record a full night's data that can then be viewed in SleepyHead. You won't find the newest CMS50I+ model most likely in any local stores or mass merchant like Amazon unfortunately. But for your purposes the cheaper and older ones will be fine and should be much easier to find.

If it yields indications you have sleep apnea you should look into a polysomnography (sleep study). At least here in the U.S. people can get one for free if they are on Medicaid I am not sure of the financials in terms of Canadian coverage though. Since there are at least three kinds of apnea that often warrant different types of machines: Obstructive, Central, Complex (Obstructive and Central combined). And only a polysomnography can truly determine which you have, if you have it at all. An in-home sleep study is also an option: polysomnography done in your own bed.

If you're paying out of pocket then the $300 option posted above is best since sleep studies are often $1500 (USD) or more. If you do end up getting a conventional sleep study you should make sure the facility doing the sleep study is not also the medical equipment vendor (DME) as they will most likely give you the crappiest machine they have.

This is the form my pulmonologist specializing in sleep disorders gave me to fill out before the initial consult: http://sleepapnea.org/wp-content/uploads...990-97.pdf
That's known as the 'Epworth Sleepiness Scale' and when scored is used to tentatively determine sleep disorders and whether or not a polysomnography is needed.

You add up the numbers for the total score and then use this to determine what bracket you fit into. However, this test just determines whether you abnormally sleep or not, it's not on its own capable of diagnosing sleep apnea. For reference, I had a score of '13' on mine, and ended up being diagnosed with mild OSA from a sleep study.

"0-7:It is unlikely that you are abnormally sleepy.
8-9:You have an average amount of daytime sleepiness.
10-15:You may be excessively sleepy depending on the situation. You may want to consider
seeking medical attention.
16-24:You are excessively sleepy and should consider seeking medical attention."

[pholynyk]

Squarehead, you didn't mention which province you are in; they each have different rules for paying for the machine. In Ontario, there is the Assistive Devices Program which will pay several hundred toward the machine - but only if you have a full PSG study in a sleep lab, and buy the machine from a gov't approved supplier (not online!)

The oximemeter is probably the cheapest way to check the possibilities, The Epworth Scale should be sufficient to convince your doctor to schedule a full sleep test, though.