[CPAP] SPO2 Levels

[gb60mail]

Hello I'm new here, though I was first diagnosed with sleep apnea 11 years ago.

I recently purchased a recordable Oximeter to check out my spo2 level whilst sleeping. Throughout a night without CPAP the oximeter recorded 768 seconds between 87 – 93. Of the 768 seconds there were 19 occurrences of below 93 that were longer than 10 seconds, of which several occurrences were longer than 40 seconds, the longest occurrence was 54 seconds. On one of the occurrences the level was between 87 and 90 for 44 seconds.

Throughout a night with CPAP. The oximeter recorded just 54 seconds where the level was between 91 - 93, with the longest duration being 8 seconds. The level did not drop below 91 at all.

Are the levels recorded without CPAP considered to be dangerously low which could likely cause organ damage? Do the levels recorded with CPAP seem somewhere near normal?

Many thanks if anyone can let me know.

[Sleep2Snore]

They generally don't like to see oxygen levels drop below 90 and they like to see it as high as possible.
Lack of oxygen starves the brain of the oxygen it need to operate properly, that is why sometimes before people are diagnosed they sometimes wake up with a headache.  Also, because you are not exhaling, you are building up gasses you do not want in your system.
So to answer you question without getting to much into it, yes it does do damage, especially to your brain and heart.  

[DavePaulson]

Welcome, Sounds like your CPAP is doing a nice job of keeping your o2 levels up where they should be. Now you have evidence to support that. I would use it every time I slept. Do you feel better when you use CPAP?

Dave

[gb60mail]

Welcome, Sounds like your CPAP is doing a nice job of keeping your o2 levels up where they should be. Now you have evidence to support that. I would use it every time I slept. Do you feel better when you use CPAP?

Dave

Hi Dave, thanks for your reply. When I began using a CPAP it took me a long time to get used to it but eventually I did and it doesn't bother me now. However I haven't ever felt noticeably better when using a CPAP. I've told my doctor about this and he said that some patients don't seem to feel any better with it even though the oxygen levels show a big improvement, which they do in my case as I have now seen for myself.

Perhaps the reason I don't feel noticeably better may be that I just don't sleep for long enough, I only manage to sleep for 5 or 6 hours at the most with or without a CPAP. Once I am asleep, I'm quite sound and rarely wake up during the night. I nearly always wake up very early and then I can't go back to sleep again.

Another thing that has puzzled me a bit is that I have monitored myself for snoring with audio software. After listening to it, It sounds to me just like a normal snore, it is loud but there is nothing that sounds like the gasping for air sounds that I have read about. Maybe that doesn't happen with every patient. With CPAP, there is no snoring at all!

So with CPAP, the levels  certainly do look better and I will continue to use it.

Thanks again
Graham

[ajack]

You can also google sleep hygiene, there is a lot to it. Small changes can make a difference.

The cube does give a report if you put the codes into a website. I don't know what data yours gives, but the AHI would be useful
http://www.sleepcube.com/Help/Help.htm

[gb60mail]

You can also google sleep hygiene, there is a lot to it. Small changes can make a difference.

The cube does give a report if you put the codes into a website. I don't know what data yours gives, but the AHI would be useful

Thanks for the information ajack, I tried putting the code from my DeVilbiss cube into the website, but I only have the standard cube and unfortunately the this model does not record the AHI, the report only shows the time % that I have been using my CPAP. I do know that in my hospital test without CPAP, the AHI was 36 per hour so just into the severe range.

The levels recently recorded by my Oximeter do show a big improvement in my SPO2 level so I am assuming that that the AHI will also be much improved though I'm not sure if this is necessarily the case?

---

They generally don't like to see oxygen levels drop below 90 and they like to see it as high as possible.
Lack of oxygen starves the brain of the oxygen it need to operate properly, that is why sometimes before people are diagnosed they sometimes wake up with a headache.  Also, because you are not exhaling, you are building up gasses you do not want in your system.
So to answer you question without getting to much into it, yes it does do damage, especially to your brain and heart.  

Thank you Sleep2Snore, that is very useful information.

[ajack]

edit..well I'm stupid, I was using the without cpap numbers 

Ok, the o2 meter will do the job too. It should have a chart you can post using h ttp://imgur.com/ you may need to put in a space like I did, so that the new user software will let you post it.
It looks like you had desaturation events that I would like to fix. I would raise the pressure 1cm and do another test night with the o2 meter. it's a matter of increasing pressure till you stay above 90%. If this can't be achieved you will need better data and a doctor, as to why.

"19 occurrences of below 93 that were longer than 10 seconds, of which several occurrences were longer than 40 seconds, the longest occurrence was 54 seconds. On one of the occurrences the level was between 87 and 90 for 44 seconds. "

[gb60mail]

edit..well I'm stupid, I was using the without cpap numbers 

Ok, the o2 meter will do the job too. It should have a chart you can post using h ttp://imgur.com/ you may need to put in a space like I did, so that the new user software will let you post it.
It looks like you had desaturation events that I would like to fix. I would raise the pressure 1cm and do another test night with the o2 meter. it's a matter of increasing pressure till you stay above 90%. If this can't be achieved you will need better data and a doctor, as to why.

"19 occurrences of below 93 that were longer than 10 seconds, of which several occurrences were longer than 40 seconds, the longest occurrence was 54 seconds. On one of the occurrences the level was between 87 and 90 for 44 seconds. "

No worries!

[trish6hundred]

Hi gb60mail,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Good luck to you with CPAP therapy.

[gb60mail]

Hi gb60mail,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Good luck to you with CPAP therapy.

Thank you trish6hundred