Cheyne Stokes-How to verify?

[SeePak]

Hey Jay

I have never seen a cardiologist and like I said that I know of I'm in excellent health and getting better every day.

Now one thing I was just getting ready to update you guys I just wanted to wait a little longer to see what was going to happen with my pulse oximeter readings.
I checked them often through the day leaving on my finger for long periods of time so I can really get a feel for what's going on.

My oxygen readings are normal now often reaching 99 and staying there however my pulse has raised significantly!
I have not seen today one reading in the 40s.

I got to think this is a good thing I'm not an elite athlete LOL though I am in pretty good shape and I do exercise anaerobically and aerobically with breathing exercises during sleep rest and play only breathe through the nose.

Last night I slept without my CPAP machine and I will be doing that again tonight as I pointed out I have that campfire smell going on so this is by necessity although I've been trying here and there to sleep without it and I guarantee you I have been feeling excellent I went yesterday without feeling tired or yawning or anything.

So now I got to figure why was my pulse so low and why is it higher now?

[pwnorris]

I also get CSR events on occasion. And low O2. My alarm fires at 90% and during these events can fire every few minutes for 30 minutes or more.

I'm sure it's due to low CO2 caused by hyperventilation during leaks (and associated "running" type dreams). But getting the CO2 level back to normal takes a long time, during which I have frequent CA's. I notice that when I wake during a particular bad episode, I have some difficulty in breathing.

I also have a low pulse rate. It ranges between 40 and 56 over night and occasionally drops even lower. I'm certainly not fit - and have had heart attacks. Though I believe the pulse rate is due to other health issues - not just heart.

The last extended period of CSR reports ended when I replaced a 2 month old Resmed P30i nasal pillows mask, and reduced my leakage rate. Also I bought a IKSTAR CPAP pillow which has helped. It seems likely the masks - which are supposed to be replaced every 3 months I believe, may not always be of sufficient quality to last 3 months.

One doctor I asked, suggested exercise to restore my CO2 levels! And certainly getting out of bed and doing normal activities for 30 minutes to an hour does seem to resolve the issue.

Not sure if any of this helps.

For the experts on the board: is it possible to purchase home capnography alarms? It would be useful to be able to check CO2 levels and have an alarm sound if the level falls too low. Does that even make sense?

[SeePak]

pw

yes exercise is great!

I did not realize the connection between exercise and CO2 until recently discovering Patrick McKeown and his Breatwork exercises.

I do not equate a problem, yet, between my pulse and my health.

There are blood tests for CO2 levels to discover body acidity issues, and i am asking today for my physician to get me a requisition for a test.
I was told years ago by a doctor i had an acidic body, so who knows, may be something there.

I used to get a LOT of herpes on my lips, like real bad, and  found a way to control this, B5 .

But i did read that herpes can only flourish in an acidic environment so that would make sense for me.

The herpes is mostly gone now, though it got stirred up i think when i started doing some long breath hold and hypoxia training and that is supposed to be natural when you start on an exercise regime.

The difficulty breathing on sleep arousal is probably part of the intolerance to CO2 or 'air hunger' which results, like you say, from hyperventilation.
I am doing these breathing exercises to gain a tolerance to air hunger and it is helping for sure.
I can get that feeling just by altering how lightly i breathe, and i have far less reaction now.
And wearing my pulse oximeter, i see how the oxygen goes up to 99% shortly after the breathing exercise!

Thanx for the reply and your question about CO2 measurement has spurred me to get a blood test , will see how it goes.

[Jay51]

I have had several capnography (cap/ox) tests (all provided by my DME).  Uses a nasal cannula and finger probe for CO2 exhalation and pulse rate.  Mine had no alarm. 

I have seen a few used capnometers on ebay.  Not sure how accurate they would be.  Also, I don't remember it they had alarms or not.  You can try an internet search for a capnometer (they may require a prescription, but there are some on the used market).