Can I diagnose sleep apnea for my mom using CPAP device and OSCAR software?

[WWu777]

Hi Everyone,
I have a question. My mom may have sleep apnea too. She gets drowsy a lot during the day and has to take light naps a lot. At night she makes slight choking sounds too while she sleeps, my dad said. So I'm worried that she might have sleep apnea too, since she's a little overweight.

However, you know how old people are, they are very stubborn and don't like doing new things or changing their routine, so me asking her to go to a hospital and doing a sleep study would only be met with stubborn refusal and resistance from her.

So I was wondering, if I hooked her up to my CPAP device and used OSCAR or the default software in it, would that be able to diagnose if she has sleep apnea or not? What if I just use the default software within it that you monitor with an app? Would that be sufficient to do that? Or would only the OSCAR software be able to do that?

If so, would the results be solid and reliable? Can the program tell how often you choke or gasp for air during sleep?

Thanks.

[staceyburke]

The only problem is that the lowest the Cpap will go is 4cm of pressure. So there will be pressure and that in itself will meditate the findings. It will show apnea that was not controlled with 4 cm.

[Gideon]

We get this question a lot, so I am going to let an Old Person answer that.

Maybe.

She is on that first part of the trip, that trip is one going up that foreign river, very scenic I'll have you know, de Nile.

What can be done we can often tell if she definitely has Sleep Apnea
We cannot say she does not have it, only that she is well treated at the pressures used.

For the purpose of diagnostics you want to use the lowest pressure possible.
so
Min=Max= Pressure = 4
No EPR, No Flex, No Pressure Support, and no Ramp (you are at the lowest pressure and at a fixed pressure)

If 4 is too low try 5 or 6 but the idea is as low as possible.

Then show OSCARs nightly charts and we can render an oppinion.

Keep in mind that this is only for diagnostics. No one here would recommend this for treatment.

[WWu777]

The only problem is that the lowest the Cpap will go is 4cm of pressure. So there will be pressure and that in itself will meditate the findings. It will show apnea that was not controlled with 4 cm.

I see. But in theory, my Nitelog app should be able to tell if apnea occurred right? I am using Z2 by the way, which does not support OSCAR software, so all I can do is use the Nitelog software app that it's compatible with it.

The thing is, if my Nitelog app can tell how many times that sleep apnea has occured with green, yellow and red bars, then in theory I can test if someone has apnea with it right? For example, if I hook my mom up with it, and the data report the next day shows that she has yellow or red bars, that means she has apnea more than 5 times per hour (yellow bar) or more than 15 times per hour (red bar) right? According to the apnea chart that is. So in theory that should work, am I right?

I got one more question if you don't mind, that I'm confused about.

When I download the data from the device using Nitelog, it shows a report with green bars, yellow bars and red bars for the AHI, which is apnea hypoxnea indicator or something. So it seems that if apnea happens 1 to 5 times, it's green bar, which means good normal sleep. Yellow bar means 5 to 15 times for mild sleep apnea, and red bars mean 15 and above. Most of my bars are yellow. So does this mean that apnea happened 5 to 15 times per hour? If so, did the CPAP pressure prevent that apnea from occuring or was unable to prevent it? I'm a bit confused about that. Can anyone explain? I tried to look at the user manual from Breas, the manufacturer, but it said nothing about it. And the manufacturer doesn't like to tell me much for legal reasons, I guess they are afraid of getting sued or something. Americans are so paranoid about such things. lol 

Does a lot of yellow bars mean that the CPAP treatment was successful and worked and gave me a decent night's sleep? It seems like it, because during the day I don't feel drowsy anymore and I don't doze off randomly anymore. Before when I would sit on a couch I'd doze off randomly. I hated that. It felt out of control. Now I no longer feel drowsy or dose off. So that's a good thing. Seems to have made a difference there. 

Is the goal to get all green bars or are yellow bars good enough? Would I have to increase the pressure on the CPAP? I have it set for 7 to 20 on auto cpap. There is an apap 3 setting with more pressure than the default apap 2 setting. Are you supposed to increase the pressure so that you will have all green bars on Nitelog? What would a sleep clinician say? Any idea?

Thanks for your time.

[Gideon]

It is possible to diagnose if she has sleep apnea that a minimum pressure cannot treat. It is not possible to eliminate apnea.

[Sleeprider]

Using a Z2 APAP as a diagnostic device is insane! It offers no useful therapy data and not only cannot diagnose the presence of obstructive sleep apnea, it can barely tell the user how to change pressure to make therapy more effective. The Nitelog App is basic and provides mostly compliance (use) data. The data problem with the Z2 aside, we do not recommend using any CPAP as a diagnostic device, however we have no problem with using a CPAP for trial therapy in a person that suspects they have obstructive sleep apnea.