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[Diagnosis] New course of action
#1
Idea 
New course of action
Hi everyone, I know that I am not much of a member, but I need help.
I was a heavy smoker till 10 yrs. ago and for the past 6 years I smoked waterpipes, I quit that for a month now.Till 3 weeks ago my mom was the "patient" and I was the "next of kin", now I am also a patient. My mom's oximeter was busted from years of service, so I went and bought a new and recordable one for her. Lately when I woke up from after lunch nap I felt my heart was pounding in my chest despite using Tenormin for tachycardia twice a day and my SpO2 reading was 85-87 percent. I decided to sleep with oximeter on several nights and later looked at the results. On a cyclic basis every 2 hours or so my oxygen would dip to 40s and 50s and oscillate between these 2 for 10-15 minutes and after that would go up to mid 80s. Is the frequency of these events low(correct me if I'm wrong) or each oscillation is considered an event? My graph looks like a multi arc bridge across a river. The width of each arc takes about 2 hours and each arc foundation is 10-15 minutes wide. If I slept for 8 straight hours is it considered 4 events or 4 multi events?
I live in a country where there are no sleep techs and no sleep docs in my town, at best there are ENT or pulmonologists. There are no trained DMEs in my town and if want to buy supplies I have to travel 700 miles to the capital. There is no medical plan to cover my expenses and it is right out of my own dear pocket.
Pulmo doc wants to set me up for screening and possibly a sleep study down the road, because they don't have a trained sleep tech yet!!!
I felt a slight amount of business talking,so I went to another doc and he prescribed chest x-ray, AVG, regular spirometry and boxed spirometry.
X-ray ok, AVG low O2 and high CO2, reg spiro says mild retriction and box spiro computer says restrictive lung defect but to be reviewed by a doc.

In your experience does this warrant going to capital where they have a lung diseases hospital and experienced sleep techs and docs?
Merry Christmas to all.

Regards

Al
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#2
RE: New course of action
G'day Black Sheep, welcome back.

First off, I'm not a doctor, so what I say could be pure uninformed speculation. But if I were you, I'd seriously consider getting a proper examination by specialists. You've had one medical opinion and a suite of tests, so I guess you're waiting on the second opinion from your new doctor? If the second opinion is similar to the first, I'd say there's no question but you should go.

You didn't say where you live, but do you have some form of national health or welfare which could help defray the costs?

Re your question about events - when we talk about apnea events, these are discrete cessations of breathing for 10 seconds or more. What you're experiencing seems to be something quite different.
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#3
RE: New course of action
That pulseox data sounds really odd. It does sound like you should get a sleep study with more sensors (pulseox, airflow, chest effort) to give some more data on whats going on here.

Are there online sleep testing providers available in your country?
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#4
RE: New course of action
My thanks to both DeepBreathing and turitzin.
No insurance would accept my costs.
And there are no online sleep labs.
I will keep you informed of my progress.

Regards

Al
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#5
RE: New course of action
In the meantime, do not sleep on your back if you can avoid it. Side sleeping will minimize the airway restrictions and may provide some relief until times get better. It sounds like you have sleep apnea and it is causing your heart to go into a panic mode on those intervals you mentioned.

If that doesn't provide any relief, consider buying a cpap unit from Craigslist or some other source of used equipment or else get a script from your doc and buy a new or open box unit from one of the suppliers on the forum list. All you can lose is a few bucks but if you keep going without treatment, you could lose something much more valuable.

Best regards, Dude
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