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How Many Minutes Below 90% Without CPAP Are Acceptable?
#1
How Many Minutes Below 90% Without CPAP Are Acceptable?
My pulmonologist says I no longer have sleep apnea. I lost 30 pounds and my O2Ring shows less than 6 minutes per night below 90% O2 level without CPAP.  Sometimes it shows less tan a minute.    Is that acceptable?  What time below 90% would be of concern?

Robert
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#2
RE: How Many Minutes Below 90% Without CPAP Are Acceptable?
What basis did your pulmonologist use to make his determination? It's one thing to look at your SpO2 or CPAP treatment and judge you no longer meet the expected criteria for sleep apnea and another to perform a polysomnographic study that proves it.
Sleeprider
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#3
RE: How Many Minutes Below 90% Without CPAP Are Acceptable?
I’ve had my APAP machine since November 2019.  My AHI has always been below 2 events per hour when using the machine.  I started losing weight in January and reached my weight goal in late July. I provided my O2Ring data to my pulmonologist which showed less than 6 minutes below 90% per night while sleeping 7 to 9 hours per night. 

Since I don’t know how to calculate the AHI using ORing data, I thought I would ask for help here.  I seem to recall there was some magic number on my initial sleep study that indicated I had sleep apnea and Medicare would pay for the treatment, but I haven’t been able to find the report.  Maybe it as 5 minutes below 88% oxygen level per night or per hour?

Any help is appreciated.

Robert
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#4
RE: How Many Minutes Below 90% Without CPAP Are Acceptable?
Oxygen levels are not a primary tool for determining whether you need to use your apap.  Sleep apnea is the determining factor.  Weight loss does not mean you don't need it either.  There are plenty of normal weight and even underweight folks who have apnea and need a pap machine.  The only real way to learn whether you have apnea and need a pap machine is to have another sleep study done.  Your regular doctor can prescribe the study, and will let you know the results.  Everything else is just guessing.
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#5
RE: How Many Minutes Below 90% Without CPAP Are Acceptable?
(12-13-2020, 05:38 PM)Rhenley49 Wrote: Since I don’t know how to calculate the AHI using ORing data, I thought I would ask for help here. 

The short answer is, you can't determine AHI from SpO2 data.   AHI is the sum of all Clear, Obstructive, and Hypopnea events divided by the total number of hours in a sleep session.  Your SpO2 data is not a determining parameter.  It would be considered more like an attribute to your sleep analysis.
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INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#6
RE: How Many Minutes Below 90% Without CPAP Are Acceptable?
Thanks for your response.  I have no desire to do another sleep study during the pandemic. I’ll be satisfied with my pulmonologist’s assessment of my condition and will use the apap if I feel I’m not getting the rest during sleep that I need.

My sleep apnea is obstructive and my initial treatment was an oral mouth piece and an oxygen concentrator. I’ll go back to using the mouthpiece without the concentrator.

Robert
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#7
RE: How Many Minutes Below 90% Without CPAP Are Acceptable?
FWIW if you want to discuss lowered oxygen %, if you're at 88% for 6 minutes, doc is expected to script supplemental oxygen. Unless doc puts you through a PSG/sleep study, there's no proper data to proclaim you're cured of apnea and I don't care how much the weight change this is.

Congrats on the weight loss however.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#8
RE: How Many Minutes Below 90% Without CPAP Are Acceptable?
Is that 6 minutes per hour or for the entire 8 hours of sleep?  If it is for the entire night, I guess I should keep using the apap even as much as I hate the mask and the leaks. 

Robert
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#9
RE: How Many Minutes Below 90% Without CPAP Are Acceptable?
No that is for a 6 minute period as in if oxygen level is at 88% you'd get the supplemental oxygen you state you already have. If you've got that oxy I wonder why it's not being used.

Just be aware that like you said yourself in post #3 you had 2 events per hour if you were using PAP. You do not know what the event count is if not on PAP therapy.

If there's leaks via the mask that are disturbing sleep you may need assistance in knowing how to adjust the mask.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#10
RE: How Many Minutes Below 90% Without CPAP Are Acceptable?
I’m a side sleeper so the mask sometimes gets pushed away from the face.  It’s an annoyance that I have dealt with.  I’m using the resmed f30i now and I have been having fewer problems with it. Just got it in late November.

Thanks everyone for your help and recommendations.  I’ll stay a apap user regardless of my pulmonologist’s statement that I don’t have sleep apnea anymore. It was somewhat a contentious appointment because I didn’t want to have another sleep study at this time. Never been in a study location that made me feel comfortable.  They were dirty, uncomfortable, and bathroom too far from the bedroom. That’s just my opinion.  Maybe my phobia.   Smile

Robert
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