Intermittent desaturations during sleep

[MCS2014]

Could also be the low RBCs, low normal hemoglobin/hematocrit (mild anemia) on my last labs:

[SarcasticDave94]

No, admitted the doc isn't always held in high esteem when it comes to sleep apnea and sleep specialist, pressure set choices, and so on. But in this case, I reiterate that the doc (possibly your primary doc first) needs to be made aware of the info and your concerns about it. Schedule a face to face visit and discuss the data and what actions you and doc need to initiate to address them.

[MCS2014]

No, admitted the doc isn't always held in high esteem when it comes to sleep apnea and sleep specialist, pressure set choices, and so on. But in this case, I reiterate that the doc (possibly your primary doc first) needs to be made aware of the info and your concerns about it. Schedule a face to face visit and discuss the data and what actions you and doc need to initiate to address them.

Would tend to agree. Pulmonologists are like mechanics or plumbers, not much for nuance or thinking outside the box. But, a PCP or even cardiologist will just wind up referring it all to the sleep doc anyway, so kinda stuck. It costs me nothing to set up an appt. and see what he thinks. In the meantime, need to replete from some good heme iron supps and foods to bring up my RBCs, etc. and see if that helps boost Sp02 levels.

[MCS2014]

Update:
Pulmo doc has advised to do a Sp02 study with a medical grade pulse ox. Says the 02 Ring reports wouldn't qualify to be used for insurance coverage for supplementary 02 if it turns out I need it. He also mentioned that the AHI levels on my OSCAR reports from my ResMed machine have only 50% accuracy so can't rely on that 100%. I am asymptomatic for the most part.

[Gideon]

The O2 Ring did its job, it got the doc to look at it. Your equip is not regularly tested and certified for accuracy. Check your O2 Ring against the Doc's measureing during your physical to get an idea if it is really out. Regarding the OSCAR data, it is acceptable but again it isn't certified either and doc's mostly need certified results to state anything.

[MCS2014]

Check your O2 Ring against the Doc's measureing during your physical to get an idea if it is really out. 

Will do,  .

[MCS2014]

Update:

Pulse ox test from doc came back + for hypoxia with 7.2 min. in desats and says he will be ordering supplemental 02.

Since my desats were infrequent and, as of late, none of my home readings have been >1-2 min., I am thinking much has to do with transient sinus issues, atmospheric changes and lack of humidity.

So, the question becomes, do I really need to be on it? I guess if insurance covers it 100%, what do I have to lose?

Are there some health benefits even for those who don't desat much?

Doc also suggested BIPAP or ASV, neither of which I want to experiment with, the BIPAP already having done and with lackluster results.

My only concern is why CPAP didn't eliminate the desats to begin with and why would I now suddenly need supplemental 02. Unless I have an undiagnosed respiratory condition, wouldn't having a normal AHI as treated with CPAP prevent intermittent hypoxia?

[Geer1]

Responding here instead of your new thread as I had to get reacquainted with a couple details.

Long story short if you want to understand what is going on and causing the desaturations you need to be using the o2 ring, importing the data into OSCAR, making sure it is synced properly and then reviewing your OSCAR data in detail to figure out when these desaturations are occurring and if they correlate with any sort of breathing issues.

Based on the few examples earlier in the thread the desaturations appear to be momentary drops that I would assume are related to an apnea, hypopnea or some other breathing event but without seeing synced flow rate and SPO2 graphs together it is impossible to know for sure. If it was some other type of hypoventilation I would expect it to be more gradual and over longer periods.

Edit: Did you record o2 ring data that night as well? If so that would be the best night to look at syncing your data and then we could try and dissect it in detail. If the doctor provided you with a report/graph of his data to compare to o2 ring that would make it even easier to try and interpret the differences.

[MCS2014]

Edit: Did you record o2 ring data that night as well? If so that would be the best night to look at syncing your data and then we could try and dissect it in detail. If the doctor provided you with a report/graph of his data to compare to o2 ring that would make it even easier to try and interpret the differences.

One of the more recent recordings:

https://i.imgur.com/VQEili4.mp4

https://i.imgur.com/KfictL5.mp4

[MCS2014]

https://i.imgur.com/413htfk.mp4

https://i.imgur.com/RXNjjvP.mp4

I tried but can no longer edit my posts to make any changes or make the mp4s clearer to read.

Does anyone know how to embed a copy of the actual OSCAR data with the ability to scroll?