Can someone please tell me what these sleep study results mean?
Written by admin on January 22, 2010 – 11:23 am -Ok. Long story, I had a sleep study in November of Last year in which my doctor never talked to me about it. Well anyways I have the paperwork here with me and I have Mild Sleep Apnea, and it say’s possibly hypoxemia. Let me tell u what my results say on my oxygen saturation:
Initial oxygen saturation was 98% with the lowest saturation reached being 70%. The mean oxygen saturation during sleep study was 89.5%. During 38% study of the study, her oxygen saturation was greater than 90%, during 60.8% of the study her oxygen saturation varied between 80-89%, and during 1.2% of the study her oxygen saturation varied between 70-79%. Her sleep efficiency was severely reduced to 63.1% with a decrease in the amount of REM sleep to 11% of total sleep and no deep sleep was noted. Her sleep onset latency was prolonged to 127 minutes and her REM onset latency was prolonged to 210 minutes. Ambien 10 mg was taken. Her combined apneic and partial apneic index was very mildly elevated at 5.7 with an apneic index of 2.0 and partial index of 5.5 .The vast majority of the esisodes were obstructive in type with the longest partial apneic episode being 16 seconds and the mean length being 11 seconds. The total study time was 6.5 hours and the total sleep was 4 hours. No arrhythmias are noted, no periodic limb movements are present, and snoring was moderately loud, intermittent and present.
His impression is Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and Hypoxemia
His recommendation for my doctor is this: (my doctor has never talked to me about this or done anything about it): I recommend supplemental oxygen for sleep at a flow rate of 2 liters per nasal cannula. I would recommend an overnight oximetry on supplemntal oxygen in two to three weeks and hopefully note normalization of her oxygen saturation. I also recommend weight loss of 25 pounds. Lastly I recommend an otolaryngology evaluation as in a 30 year old patient a possible surgical approach would be indicated. I will obtaining the home equipment and followup care to dr. phillips. I am not sure why her oxygen saturation remains low other than being overweight, but if appropriate, a cardiac and pulmonary evaluation would be in order.
Note by me the patient: I am having trouble breathing all the time and can’t sleep even on sleeping pills because I can’t breathe even worse when I lay down. Please let me know why my doctor hasn’t gotten in contact with me about these results. His nurses told me I’m fine, but I’m not so sure, This was the stupid nurse who doesn’t care about anyone.
When you sleep, you have episodes where you quit breathing and your blood oxygen levels get pretty low, sometimes as low as 70%. As a result, your sleep isn’t normal. The doctor suggests an oxygen machine and weight loss. He also wants your lungs and heart evaluated. You might need to have surgery to get rid of some of your flesh that’s blocking your airway.
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Sleep Apnea and Insomnia is Ruining my Life . . .?
Written by admin on January 22, 2010 – 11:23 am -
I have severe obstructive sleep apnea. And I’ve had two surgeries to try to correct this problem in the past year with little success. I’ve had my upper and lower jaw broken and moved forward, and my tonsils removed all within a year. I’m not overweight and I eat a very healthy diet with almost no caffeine. I’ve had no improvement with the CPAP machine (which in my opinion is always leaking and waking me up) and have tried 4 different masks so far. After my last surgery, while in the hospital recovering I had continued apnea episodes. Plus, having insomnia has got me so sleep deprived I can’t think straight. I’m scared of getting into relationships because of being tired all the time, and I even blame myself for missing out on most of my son’s life due to this. I’m depressed, can’t work anymore and don’t know what to do? My doctor will not prescribe a sleep medicine for me probably due to the apnea. I suggest two things; get another doctor and research the pallete surgery thoroughly. Don’t sleep on your back, but on your sides, train yourself to sleep that way, I have and I have a very mild form of apnea. You should also find a Sleep Center that specializes in this disorder. Also, go to a naturopath to see what natural suppliments can help you sleep that won’t be a problem for the apnea. Good luck, hang in there, and make wise decisions based on your gut and proof that it works. powered by Yahoo Answers
Wow, I would’ve really checked into those surgeries before I did anything. Why a doctor would think breaking your jaw would help is beyond me. I have heard of a pallete surgery that works for some, that makes more sense since your soft pallete has something to do with the problem. Tonsils have nothing to do with it either.
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help my newborn has an apnea monitor?
Written by admin on January 22, 2010 – 11:23 am -My daughter is 10 days old and on an apnea monitor. She has only been home for three days, she was born at 36 wks and spent the first week in a children’s hospital because she inhaled fluid during delivery. There were no problems caused by this she was just on an antibiotic for seven days then sent home. She is on the monitor because in 2002 I had a little boy that passed away in his sleep when he was two months old. I am sure the monitor is the best thing for her and it does easy my mind. However, the monitor has gone off several times since we have been home. She seems to be fine every time it goes off. I called her nurse and he said it sometimes does just go off. We have only been home for three days and I’d say it went off about 20 times since we brought her home. It drives me crazy, my heart stops every time I hear it go off. Her father and I are so afraid to leave her side. I’m afraid to be home alone with her because I just panic when I hear it. Her father is calmer than I am and just goes over to her and picks her up and makes sure she is ok. I always want to run to the phone and call someone. I am so afraid she will be unresponsive every time I hear it. Does anyone else have a newborn on an apnea monitor that goes off all the time? And how do you deal with it? How long do they usually keep newborns on the monitors? I know its whats best for her and I’d be going even crazier if she didnt have it. I am just so afraid of her and the monitor right now and she has only had it for three days I know we still have a long way to go.
My daughter (3rd child) has had her apnea monitor for 20 months now. We are just about to give it up. What brand is yours? We use the Babysense ll. The monitor we use does go off from time to time, and we do the following checklist:
1. Check all connections. Sometimes if the cords aren’t plugged into the alarm it will go off continuously because the alarm box is not recieving any electronic signals.
2. Check baby has not rolled off off sensor pads. (Obviously in your case this is not an issue)
3. Check there are the required amount of sensor pads being used at a time. For a newborn you use one. For an older baby who moves around (rolls/crawls etc) use two. That way if they roll off of one it won’t go off.
4. Check batteries. Make sure you use alkaline batteries.
5. Check the sensor pad is positioned on a flat surface.
I’m not sure in your case, but my alarm also goes off if the breathing rate drops below a certain rate, and also obviously if the alarm box recieves no movement signals
I have noticed if I have a fan on in the room the monitor picks that up as movement, so when I pick the baby OUT of her cot the alarm WONT sound. Check that aswell if you have a fan or airconditioner in your room. To test this, turn your fan/airconditioner on without the baby in the cot. If the alarm does not sound it is picking up on the air flow as ‘movement’.
The fact your baby is so young may mean she has an errattic breathing pattern. If that is the case it should get better over time. In the meantime, to be thorough, document times and dates of the alarms, and also how your baby reacted to you picking her up etc and present to your peadiatrician.Thats what I had to do. They will not give a sleep study here in Australia without that. My 20mth old has a sleep condition (found through using the monitor) that was only jusyt diagnosed. I am so glad I brought the alarm.. who knows.,.
Good luck, if you have any questions feel free to ask. The first thing I did before disturbing my baby’s sleep and turning off the alarm was to check the colour of her lips and nose. If they look normal she is more than likely OK 
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How do I stop the nose tickle while using a CPAP machine?
Written by admin on January 22, 2010 – 11:23 am -I have severe sleep apnea. I sleep with a CPAP (continous positive airways pressure) machine. It works great, but my nose tickles several times in the middle of the night! I have to turn it off and scratch my nose before i can go back to sleep. What can i do to stop the ticleing????
The tickle is on the outside of my nose, not inside.
sometimes a protective tape can decrease that.
sometimes placing the mask further up on the bridge of the nose might help.
Its just a pain in the ass machine for our patients, not sure there is much you can do… sorry
sincerely,
male cardiac nurse
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