Here's the short story. I was diagnosed with OSA about 4 years ago after a sleep study. After 10 months I gave up on the cpap machine. I just could not get on with it. To my frustration the clinic I went to would not help me except to say keep using your cpap. I went to another clinic and they told me the same thing. This REALY surprised me. I had done research and found out that 30-50% of the users can't tolerate this device. Clearly, I'm not a one in a million outlier! While it's great that the cpap can really help some people, I was disappointed to find out this is an industry predicated on selling cpap machines and sleep studies even though they know the stats aren't that good. Research I've found suggests that 50% of people with OSA have comorbid conditions which if treated can improve their OSA.
One thing I had read was about at the time was oral devices. So, I got one of these.
Fast forward to the earlier this year. I bought a Galaxy Smartwatch 5 using my companies LSA. One of the first things I noticed using the sleep app was my drops, often down to the high 70's low 80s, occurred early in the night and would last a couple of hours. What I figured out was that taking a daily Prilosec and eating earlier and smaller meals made a huge difference. Of course, I dug up medical papers backing this up!
I then bought a hospital style SPO2 meter that goes on my finger. The next thing I noticed was how big a difference sleeping positions matter. Like they say in the research I read, sleeping on my side or stomach made a big difference. The part which I'm doesn't match what I read is how much my SPO2 dropped just by lying on my back. Literally six points. This is wide awake controlling my breathing and with or without the oral device. In fact, I've been experimenting not using the oral device and not seeing a difference.
Doing the above my SP02 varies around in a 4-5% window for most the night. This may be high for a person without OSA, but a huge improvement from where I was.
Still, I seem to be having about two episodes a night where I drop 6-12%. These last 5-10 minutes. I can see the icicles starting for about 5ish minutes. The drop is 6-7%. Then suddenly I get a very short spike down that's another 3-5%. I then have more icicles for a few minutes, and it goes way. It doesn't wake me up. I don't snore, my BMI is 20, I'm athletic, I have a low heart rate, great blood pressure, and my spirometry results are off the chart.
This is the last piece of the puzzle (besides getting over the anxiety of all this) and I'm struggling to figure it out. Any thoughts on what's going on at these times? More importantly, what I can do to stop, improve, or reduce these episodes?
Finally, sorry for the long post! I also apologize if I'm posting in wrong place. There really isn't much out there in terms of forums or help in general for us folks who don't get on with cpap machines. Thanks for reading!
About all I can say is that you should not be seeing O2 drop significantly below 95% during sleep. Drops below that suggest apnea events which may be central or obstructive.
The issue with CPAP clinics is that most do not want to take the time to look at your detailed sleep data. Some of us look at our own data using OSCAR which is a freeware program that runs on a Mac or PC. You download the data from your CPAP SD card with a card reader. It can be very helpful in figuring out what is going on while you are sleeping, or trying to sleep. Many sleep clinics do not fine tune the CPAP settings based on the detailed data. They just set a wide range between minimum and maximum pressures and put the machine in Auto.
The other big issue with CPAPs is the mask. There are many different types and one pretty much has to try them to find the one that works best for you.
As for heartburn, I just take one or two Tums before bedtime and the issue pretty much goes away. I also attribute them to my good bone density tests.
It sounds like you've been through a challenging journey with sleep apnea and exploring different solutions. It's difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of those episodes, but it's worth consulting with a sleep specialist or doctor who can analyze your specific case and provide tailored advice. Exploring alternative treatments or therapies, such as positional therapy or further oral device adjustments, may be helpful. Keep researching and seeking expert guidance.
It sounds like you've been through a challenging journey with sleep apnea and exploring different solutions. It isn't easy to pinpoint the exact cause of those episodes, Exploring alternative treatments or therapies, such as positional therapy or further oral device adjustments, may be helpful.
