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Permalink Reply by Henning on February 14, 2009 at 2:32pm

I assume that you get oxygen through your CPAP machine, rather than oxygen alone.

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Permalink Reply by Melodie on February 16, 2009 at 3:36pm

Sue,
Haven't heard anything back from you about this situation. I was just wondering how things are progressing and if you have had another sleep study or oximetry test?

Please don't let this go untreated, as either can kill you - just like some of the other members have told you. Oxygen alone cannot treat the sleep apnea, it only helps with your oxygen levels - which, by the way, your body needs oxygen during the night to replenish itself. Just as your body needs to rest to replenish itself, and water to hydrate you.

Let us know what, if anything, is being done for you by your physicians. Are you back on PAP therapy or just using oxygen? Did you have another sleep study with the oxygen? What conclusions did the physician come up with?

Here at Sleepguide we can all give our experiences and suggestions, but we are not your physician by any means. Please see your physician as soon as possible and then let us all know what measures are being taken for your specific problems - everyone is different and what works for one, may or may not work for you. It is something that only you and your physician can determine. We ARE all here to support you and give you our feedback at all times.

Hoping things are getting better for you,
Melodie (Mel)

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Permalink Reply by Sleepguy on February 18, 2009 at 12:47am

Hi Sue, as others have pointed out, OSA causes you to stop breathing by obstructing your airway. Once that happens all the pure oxygen in the world isn't going to increase your blood oxygen.

Even if your blood oxygen saturation had been 100% the moment the airway became restricted, it would eventually dip below saturation and even lower. It is the low blood oxygen that triggers a sufficient arousal to reopen the airway.

So oxygen therapy would not really help solve OSA.

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Permalink Reply by Em on March 14, 2009 at 10:56am

Hi Sue,
I am new to this site and was looking for answers to my husband's problems and came accross your inquiry. Can you tell me what results if any were achieved when the doctor put you on oxygen instead of the CPAP machine? Five years ago my husband went through all the sleep studies, CPAP, than Bi-Pap and an assortment of misters, etc.. He actually then had an operation(UPPP) to remove his tonsils, adnoids, uvula to correct his sleep apnea. After that, his snoring decreased significantly but his episodes were still numerous during a sleep study. He started getting chest pains from the BiPap and discontinued using it. Now 5 years later we are faced with a new challenge. He had an episode of shortness of breath and after numerous tests and a heart cath, etc., it was discovered that he has low blood oxygen levels.They are contributing that to a paralyzed diaphragm. ( no cause for that was ever found). Now oxygen has been prescribed to be used upon exertion. He was given an oximeter to test his oxygen while sleeping without oxygen and the doctor now thinks he needs to be on a Bi-Pap again in addition to the oxygen. I know this is lengthy but if you or anyone out there has had anything similar, please reply. I saw the other replies saying that oxygen would not help the sleep apnea. I guess we're grasping at straws at this point. We are getting double talk from the pulmonary doctor. He is to use oxygen on exertion but when we told her his levels went up when he was on the tredmill,(without oxygen) she said that was normal because he was breathing harder. Thanks for any help that anyone can give.

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