I turn my concentrator on about 20 minutes after I go to sleep with a timer. It seems that I must desaturate first 15 minutes as a requisite for going to sleep. Oxygen ( infused into my bipap line) initially keeps me from going to sleep. After sleeping 2 hours the oxygen wakes me up, and then I have insomnia for a couple of hours. Really!!! Does anybody know of an oximeter with accompanying software that can be hooked to a computer such that an output signal such as an alarm will sound depending on predetermined O2 saturation levels? The saturation level upper and lower limits to be set in the computer by virtue of the accompanying software. I would convert the output signal to a usb signal which I would then use to turn my concentrator on and off.
I use a cms 50e oximeter, so I think know a lot about my sleep trends. My sats will crash for about 20 minutes off and on throughout the night so I need to turn on the concentrator only during these episodes. If I don't, my body rebells against continuous all-night O2 by causing me to wake up, and then insomnia.
I suspect other people have the same problem I'm experiencing, and I don't think the sleep labs pick it up because you need multiple sleep studies along with delayed O2 to get the picture. I have had 17 sleep studies since 1993, and I've had every surgery Stanford Hospital (Dr's Riley, and Powell), has to offer, but I still have sleep problems. My BIPAP has cleared up the OSA , but still there remains this damnable O2 issue. I just need the oximeter now, then I'll report back later to tell how my approach works out. We may be able to nail a lot of people's insomnia.