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Ultimate-Best Sleep Apnea Set Up

I've read a lot of posts from folks here who monitor their treatment even more closely than do I -- with the latest software, oximeters, etc. And I suspect many of us here don't monitor it at all -- we essentially "fly blind," which is madness, but understandable given how little information we are given about keeping track of our own therapy. That said, for all of us who aren't yet at the pinnacle of monitoring our therapy, what tips can the "pros" here (both sleep professionals and patients who track their treatment closely) give us regarding the ultimate/best set-up? What are the best things to have and why?

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Permalink Reply by Dave on April 7, 2009 at 12:36am

Now that I know a little more, after getting down the AHI, it would be good to keep an eye on the various stages of sleep reached and how much time is spent in each of them. Obviously, if you have a bad AHI, you are probably going to have respiratory distress and do not achieve truly restful sleep with a reasonable amount of time in the various sleep stages....So while AHI is an extremely powerful metric to work around and 'fix', in the future, healthy sleep will be monitored more closely for signs of anything that might prevent us from getting truly restful, restorative sleep. At the same time, no one will always have perfect sleep...of course, most of us here need a lot of help!

I'm no expert, so don't take my word....I'm trying to read some books!

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Permalink Reply by Judy on April 7, 2009 at 9:13am

TammyHarper, I am so sorry you've gone thru so much! You have got to be one tough cookie! Kudos to you!

Do continue to read about OSA's underlying role in so many illnesses. The simple explanation is that the constant deprivation of sufficient oxygen on and off all night long for years tires out and breaks down the various organs and systems in the body and tires them out sooner than "just" normal aging. When provided w/sufficient oxygen continuously around the clock those organs that can revitalize themselves will.