A great place to start Disorder information source Rated and Reviewed Sleep Links Entrance to all monitored Sleep Forums Search all of Sleepnet.com


Sleep Apnea
Forum Posting


Archived Apnea Forum86 viewing only. To post a new topic go to the Apnea Forum Homepage.

Why cpap instead of O2?

Posted by rkf on March 11, 2002 at 06:05:09:

I finally received some info on sleep studies from the mid 90s. It showed 50 awakenings and 31 arousals and a total RDI of 86. The majority were hypopneas and osa events with a mean duration of 22-25 seconds. Lowest O2 sat was 73.6 with a mead low of 87. The wierd thing was they tried 2 liters of oxygen for over two hours. I only had two disturbances on O2 the entire time. During the follow up study (titration), the awakenings dropped to 34 but the arousals rose to 39 and I exhibited a prolonged period of wakefulness of about an hour. Sleep efficency also dropped from 91% in the first study to 79% while on CPAP. On low levels of CPAP (4-7) the RDI was 37-60. On high levels (11-12) the RDI was still 22-32. I also showed "severe panic attacks requiring patient removal of the CPAP several times during the study".

Now the question, if CPAP only reduced RDI to 22 at best and O2 therapy showed 2 total disturbances in over 2 hours, why was cpap chosen as a treatment especially when I showed the panic attacks at that time? I tried for well over two years and CPAP never did work for me...that is why I have been going through the surgeries. I could have saved the insurance companies a lot of money and myself a lot of time off work by using the oxygen which I seemed to tolerate a lot better (cannula is easier to adjust to than a mask).

Follow Ups:


Archived Apnea Forum86 viewing only. To post a new topic go to the Apnea Forum Homepage

  • IMPORTANT : Information not intended as medical advice. If you suspect that you have a sleep disorder you should seek care from a qualified professional. Read Terms of Use.
  • The Sleep Forums are not to be used for commercial purposes.
  • Commercial products and services are not endorsed by Sleepnet.com.
  • Sleep Deprivation due to Sleep Apnea and insufficient sleep are common and can present as insomnia, narcolepsy, or idiopathic hypersomnia. In infants and children sleep problems commonly present themselves as ADD or ADHD.


Copyright ©1995-2005 Sleepnet.com., All rights reserved