Sleeping position ~ a way to force sleeping on a side!!

Plastic balls in a waist bag

Looking for a better way to force sleeping on a side

It seems that it might help to improve symptoms of sleep apnea when I sleep on a side.  However it is not really easy and hard to insure I am in the position.   It is really hard to avoid moving during sleep and it sometimes I sleep on a side.  Then, the SPO2 value is dropped when I slept on a back.

If I do some internet search, some people mention holding a pillow helps to keep the position.  Also some other people say wearing backpack would help to keep the side position.   However holding a pillow does not help much for my case.  Also, I have some backpacks, but they are dirty since I have been using them outdoor and I do not want to use them in a bed.  But I do not want to buy a backpack just for this purpose.

Plastic balls

Then, an alternate idea is using a waist bag with plastic balls during sleeping.  Due to the balls in the back, it would be uncomfortable when I sleep on a back.  I though it might help to force sleeping on a back.

The result ....

The result was not bad.  I can see some improvement, reducing SPO2 drops during sleeping.  I collected data for a several days and I did see some difference with / without the balls.  There are a couple issues:

• The bag got loose during the sleeping and the back position was not on the back.  Then I can sleep on a back.
• It is not really comfortable.  Every time I was on a back position, I woke up and I could not sleep well since I woke up so often.  I may adopted when I continue to do...  But it was bad the next day during this experiment.

The conclusion is it might help, but it is not very comfortable to wear the waist bag during sleeping with the balls.  For long term, I may be able to adopted when I continue to do.  But just for a short term, it was not very comfortable and did not sleep well.  We might consider softer balls instead of the hard plastic balls

(To be continue ....)

Sleeping position

SPO2 trend during sleeping

(June 2 ~ June 3, 2018)

Sleeping position

I selected to use CPAP to improve the symptom of sleep apnea.  However I need to purchase CPAP and I need to have a trial for a several days before proceed with some insurance coverage in the United States.  For the trail, I needed to make an appointment with a sleep disorder center to rent a CPAP and getting some instruction.  It took more than a month from the day I made the reservation.

In a mean while, I was looking for ways to improve the symptom.  One of possible ways is sleeping position.   My case is a mild sleep apnea, it is OSA (Obstructive Sleep Apnea).  Therefore it might be a chance to improve to change the sleeping position.  According to the doctor, sleeping on the back would be worse and probably better to try sleeping on a side instead of the back.

It is not easy...., but try!

So, the first thing I tried is try sleeping on a side.  However, it was not really easy.   Only thing I could do was to try sleeping side intentionally.  But during the sleeping, my sleeping position would be changed.   However, I did see some difference if I tried.
Without "trying", SPO2 value dropped below 90% a few times during sleeping.  However, it may reduce the dropping if I try it.

I took data for a week, or 7 days and I did see some improvement from not trying.

It is probably worth to try sleeping on a side ......

(To be continue .....)

Example of Report file ~ SPO2 / Heart rate

Heart Rage (Pulse Rate) and SPO2 summary

Here is an example of the report file.   Once upload the data from the pulse oximeter, the site will generate a report file and the report can be downloaded in the application on a smart phone.  It can be sent via Email with a PDF file.
The report includes summary graph for heart rate (pulse rate, PR), statistics and detail information.

Statistics information for SPO2 and PR

This is a reference data for myself.  I just slept without any special treatments. It does not seem to be very bad, I only saw one big drop to SPO2=90% and a several small drops.  Depending of days, I might see a several big drops.  Therefore, just a data for a night won't be enough to conclude a treatment.  However if there is data for multiple days, we can see a similar trend and that would be probably enough to say the symptom is improved or not.

The problem is we cannot see a raw data which is raw data reading for each sampling.  I sometimes saw some false data which is some drops before getting into sleep.  Depending on contact between the sensor and finger, the reading might not be stable.  I saw this even I collect data in daytime.  If there is such false data, the statistics might be meaning less....  Ideally, it is better to access the raw data to exclude them to analyze the result.  Therefore the valid portion is really plots in the report.

I already collect some data and I will share them in the future posting!

(To be continue ...)

Improvement for Sleep apena ~ need a reference data

As I mentioned in the previous posting, I needed to wait for more than a months for CPAP trial.  In a mean while, I was looking for some way to improve the symptom of sleep apena.

First of all, another thing the doctor suggesting is reducing the weight.  My weight was little over BMI=25 and it might be one of causes of sleep apena.  It is probably true, since my wife mentioned the symptom during sleeping was worse than recently.  Since  my weight was more than what I have now a few years ago.  So weight reduction is one of possible way to improve the symptom.  However, the paper work from the hospital indicated that I might need to reduce more than 10% of the weight to see some difference.  Also, it might not be a cause of the problem in some cases.   But I thought it worth to try it anyway.  So I decided to do weight reduction.

Also, based on the internet search a position when I am sleeping may make some difference.  A side position might improve the symptom, therefore, I also try to sleep on a side instead of on the back.

How to quantify the difference?

Before doing some experiments, I need to know a good way to see a clear difference.  One is a symptom I felt in daytime or after waking up in the morning.   I had some symptom such as strong sleepiness in daytime especially after lunch.  The other thing is that I felt I was really tired when I work up.  They might be a good indication to assess the difference.  However it might not be very clear to quantify.

Pulse oximeter (Watch style)

So the other idea came up is to measure SPO2 value with pulse oximeter.   Since I like hiking and I often went to Mt. Whitney where is above 12,000 feet.  Many people gets symptoms for high altitude sickness.   One of way to quantify the impact of elevation is SPO2.   So I have a pulse oximeter to check SPO2 duirng hiking in higher elevation.

However, the problem was one I had was not be able to capture SPO2 value periodically over night.  It can measure a real time value.  Therefore I needed to look for a one which can capture the data over night.  There are some different types of pulse oximeter on Amazon.  Finally I got a watch style pulse oximeter to measure SPO2 during sleeping.  The model name is CONTEC CMS50K.
It can capture overnight data and upload the data to their site to get a report through a smart phone (iPhone or Android phones).

It seems to be working well to capture some reference data for the comparison.

(To be continue ....)

Sleep study result ~ my case

Sleep Study at home

After I visited a doctor in sleep disorder lab, the doctor suggested to have a sleep study at home.  Based on the result, I might need to have another study at the hospital (lab).   A day before the study, I stopped by the lab and got instruction how put all sensors when I sleep.  The sensors I wore:

• Pulse oximeter
• Breathing sensor (chest and stomach)
• leg motion sensor (near knee on the both legs)
• snoring sensor (microphone on the neck)
• air flow sensor (on the nose)

Then, I needed to summarize the sleeping time including when I woke up.

After the study, the doctor analyzed the all sensor data and review it. 

My result is AHI (Apnea Hypopnea Index) is 7.1.  According to the doctor, if it is less than 5, then it is considered as a normal.  So my case is 7.1 and it is a mild sleep apnea.   The other data point is the lowest SPO2 value is 90%.   It is almost impossible to have such low number in the elevation around my home (about 100 feet).   I only saw such low value when I hike to above 10,000 feet.  It indicates something happening to me.  According to the doctor, it is not a good idea to ignore even if my case is mild symptom.  I need some treatment to improve the symptom.

The doctor suggested the following 3 options:

1. Using CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) device

2. Using a Sleep splint

3. Physical surgery

In terms of the cost, the doctor told me opton 1 (CPAP) would be lowest cost with some insurance coverage in the US.  The doctor also told me it is probably worth to try this first.

For this option, I need to purchase a CPAP device.  However during the process, I need to do a trial with a rental equipment and collect some data.  Based on the data and it works, the doctor gives me a prescription to proceed to purchase with insurance coverage.  To start a trial, I need to make an appointment with the sleep lab to rent and get the instruction.   I call them to make an appointment right away, however, I had to wait for more than 1 month to start the trial.

(To be continue)  

Sharing my "sleep apnea" experience ~ Because of my aging / just lack of sleep!?

Sleep Apnea Experience

About a months ago, I was told that I had "Sleep apnea".   After that I started a blog to share my experience in a blog in Japanese and I saw many access from other countries other than Japan.   So, I also decided to write my experience in English as well.   The contents might not be the same, but I will share my experience and some improvement plan in this blog.

I have some typical symptom!
Before I was told the result of diagnosis, I had typical symptoms for sleep apnea.  However I had never thought I had sleep apnea.  The symptom is that I was getting very sleep after lunch and I also felt I was very tired after waking up in the morning.  However I though they were due to aging or lack of sleeping since the symptom started a few years ago and I was getting fifty years old.

Background  to find sleep apnea
The reason it was found was to see a doctor for different reason which was a chest pain.  Actually, it is probably not a pain.  I would say I had some strange feeling on my left chest.  It happens rarely, but getting more often since late last year.  Since it was only on the left chest / back, I wondered if I have some heart related issue.  That was the reason why I saw a doctor.

After visiting a doctor I had done blood testings, cardiac diagnostics including some stress type testing.  All result showed no issues.  The doctor gave me a query to look for some other possibilities.  One thing what my wife told me that she thought my breathing stopped some time during sleeping.  But it was long time ago and it was not happening the time I had the symptom.  So I thought it was nothing related for the symptom I was facing.  But the doctor suggested to see a specialist in sleep disorder dept just in case and I had a sleep study at home.  Finally, the doctor found I had mild sleep apena.  My case is mild sleep apena, but the doctor suggested to start some treatment since it may become some serious result if I do not do anything now.

After my internet research, I found out it might be getting really serious result as well.  This is how sleep apnea is found in my case.

(To be continue)