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I have sleep apnea. I bought a $200 very sensitive blood oxygen sensor which measures several times a second if I remember correctly. I tried to bring the case

I have sleep apnea. I bought a $200 very sensitive blood oxygen sensor which measures several times a second if I remember correctly. I tried to bring the case to my doctor that my Cpap machine setup was not working correctly. His criteria is “do you fall down when you walk because you are out of breath. Then you should be concerned about your lungs and you don’t want to be around anyone with issues like that. “ I would welcome HRV tracking but that will require a better sensor or an additional one. The blood oxygen sensor requires 15 seconds of no movement. ECG requires 30 seconds of wearing watch and holding the crown.

NoPicklez 3y ago
Currently with Garmin and some other smart devices like Whoop, it monitors HRV using its inbuilt sensors. Whoop and Garmin have developed their own indicative "Stress" indicators, with also a view on HRV and deviations from baselines. I believe the Apple watch does have the capability to monitor HRV as I think its monitored in the Apple health app for Apple watch wearers. HRV I believe is monitored consistently throughout the day and at night.
- instagib 3y ago
  It displays something on there but “The majority of wrist-worn fitness devices and trackers track your heart rate through your skin. Unfortunately, this means they usually aren't sensitive enough to detect heart rate variability accurately.” HRV is an interesting field. Too high and it can indicate arrhythmia. Too low is also not good. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/21773-heart-rate-variability-hrv https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/21773-heart-r...
  - NoPicklez 3y ago
    I think with all these devices "accurately" is a loose term in the sense that it is accurate enough, but could be better. Wrist based ECG has been determined as accurate enough to wear on your wrist, but isn't as accurate as what you'd get in a hospital. If it is accurate enough, then the particular number isn't necessarily the important, its whether it an measure the same number consistently, then track movements from the baseline. Which is why they often have a % up/down accuracy figure.
staticman2 3y ago
>I tried to bring the case to my doctor that my Cpap machine setup was not working correctly. Doesn't the sleep apnea machine itself measure whether you are breathing? If the concern is it may not be accurate, the gold standard is probably an in lab sleep study while wearing the machine, but insurance may not feel it is medically necessary and may not pay.
- instagib 3y ago
  It detects events when I’m awake which led me to suspect it was not working properly. According to Cpap forums awake readings are invalid, but sleep measurements are? I’ve had a sleep study which determined I need a Cpap machine but they never did the study while wearing it and my readings vary greatly from 3 to 30 AHI per hour with it on. In hindsight, I have exceedingly “freakishly” large lungs which may explain the slow breathing. My concern has been waking up with a daily headache which has been suggested by other doctors to be due to uncontrolled sleep apnea.

NoPicklez 3y ago

Currently with Garmin and some other smart devices like Whoop, it monitors HRV using its inbuilt sensors. Whoop and Garmin have developed their own indicative "Stress" indicators, with also a view on HRV and deviations from baselines. I believe the Apple watch does have the capability to monitor HRV as I think its monitored in the Apple health app for Apple watch wearers. HRV I believe is monitored consistently throughout the day and at night.

instagib 3y ago
It displays something on there but “The majority of wrist-worn fitness devices and trackers track your heart rate through your skin. Unfortunately, this means they usually aren't sensitive enough to detect heart rate variability accurately.” HRV is an interesting field. Too high and it can indicate arrhythmia. Too low is also not good. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/21773-heart-rate-variability-hrv https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/21773-heart-r...
- NoPicklez 3y ago
  I think with all these devices "accurately" is a loose term in the sense that it is accurate enough, but could be better. Wrist based ECG has been determined as accurate enough to wear on your wrist, but isn't as accurate as what you'd get in a hospital. If it is accurate enough, then the particular number isn't necessarily the important, its whether it an measure the same number consistently, then track movements from the baseline. Which is why they often have a % up/down accuracy figure.

staticman2 3y ago

>I tried to bring the case to my doctor that my Cpap machine setup was not working correctly. Doesn't the sleep apnea machine itself measure whether you are breathing? If the concern is it may not be accurate, the gold standard is probably an in lab sleep study while wearing the machine, but insurance may not feel it is medically necessary and may not pay.

instagib 3y ago
It detects events when I’m awake which led me to suspect it was not working properly. According to Cpap forums awake readings are invalid, but sleep measurements are? I’ve had a sleep study which determined I need a Cpap machine but they never did the study while wearing it and my readings vary greatly from 3 to 30 AHI per hour with it on. In hindsight, I have exceedingly “freakishly” large lungs which may explain the slow breathing. My concern has been waking up with a daily headache which has been suggested by other doctors to be due to uncontrolled sleep apnea.