Hello:

Has anyony used the Zeo device to monitor your sleep architecture?

I know this is not a replacement for a sleep study but was just wondering if you have been able to keep track which things makes your sleep worse/better like not eating too late, drinking caffeine close to bedtime, etc.

Thanks

Hi robertin75!

I have found the Zeo useful. Too little deep sleep means I need to exercise more. Too little REM means a likely problem with sleep breathing (e.g. OSA). It takes a bit of cleverness to make it fit under my forehead strap, and takes a bit of time to do all of that. I am not convinced that it would work with everyone since they take data from the forehead (the electrodes normally used in a sleep study are placed much further back and there are many more than three and they measure against a reference - lots more data to work with!).

If you are the type who loves gadgets and would make use of the data to watch your therapy or would make use of the coaching to improve your sleep hygiene I think it could be worth your investment. I am glad I have mine but am hesitant to recommend it for the reasons I mention above.

Have a lot of fun!

Todzo

Hi Todzo:

Thanks for your feedback.

I see in your signature that you have/had PTSD.

Have you found that your sleep disordered breathing problem has improved with CPAP use?

I suffer from anxiety and wonder if my high RDI (33) is somehow related to my anxiety disorder only, to a physical problem only (I am not overweight but have craniofacial characteristics that make me prone to sleep disordered breathing, specifically UARS), or a combination of both.

Unfortunately comorbid psychiatric disorders and sleep disorderd breathing complicate both diagnosis and treatment.

Thanks,
Roberto

Well, going from an AHI of 52 with oxygen desaturations as low as 55% to an AHI consistantly less than 2 and very very few oxygen desatureations no lower than 90% I do believe can be considered an improvement!!



From what I can find in the research the psychiatric community can claim very little in terms of treatment when it comes to anxiety and PTSD other than pharmaceuticals. As well, I think the rest of the medical community is just plain irresponsible when it comes to telling you “it is all in your head” instead of looking more carefully at the physical systems to find the real problems. I am frightfully disappointed in the medical community on this point.

Recently I have found something that may be part of your experience as well as mine. Why it never occurred to me I do not know. Simply, I have a tendency to hyperventilate.

This mostly occurs when I am tired or when things around me remind me strongly of the time I was attacked. I also have learned that a stuffy nose is an indication that I am breathing more than I should. I have been using my pulse oximeter to do some breathing retraining and have made a modification to my CPAP therapy to reduce it’s tendency to induce hyperventilation at night. Both, working together with regular exercise, better nutrition, foot reflexology, and less violent television have gotten me though this recent season of the anniversary of the attack much better than I did last year.

I understand that UARS is often difficult to treat with xPAP I think likely due to it’s tendency to induce hyperventilation. The only happy thing I can tell you about this is that they are discovering ways to deal with this. In Europe, some of these are already on the market I have heard. Hopefully our doctors will come to understand that hypocarbia is as much a part of OSA as is hypercarbia.

From where I stand it looks like you should start any xPAP therapy recommended by your doctor doing your best to make peace with it by trying to reduce stress, sleep more, perhaps try some Pilates or Yoga, and do those things that I mention above.



May we find good answers!

Todzo

Hi, I luv my Zeo. With it I learned that caffeine zapped ALL my deep sleep. I get about 30 mins a night. The average for someone my age is about 50 mins. I didn't feel like caffeine affected my sleep. It did not cause me to toss and turn or make it hard to go to sleep. With the Zeo I could see the correlation between having caffeine and not getting the deep sleep. I've been caffeine free for about 3 months now. Thanks Todzo, for mentioning the Zeo in prior posts.

Sniezka