Had a sleep study at a sleep lab. Now Questions.

Hello,

I am sure that somewhere, in this great forum, this has been posted before. Yet with using keywords, I could not find so here I am.

Had the sleep study at a sleep lab. Finally saw the results online last night. I have an appointment with the sleep doctor the first week of September (earliest available).

I am curious as to what I read. Have been searching online to understand. Here it is:

~~~ "Patient had difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep. Patient demonstrated hypopnea and mild snoring. ~~~ "

After the researching, I found that sometimes a CPAP machine is used to treat Hypopnea. I realize you are not doctors but if you could help with my understanding.

1. What is hypopnea?
2. How is related to sleep apnea?
3. Why do I feel stunned to have hypopnea?
4. Am i even in the right place to ask these question?

Thanks in advance

TalonGreyWolf wrote:Hello,

I am sure that somewhere, in this great forum, this has been posted before. Yet with using keywords, I could not find so here I am.

Had the sleep study at a sleep lab. Finally saw the results online last night. I have an appointment with the sleep doctor the first week of September (earliest available).

I am curious as to what I read. Have been searching online to understand. Here it is:

~~~ "Patient had difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep. Patient demonstrated hypopnea and mild snoring. ~~~ "

After the researching, I found that sometimes a CPAP machine is used to treat Hypopnea. I realize you are not doctors but if you could help with my understanding.

1. What is hypopnea?
2. How is related to sleep apnea?
3. Why do I feel stunned to have hypopnea?
4. Am i even in the right place to ask these question?

Thanks in advance

Google works, too. Too many pages of search results on the forum to wade through.

https://www.google.com/search?q=hypopne ... 8&oe=utf-8


Den

.

Does the study say what your AHI is?

Hypopnea is semi-obstructive, as opposed to obstructive sleep apnea.
Usually the effects are just about as bad as obstructive, and generally treated the same.
Not that unusual.
Like Cardsfan says, the AHI is the important number.

Hypopneas are wannabe apneas - your airway doesn't close completely with them, but they can still be very problematic.

I suggest that if you sleep on your back, possibly with your mouth open as a result, try sleeping on your side, maybe with pillows in back to keep you there most of the night, and see how things look tomorrow. You likely will not snore to speak of, your mouth won't open as much and you'll have far fewer events (hypopneas, apneas, etc).

Wulfman... wrote:

TalonGreyWolf wrote:Hello,

I am sure that somewhere, in this great forum, this has been posted before. Yet with using keywords, I could not find so here I am.

Had the sleep study at a sleep lab. Finally saw the results online last night. I have an appointment with the sleep doctor the first week of September (earliest available).

I am curious as to what I read. Have been searching online to understand. Here it is:

~~~ "Patient had difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep. Patient demonstrated hypopnea and mild snoring. ~~~ "

After the researching, I found that sometimes a CPAP machine is used to treat Hypopnea. I realize you are not doctors but if you could help with my understanding.

1. What is hypopnea?
2. How is related to sleep apnea?
3. Why do I feel stunned to have hypopnea?
4. Am i even in the right place to ask these question?

Thanks in advance

Google works, too. Too many pages of search results on the forum to wade through.

https://www.google.com/search?q=hypopne ... 8&oe=utf-8


Den

.

Thank you Den. I had seen a couple of those but there was one I hadn't seen. That one helped.

Cardsfan wrote:Does the study say what your AHI is?

No. After, re-reading, It was the lab tech notes. The EKG read normal (which I thought was great ) but other than that no numbers.

chunkyfrog wrote:Hypopnea is semi-obstructive, as opposed to obstructive sleep apnea.
Usually the effects are just about as bad as obstructive, and generally treated the same.
Not that unusual.
Like Cardsfan says, the AHI is the important number.

Thank you. every little bit of information helps.

I wish I did have the number.

Julie wrote:Hypopneas are wannabe apneas - your airway doesn't close completely with them, but they can still be very problematic.

I suggest that if you sleep on your back, possibly with your mouth open as a result, try sleeping on your side, maybe with pillows in back to keep you there most of the night, and see how things look tomorrow. You likely will not snore to speak of, your mouth won't open as much and you'll have far fewer events (hypopneas, apneas, etc).

Thanks, I appreciate the guidance. I do usually sleep on my stomach or left side. At the lab, the lab tech said I could not sleep on my stomach. So I was left with back & sides. The notes say I slept on my back & right side.

I probably need to wait until the doctor gives me more information. But when I spoke with my daughter about the sleep study, she said she had told me I was waking up gasping for air when I was visiting her the last time. Now it is on my mind.

Read the lab tech's notes and see if it says if your blood oxygen levels dropped.
That would be an indication of the severity of the apneas and hypopneas during the study.

By the way, both Apneas and Hypopneas can be Obstructive or Central in nature (or a combination).


Den

.

The tech probably was trying to get a reading for future use re sleeping positions, but neither he, your doctor or anyone else can otherwise tell you how to sleep (except when it impacts OSA/Cpap - and patients are only told not to back sleep as it encourages more apneas, but not told not-to about other positions. I have only ever (in not so recent memory) slept on my front and will continue to do it as long as I want to... don't let the tech's stuff stop you.

Call the lab and ask for a copy of the results of your sleep test. It is yours by law and they have to give it to you. We all have ours.
And when you have them on the phone, ask "What is my AHI? (apnea hypopnea index) If it is over 5, then that is sleep apnea diagnosis. Don't panic if it sounds high, mine was 30.

Cardsfan wrote:Call the lab and ask for a copy of the results of your sleep test. It is yours by law and they have to give it to you. We all have ours.

This depends on the State's laws. In some circumstances the lab has a right not to give you your medical records. For example if you could harm yourself or someone else because of it.

TalonGreyWolf wrote:Hello,

I am sure that somewhere, in this great forum, this has been posted before. Yet with using keywords, I could not find so here I am.

1. What is hypopnea?
2. How is related to sleep apnea?
3. Why do I feel stunned to have hypopnea?
4. Am i even in the right place to ask these question?

for simple things like this, if you can't use the search bar, try using the wiki link at the top of the page.

avi123 wrote:

Cardsfan wrote:Call the lab and ask for a copy of the results of your sleep test. It is yours by law and they have to give it to you. We all have ours.

This depends on the State's laws. In some circumstances the lab has a right not to give you your medical records. For example if you could harm yourself or someone else because of it.

oh do shut up, you never have anything useful to contribute, just garbage.

it's best to put AVI on the foe list, he's way past his sell by date.