Sleep study scared me wide awake

[kindascary]

Hello,

About a year ago I was diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnea. The bad thing is that when I went back to get fitted for a CPAP I could not go to sleep. I was not asleep long enough for them to get their results. I felt like if I went to sleep I would not ever wake up. It was like as soon as the technician walked out to start the test I would all of the sudden be wide awake. I am hoping someone has had a similar experience and can offer suggestions. I know I need a CPAP but really don't want the same thing to happen again. I appreciate any input you may have. Happy New Year!

[OkyDoky]

My doctor routinely writes a Rx for 2 sleeping pills. One for the study and one for the titration with the CPAP. I didn't have to use either one but they were there if needed. Talk to your doctor about this.

[kteague]

Maybe they could order a trial for a week or two on an auto titrating machine and see how the data looks. As long as you don't need extremely high pressures or have something else going on, you may be able to bypass the night in the clinic.

[yawnny]

I empathize with your situation, but don't have a solution. During the first night, I find it difficult to sleep anywhere other than home. Hotels, relatives homes, county lock up (wait--scratch that one ), sleep labs etc. First night equals tossing and turning, but little sleep.

The last sleep study I had was for a total of 35 minutes of sleep. Apparently they felt they had enough data, or, as they didn't call me back for another go at it. I wish you good luck, and hope that someone can provide a more valuable suggestion.

[reolhlains]

I also empathise - it's a nightmare!
When I did my sleep study, I was awake for like four hours or something. I only slept for four hours, 17 minutes - which is probably why the couldn't diagnose OSA for me (although I knew I had it!).
Noting how bad I went on the sleep study, I decided not to go back and do another one with CPAP - rather, as kteague mentioned, I just got an auto machine and let it sort it out! My pressure rarely goes above about 10, so maybe this idea only works with relatively low pressures.
Since then, I've adjusted my minimum pressure up, and maximum pressure down to keep it within a relatively low range - seems to work well!
Good luck - maybe do the sleeping pills if you need to do another study!

[2 B Sleeping Soundly]

I don't know if you have this option or not, but back in 2011 Kaiser Permanente sent me home with a Philips Respironics "Alice" portable sleep monitoring unit that I used for a overnight study. For me it provided a relaxed, comfortable environment I could sleep in and provided the basic information needed to diagnose me with severe OSA (73.8 AHI, O2 desats to 74%). I took the unit back in the next day and was called very soon after that to come pick up a PRS1 APAP for a three night home titration study to determine proper therapy needs/ranges.

If I had to have gone to a sleep lab in 2011 for an overnight to get diagnosed and titrated it would have never happened, as actually doing that was a huge contributor of anxiety for me and was also dangerously used to securely keep me in my many year denile of having Sleep Apnea/OSA.

John

http://www.usa.philips.com/healthcare/p ... ing-device

[bwexler]

I don't know your insurance or financial situation, but there is a Resmed s10 Autoset being offered by another member for $450.
By the time you look at deductibles and copayments for another sleep lab and machine, you might consider buying it and self titration.
With help from some of the experts here and some effort and focus on your part you could be sleeping like a baby in no time.

[Goldie54914]

Hello,

About a year ago I was diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnea. The bad thing is that when I went back to get fitted for a CPAP I could not go to sleep. I was not asleep long enough for them to get their results. I felt like if I went to sleep I would not ever wake up. It was like as soon as the technician walked out to start the test I would all of the sudden be wide awake. I am hoping someone has had a similar experience and can offer suggestions. I know I need a CPAP but really don't want the same thing to happen again. I appreciate any input you may have. Happy New Year!

I remember my first sleep study. Lots of fun. I was sleepy when I started and all of sudden, I was awake. It felt that way for the entire night. When it was over and got my results, I was told that I only slept for about two hours and "woke up" about 100 times in that period. With that info, they told me that I had severe Sleep apena and needed a machine.

If you are concerned about the not waking up part, you could always ask if they could hook you up to a cpap during the study. The specialist told me if I had problems breathing during my study, that they would hook me up to a CPAP machine. It's worth a try. You may want to voice your concerns with the person conducting the test. I imagine that you are not the first person that had worries about a sleep study. I imagine that they will be prepared to deal with any worries or concerns that you may have.

You may want to try to relax (I know it's hard since you are sleeping in a new place and all) and see if you can get a script for sleeping pills as well. Good luck.

[Pesser]

I can understand that everybody wants a study so that the insurance company will pay! It seems like a lot of trouble and for nothing. If you have OSA then get a machine from http://www.secondwindcpap.com. After a study you still have to adust your settings until you have it right! That's because a study is always for just one night and hardly a tipical one at that!