Oxygen during a sleep study

[Arawa]

Hi, newbie were, and trying to figure out something that's freaking me out a little. I read all of the "what to expect for your sleep study" articles I could find online before I went to my first sleep study on Tuesday. At some point during the night, they hooked me up to oxygen (not a cpap machine, like the hospital oxygen from the wall supply).

Is this normal? I couldn't find any mention of anything like this, and it's freaking out a little. I wanted to ask at the end of the study, but it was a different tech, and she just told me the doc would call with results. In hindsight, I should have spoken up, but I was groggy after a lousy nights sleep (even by my standards!) and wanted to go wash the gunk out of my hair.

Anyone have any experience of this? I'm desperate to start sleeping better, and I have a second study lined up for ten days from now. Right now I'm so freaked out that im getting worse.

[JDS74]

What likely happened during the study is that the measured serum oxygen level (SpO2) dropped below 88% and stayed there for more than 5 minutes or so. At that point they needed to put you on supplemental oxygen so they could continue the test. I don't think it is very common but, with apnea patients, it does happen.

The next step may be to schedule you for a CPAP titration study that hopefully will find a machine and machine settings that will treat your problem and make the need for supplemental oxygen unnecessary.

Your next step is to get a copy of the first sleep study when you see your doctor to discuss the results. This will be the first in a set of documents and you should collect so that you can ask questions and track your future treatment.

Best of luck on your journey.

[Arawa]

Thanks! It turns out that my SpO2 went down as low as 45% during the night, which definitely explains the oxygen. Now to wait for the actual sleep study results (this was just from the observation page the tech fills out).

[SewTired]

Try to get a copy of the raw data and summary BEFORE you see your doctor. It's much easier to ask questions if you've had time to peruse the results.

[jweeks]

Hi,

Typically, the sleep center technicians are not allowed to discuss what they found or give any kind of medical information. It isn't that they are dumb or untrained, but rather, that is just how the laws and protocols work. It wasn't unusual that they suggested that you wait for the results and discuss it with your doctor.

BTW, 45% is awfully low. You probably want to push your doctor to move forward fast on this. I'd prefer that you didn't attempt to sleep until there is a treatment for you, but that is probably not a real practical suggestion. It is frustrating to have to wait when you know that there might be an easy solution to the problems that you are experiencing.

-john-

[yaconsult]

I'm really surprised that they ran the test this way. Normally, when it's clear that you have serious apnea, they switch over to doing a "split study" and hook you up to a cpap machine for the second half of the night. This usually saves you from having to go back for a separate titration study. Maybe your lab has a different protocol, but I haven't heard of many people being put on oxygen during their sleep study.

And, yes, it's very typical that the lab refuses to discuss the results with you at all - that's the doctor's job. The folks in the labs are technicians that have been trained in how to conduct sleep studies, not how to interpret the results of the sleep study.