Questioning Home Sleep Study/Scheduled Overnight

[iflyvfr]

Yep I had the split study in the hospital and they let me bring my fan in from home because I always sleep with a fan. Even so, it was not a pleasant experience and I didn't think I slept at all. I was surprised when the tech came in and woke me up and told me I'd probably slept 2 hours with the mask on. It was all so foreign.

Even so, with those 2 fitful hours of sleep I felt better and more rested than I had in a long time! Right then I knew I had to "give in" to this process and accept it. There's been exactly 2 nights in 6 years I went without since getting my cpap. Once after a major snowstorm knocked out power and recently when I didn't go to bed due to a server crash.

[moonslice]

They could have counted apneas during some of the time you weren't (or thought you weren't) sleeping.

That would make total sense, but I didn't know that you could have apneas while you were awake! That wouldn't be sleep apnea then. I thought the machine could tell if you were asleep. I'm beginning to think home sleep studies are not worth the time and money. It was a miserable night.

So, assuming they didn't mix up my machine with someone else's (does that ever happen?), I have apnea of some kind. It recorded breathing stopping 110 times over a period of 508 minutes. I believe I only slept 4 hours.

I will get a copy of the report. I just talked with them today, so haven't had a chance to get it.

I will ask about the Ambien, but I've never taken it before. Seems like it would be weird to have it for the first time while doing a sleep study. Maybe not.

I really want to go ahead and get this over with. That's why I don't want to schedule an appointment to talk with the doctor and then have to wait for that and then wait for the sleep study appointment.

[Cardsfan]

Re- traveling with the machine. I travel with mine many times. NO problem. You just have to be organized, have a good carrying case, and deal with it. I tell my husband; "I'd leave everything else at home before I left my cpap at home." It's the size of a fat briefcase, weight about 5 pounds, all packed up to travel. TSA and airlines are used to seeing them. It doesn't
slow me down going through an airport. Since it is a medical device, the TSA regulations say it can not be separated from you and does not count as part of your luggage allowance. It makes traveling better, because you are being treated and rested.

[Julie]

You can't have apneas while awake, but what you can have is loss of awareness - most of us swear we didn't sleep much when tested, but in fact did a lot more than it seemed. Those machines don't lie, but when you're half asleep, half awake it's hard to tell the diff. some times.

[mummmz]

Exactly Julie! How many times do people lay on the couch to watch a movie then doze off and realize the movie is over when they wake up to the music playing.

[Omne]

Exactly Julie! How many times do people lay on the couch to watch a movie then doze off and realize the movie is over when they wake up to the music playing.

I thought I had just been watching really short movies.....

[moonslice]

I talked with the nurse and she thinks that I slept more than I think I did. My only option if I don't believe the home sleep study results is to make an appointment with the doctor. I'm guessing he's going to tell me the same thing. He's very experienced and I did like him at the appointment, but I don't especially like that the nurses "shield" their doctors from questions apparently. Want to talk to the doc? You got to make an appointment and wait.

She said that this isn't a split study that I'm scheduled for on Monday. Apparently I can't just request a split study. I have to make an appointment and try to talk the doctor into the split study. So, if I'm going to reschedule I got to do it soon. I also have to make an appointment if I want to get a sleeping pill. She said I can bring OTC pill like Novasom.

I already take Melatonin each night because it helps my GERD. Doesn't help me sleep help much. I think you get used to it or something.

What I'm trying to figure out is whether my mind is playing tricks on me. Will putting off the study with CPAP and making a separate appointment benefit me, or is the doctor just going to spit back everything the nurse just told me about how if they thought they didn't have enough data they wouldn't have given me results, etc. And how people sleep more than they think, etc. And how the machine doesn't record events that didn't happen, etc.

Looks like a copy of the study results are in the mail, but I won't receive before the CPAP test. I typically like to schedule these types of things ASAP so I don't worry and dread it. Maybe I'm rushing this time, or just still in denial. I do know I've been having trouble falling asleep and staying asleep for a couple of years. And the snoring.

If I don't really have sleep apnea, that will be apparent with the CPAP test right?

Maybe I need to grow up and accept that I have a chronic health condition. It's just that I already have a couple of those, but now I'm learning I have one I didn't know about.

[moonslice]

Weird. I asked her for a rec on an OTC sleep aid and she said Novasom. That's not a sleep aid. It's a sleep apnea machine. Eek.

Any recommendations for an OTC sleep aid? I was thinking I'd try one out before going in. Like I said, I'm immune to melatonin now. Though I have been taking only 3mg, maybe up it?

[Julie]

Melatonin does not help GERD, but you may have slept thru the GERD because of the melatonin.

[jnk...]

She probably meant Unisom. If it were me, I would get the cheapest form of Diphenhydramine HCL and have it with me just in case. I wouldn't plan on taking it. I would simply plan on having it handy for an emergency in case the insomnia dragons decide to descend. Having it nearby is often enough to help someone to relax about falling asleep.

I don't think you need a split study. I think you need a titration. But I'm only a fellow patient.

It may be that your other chronic health conditions will be somewhat alleviated by the better sleep that can come with PAP therapy.

[mummmz]

Just don't stress about it. Go to the titration and see how it goes. You can bring Unisom with you but don't take it unless and until they say you can. I didn't think I would be able to sleep either but they got what they needed.

[moonslice]

Melatonin does not help GERD, but you may have slept thru the GERD because of the melatonin.

Studies have shown that Melatonin helps GERD. Read this if you don't believe me:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18616070

I had a bad flare up of GERD last fall and the only thing I changed was that I stopped the melatonin because it no longer helped me sleep. I have started it again, and am feeling much better.

I looked at the active ingredient in Unisom and remembered that it does nothing for me. I'm one of those who stays awake on that drug. So, I decided to buy Alteril. It has 1 mg more melatonin than I usually take, plus three other ingredients that should promote sleep. I'm going to try it tonight.

I'm also wondering if a recent problem, hair falling out!, will be helped by this diagnosis. I've read that not getting enough sleep can increase your stress hormones which can cause hair to fall out. I've had my iron and thyroid check, and they were fine. I had blamed it on Flonase, but maybe that wasn't the case.

I'm trying to change my attitude to be more positive about this. I'll feel much better once the overnight is done with.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement.

[BlackSpinner]

Having an event causes stress. Sometimes a lot of stress. Think about getting choked and struggling to breathe. Just have your husband hold his hand over your mouth and nose 13 times an hour (every 4.16 minutes ) for more the 10 seconds and see how stressed you get. Now imagine that happening every night, all night long. And remember this is an average which means that some hours it could be more then that.

[moonslice]

Well, I scored a prescription for an Ambien to take tonight. I might wait to see if I can sleep without it. Not sure. However, I probably want to take it by 10 pm since the appointment ends at 6 am. Never taken one before, but I do feel better going into this with an Ambien.

The Alteril didn't help me. It's hard to say. One night I could fall asleep and the next I was up all night.

Anyone here ever wake up thinking their spouse was snoring when it was really you? I went to bed early last night and woke up shortly after falling asleep and heard snoring. I was the only one in bed at the time! I thought it was my husband, but he was in another room. Weird.

[mummmz]

Make sure you tell the technician you have the Ambien. Don't take it unless/until they tell you to take it.

No spouse but my two dogs snore sometimes. Sometimes I will hear them wimper while dreaming too.

Did you get instructions from the sleep lab?