Just had my first sleep study!

[TSSleepy]

My 1st sleep study was to be on Friday the 13th, but I got a call last night asking me if I wanted to fill a cancellation. Afterwards, I feel like a mushroom, kept in the dark and fed manure.

I showed up at the hotel around 8:15, with a couple Ambien in tow. Was hooked up to 16 sensors by a very nice guy. I poked about, regarding what he my be able to tell me and the answer was little/nothing. Basically I was there for a split study and he wanted to see 30 Apneas/Hypopneas in a 2-hour period early during the study, to trigger him coming in and putting a mask on me for titration.

He took a break to "do some computer work", came back with his jacket on, reeking of cigarettes and chewing gum. ((Dude, you could of just said you needed a smoke break!))

I get all strapped and electroded, take two Ambien, and go to bed. He tells me he wants me on my back as much as possible, but to sleep on my side if that helps get me started.

Long story short, I spend the next 4-5 hours lying there in that uncomfortable bed unable to fall asleep. Listening to the loud traffic, the opening and closing of doors, the occasional strange medical sound, the room fan WHOOSHING to life, then suddenly dying.

The bed was considerably harder and less forgiving than my tempurpedic, so lying on my side made my hips and shoulders ache. Lying on my back bothered my lower back and legs. It also required me to keep my jaw under tension or I couldn't breathe. Having all that tickly wires all over, and not beaing able to scratch at them was annoying.

After a few hours, I ask the tech to let me go to the bathroom. And I slept ~3 hours after that.

I woke up sore, stiff, headachy, dizzy, vaguely nauseous, and exhausted. All the tech told me was that he was pretty sure the doctor would invite me back. Yay!

I don't know what my O2 sat did. I don't know if I had any apneas or hypopneas. I don't know if the tech thinks they'll invite me back to try and get better results, or they got the results they need and want to do a titration. I don't know how long any of this is going to take.

Oh well, I guess I'll go try to take a nap.

[Victoria]

Sounds like my first sleep study. I didn't take any Ambien, however...I did for the titration and that helped ALOT. Sorry the Ambien couldn't put you out of your misery. I, too, hate how the techs can't say anything about the study....but I understand the reasoning, I guess....hopefully your next study will be better!

[BeanMeScot]

I'm sure they got enough. They need less time than you think for a diagnosis. My bed was hard, too. But it was a sleep number bed and the tech neglected to tell me.

[RipVW]

Sounds like your sleep study experience was pretty typical. In fact, I think that sleep study environment is what keeps some people from ever having the study done, even though they REALLY need it. Just the "right to passage" to the world of CPAP therapy, I guess, but certainly worth it all in the end, since effective CPAP therapy is ultimately a life enhancing/life saving experience! Hang in there. "This, too, will pass."

[alnhwrd]

tssleepy,

Sounds like you still had some Friday the 13th stuff happening.

Medicare guidelines state that they must have at least two hours of data showing that you are having apenas and hypopneas in excess of 15 per hour for you to qualify for CPAP therap. Most/many insurance companies follow Medicare guidelines, so if you slept for three hours that should be sufficient time. Next time they will have you back and hook you up to a CPAP and determine what the optimum pressure would be to make your apneas go away. While your sleep study experiance may have been the expected norm for some, it is not what it could or should be. Mine took place in a hospital. The room wasn't fantastic, but was adequate for my needs. The techs that did my sleep study were awesome and shared the results with me the next morning, which is as it should be. For as much as they will be charging your insurance, you should be treated better. Remember, the goal is to get the machine and start sleeping more, sleeping better, and healing your body. Whatever you must endure to get there will be worth it. You are on the right track, do not let anyting derail you. I hope you will share the rest of your story with us as it unfolds.

Alan

[OmniMarconi67]

The Ambien didn't do anything for me either, and the equipment they used was just plain terrible. Being able to sleep in your own bed with your own equipment will make it a whole lot easier.

[rested gal]

The techs that did my sleep study were awesome and shared the results with me the next morning, which is as it should be.

Like alnhwrd, I'd WANT to find out as much about the results the next morning as I could from the tech, but.... there are good reasons why techs really shouldn't discuss the study results:

Check out the topic "Now I understand" started by "caffeine please":
viewtopic.php?p=328066#p328066

[TSSleepy]

Yeah. I can think of all sorts of rational reasons why it's a bad idea for sleep techs to hand out any raw data, or software interpretations of said data, or personal opinions, or diagnoses. And none of them matter to me right now.

I did remember one other thing. The tech said something about me not getting any REM sleep. If I slept 2+ hours and got no REM sleep, hopefully they got the data they need. And hopefully when he said he thought they'd invite me back, it was because he expects me to come back for a titration.

In the end, I personally want to immediately know any data that has anything to do with my health. If a certified nursing assistant takes my blood pressure, I want to know what number he gets. Do I expect him to tell me what that number means and assess my treatment options? No, that's not his job/responsibility. But if data is collected about me, I want access to that raw data ASAP.

Maybe that comes from being a scientist and engineer for the last 20 years. The thought that there are actually answers in a file somewhere and I'm not allowed to look at them just drives me nuts.

There may be those who would say that getting test results earlier, without a doctor to put those results in context, could lead to undue stress on a patient. That withholding data from a patient is for "their own good". I'm not that patient.

No matter what the results are, and no matter who delivers them to me, I will do my own investigation into what they mean and how the data is interpreted. Because it's my health and my responsibility.

But I know I'm probably preaching to the choir. This forum is made up of people who want to know the data, understand the situation, take charge of their own therapy, maximize their results. I've learned a ton from this forum, and am looking forward to learning a lot more.

~TS

[rested gal]

I personally want to immediately know any data that has anything to do with my health. If a certified nursing assistant takes my blood pressure, I want to know what number he gets. Do I expect him to tell me what that number means and assess my treatment options? No, that's not his job/responsibility. But if data is collected about me, I want access to that raw data ASAP.

Me, too.

The thought that there are actually answers in a file somewhere and I'm not allowed to look at them just drives me nuts.

Ditto.

There may be those who would say that getting test results earlier, without a doctor to put those results in context, could lead to undue stress on a patient. That withholding data from a patient is for "their own good". I'm not that patient.

Me, either.

No matter what the results are, and no matter who delivers them to me, I will do my own investigation into what they mean and how the data is interpreted.

I will, too. Absolutely.

Because it's my health and my responsibility.

Exactly.

[Sleeptech010110]

A) We're generally not allowed to tell you the results, and the raw data is nothing more than squiggly lines.

B) Doesn't sound like a very good tech.

C) Very rarely does a pt at my lab get less than 7 hours...

Sorry your experience wasn't the most pleasant:-)

[TSSleepy]

My only complaint about the tech was that he added to the "weirdness" of the situation by trying to be helpful.

I was lying there trying to take my mind off the situation. About 30-45 minutes into the night a voice comes over the intercom, "Having trouble falling asleep? Do you need me to adjust any of the wires for you?"

I know he was trying to be helpful, but that startled the crap out of me and immediately brought me fully alert again, and it reinforced the fact that someone was staring at me through a camera. It reset my attempts at relaxation and really reinforced the oddness of the situation.

Another hour or so passed, and he actually came into the room unannounced and flipped on the light, to ask me if maybe I should sit up and watch TV for awhile until I got drowsy. Again, I know he was trying to be helpful. But I've lived alone my entire adult life. People do not simply walk in on me when I am trying to fall asleep. My instincts were to reach for a shotgun and defend myself.