"Unofficial" Newbie

[dachs-haus]

Hello to everyone.

I had an appointment with a sleep doctor last week and he feels certain that I have sleep apnea so I'm scheduled for a sleep study on the 18th. I've been reading the posts here and see that there's a vast bank of knowledge to draw upon. Is there anything specific I should know/do before the study? I'm so glad to have found this site early on and I guess at this point I would like to know, from those of you who have been there, are there things you wish you had know going in to your initial sleep study? I'm a bit nervous that I won't be able to sleep there and the whole test will be inconclusive. Are there questions I should ask the tech or is he/she only trained to operate the equipment but not interpret any data? The doctor said someone would call me within a week to let me know results, but if the study does show apnea will they let me know right then? I probably have too many questions for someone who has not been given an actual diagnosis but I am worried.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[jweeks]

Hi,

Welcome to our world. Recognizing this issue and taking steps to get diagnosed and treated is a big victory, especially for your future health.

Don't over-think the sleep study. Being an engineer, I was fascinated by all the equipment and data collection. In the end, the idea is to try to get as normal of sleep as you can given the different room, different bed, all the equipment, and the camera watching your every wiggle. Most people report that they do not sleep well, but even so, it is possible to capture a decent data set. In my case, my sleep doctor offered to write an order for me to get some kind of sleeping medication, but I turned down that offer.

First sleep studies are typically one of two types, a full night of observation, or a split study with a few hours of observation, and a few hours trying CPAP. Some people can end up with a treatment plan from that limited amount of time, others have to go back 1 or 2 more times for a thing called a titration. That is where they try to dial in the equipment to the optimal pressure levels. The sleep center technicians don't have the ability to write a prescription, so a doctor has to read the study and suggest a treatment. Sometimes that is enough for you to get your equipment (if needed), other times the study results are sent back to your clinic or doctor, and they write the prescription. Once that happens, you want to get started as soon as you can, but sometimes the process takes a while. I have seen people report as much as a month of time. If they try to do that to you, do what you can to speed up the process.

Once you get a diagnosis and prescription, that is when you really have to get involved, so you will want to post back at that time (before spending any money or signing any contracts).

-john-

[sheep1234]

Hi there!
I'm new here too. I've had my cpap machine for only 6 nights now. But it IS helping. I no longer NEEEEEEEEEDDDDD to take a nap around dinner time.

My experience with the overnight sleep study was pretty easy. I showed up around 6:45, registered, went to the "lab" where they showed me to my room, which looked like a smallish hotel room with my own private bathroom/shower. Had my own tv too. Because I usually had been staying up very late, midnight and later, the tech decided to wire up another patient and "get him off to bed." lol
About an hour later (that's how long it takes to get all of the wires on) she came back in to hook me up. She let me sit in a chair and watch tv while she did it. There are about 30 wires and they go everywhere on your body. I told her that I was glad I shaved my legs because they put 1 on each leg below your knee to measure your leg movements during the night. She also gave me "a bad hair day" because they attach the wire thingies with some sort of very pungent glue to your scalp. Reminded me of rubber cement or something.....
So after I got all hooked up, she let me get tired and I watched tv for awhile. Around 10:15, I decided to give sleeping a try and then she put 2 different small hose things into my nostrils. You know what those things look like when people are in the hospital and they receive oxygen? Something like that, only smaller. They measure your inhaling and exhaling without cpap. So I tried to sleep and normally I sleep with a bunch of pillows and all they had were these small, flat things!! Once, I tried to stretch out and get comfy and the one on my leg popped off, so I called her name and she came back in and reattached it. I forgot to mention that prior to going to sleep, she turned off the lights and had me do a list of things: make a snoring noise, blink 10 times, point my toe, flex my foot, some other things that I can't remember.
So I slept for about 3 hours and she comes in around 1:15 and starts me on cpap. Earlier I had tried 2 masks and decided the Swift LT for Her felt the most comfortable so this is the one she put me in. Then off to sleep again.....til 5:50 when my phone alarm went off at it's usual time. The tech came in to check on me and asked me if I wanted to go ahead and get up and get outta there, which I did.
She used some oil or something in a spray bottle to detach the wire from my scalp and let me tell you my hair was a HOT MESS! I was glad I brought a ponytail! I went home and showered and washed my hair 2 times and it was still not decent. Whatever the glue is that they use turns this white color and is insanely hard to get out. You brush and brush and it turns to the paper flaky stuff. I had my hubby and daughter looking at the back of my hair to help me out. I think that was the hardest part of it all. Allow yourself plenty of time to get ready if you're going to work the next morning.

My sleep apnea is severe and someone called me, I think, it was 2 days later. I received a call from the company who brings out the machine and we played phone tag for about a week until last Thursday when we could finally set a date for her to bring my stuff out.

There's really nothing that I wish I had done differently. Just try to calm yourself, tell yourself you need to sleep for the study to be conclusive and maybe your body will listen. I just tried to do the best I could while in a different environment and hope they got enough sleep time to get good results. You don't have to sleep for 8 hours or something.

Good luck, let us know how things go!!

[KatieW]

Hi, and welcome to the forum. I had been told to bring my own pillow to the sleep study, and I'm glad I did. Also, wear comfy pajamas and socks. If the room feels cool, ask for an extra blanket. My tech was very nice, and had been diagnosed with sleep apnea a year ago. I had a split study, so slept for a few hours, then had the titration portion, with a mask on. I don't usually take sleeping pills, but my doc had prescribed 2 Ambien, just in case, and I did take them, because I really wanted to be able to sleep. Oh, if you want to brush your teeth before bed, it's easier to do so *before* you're hooked up to all the wires.

My diagnosis was severe sleep apnea, but with 2 weeks therapy now, I'm doing much better. It's a struggle at first, to get comfortable with it all, but SO worth it.

Good luck with your sleep study. When you get the results, ask for a copy.

[falvesjr]

It's been less than a month for me too, and my experience was *very* similar to Sheep's. My "hotel room" was very nice -- it even had a *large* HD LCD flat screen TV -- and besides the wire harness where your electrodes connect, all equipment was totally hidden in a wall cabinet, making the room really seem normal and not like any kind of hospital setting. Thankfully, my sleep center doesn't use glue anymore to attach the electrodes, they use some kind of sticky gel that came off pretty easily in the shower. The only thing I would add is for you to take your own pillow! It will definitely help you feel more at home and you will probably sleep more easily.

The key is to try and relax, and if they put you on xPAP in the middle of the night, just go with the flow -- literally. Your first breath with a hurricane blowing in your face will be unusual, but if you let your brain command your actions and relax, you'll be fine. I found that if you don't try to fight it, you go ahead and inhale deeply, you'll adapt quickly and it will feel pretty normal right away.

Good luck!

-F

[timbalionguy]

My sleep test was very similar to what was described-- a split study. I kind of enjoyed it. I, too am an engineer, and I understand the electronics for the sensors, as I had tried to build an EKG in high school with our electronics class. (I now realize just how dangerous our experiments were-- we were trying vacuum tube preamps, with their attendant high voltages and no patient isolation!) I pretended in some ways I was being 'jacked into the Matrix'!

Although I didn't think I slept much, the results say I did, but not deeply. The titration was not very successful, becoming limited by pressure induced central apneas (where you stop breathing because your brain doesn't tell your body to breathe)(My sleep doctor had the idea that these 'centrals' would go away with careful application of therapy. They pretty much did).

I noticed all the remarks about TVs in the room. I am a television engineer by trade. The sleep lab had just gotten new DVD players, and they were having trouble making them work. I was able to help them hook up the DVD players properly. So I didn't even get that far from work!

[kteague]

Hi and welcome again. About the techs, they are not really supposed to tell you anything because the data has not been interpreted or been officially given a diagnosis by a doctor, even though they pretty much know. After all, they've spent the night with you. The best you might hope for are some indicators in their conversation in the morning, but if you don't bring it up, they won't say anything. If you are not getting a split night study, you could in the morning make some leading comments such as, "I expect I'll be seeing you again in a few nights" or "Will they call and get somebody in sooner if they have severe apnea?". May not work, but never hurts to try. I've had so many sleep studies thru the years most of the techs converse a little more freely with me since I already know my diagnosis, but they're still measured in their discussion. No tech wants the doctor reprimanding them with, "So-and-so said that you said..."

Hope your night at the sleep lab goes well. Only suggestion I can add is to wear sleeping garments that are stretchy or roomy so access to the electrodes is easy if one pops off during the night. I found full length PJ legs seemed to corral the leg wires better. Let us know how it goes.

Kathy

[pagebypage]

I thot my sleep study was rather dreadful. As mentioned earlier about the other split studies, I was awakened to have a cpap mask put on. Didn't particularly like being awakened. I thot they could have done it when I had an apnea event. Doesn't work that way.
The worst was the accommodations. I was pretty much on a slab (slightly cushioned) with a rudimentary pillow. I can't imagine that I was very well evaluated with those sleep conditions. I was set to 7 cm. Later I was boosted to 8.
That was almost 5 years ago.
More recently, I was sent home with a loaner machine that recorded 3 weeks of sleep activity. I think that was a more valuable experience. Even tho the equipment may not have been as sophisticated, it was in the natural environment of my routine sleeping conditions. I was set down to 6.5 cm.

[Skimmer]

Welcome! I agree with the other posts but i would like to add this: try to sleep as normal as possible, i found that when I was wired up I was afraid to change sleeping positions so all my studies were done on my back and I normally sleep on one side or the other. My titration settings were set for my sleeping on my back, where I believe your events are statistically higher. I haven't received any reports from the DME yet so am interested in the progress. Other than an occasional leak, things seem to be OK. Good Luck!

Skimmer

[Colombia]

My experience was the same, but the technician did share the results with me, at my request, and said it appeared I had "moderate apnea". I'm still waiting for the finally results which take three to four weeks.

I live in Medellin, Colombia ... but the medical service here is excellent in most cases. I was provided with a first class apartment rather than a room for the test.

My S8 Auto was ordered via the internet and hand delivered to me by a friend.

I would be lost without the internet and this forum.