First Sleep Study, Questions to Ask?

[bwc0263]

Hello all
I go for my first sleep study this evening (7/12). Being new to all this, I was hoping that I could get some feedback from you guys about questions that I should ask. My Internal Medicine Dr. refereed me to a Pulmonologist who believes that I have OSA. While in his office I was put on a CPAP machine and told to lay back and rest. That was the best cat nap that I have ever had. I am excited about the possibility that I may finally rested after a GOOD night's rest. I have been lurking her since the Pulmonologist said that I have OSA and I think this group is fantastic.
Billy In TN

[sleepmba]

It sounds like you are going into this in the right frame of mind.

I would suggest not to have too many expectations for tonight. That is, don't expect they will put CPAP on you tonight. Don't try too hard to sleep. Don't worry about getting to sleep. Don't worry about what they are recording for instance you being awake, not getting enough sleep, etc. Well, enough with the do nots.

All they really need is just a couple of hours of sleep to tell if you have it or not. For the CPAP part, they may invite you to come back for a second night to try that. I personally think it's better to have an entire night on CPAP so they can find the right settings for you.

They won't be able to give it to you this time, but be sure to request a copy of your sleep study report. It will come in handy later for you to understand what your sleep apnea may or may not be like.

Check out my blog for some tidbits of info: http://www.sleepandcpap.blogspot.com

[DreamStalker]

Ask'em if you can sleep in the nude.

Just kidding. ... or not

You may want to ask them what mask and what machine they will be using for your titration ... useful information to have in the future should you be diagnosed with apnea.

As already noted, on your follow up visit, should they recomend treatment, ask for a copy of the full sleep study report (not just the summary) and also for an original copy of the Rx. Then come here to the forum and read read read and get up to speed on what to expect next.

Good luck!

[Emilia]

I was glad to see this post today. I am going for my first sleep study on Friday night so I hope you will post your experience here! Thanks to others for your helpful suggestions. I've been reading the forum quite a bit since my pulmonary doc said I probably have OSA. Trying to learn as much as I can; not be overwhelmed by the shear number of machines, masks, etc. that one must select from; and just the technical and physical hurdles that will need to be jumped should I get a positive diagnosis. This site will be my guide; I can see that now from the close community, helpful suggestions, and the fountain of knowledge that is housed here. Good luck tonight on your test!! Please post tomorrow when you can.......

[brazospearl]

Welcome, bwc0263! Your sleep study will be an odd experience, but the good folks there won't be able to answer too many questions for you. Questions will come when the report is written. When you get your report, if you have apnea, that's the time for LOTS of questions. Meanwhile, read everything you can here, and don't purchase ANYTHING until you've done some research. Let us know how things go!

[bwc0263]

Well just finished up the sleep study. Wouldn't you know it, it would be a night like I have about once a month. You know the ones where you just doze off and then you are right back awake. I do not know if it was the new environment or all the uncomfortable leads glued all over my head. I had not taken any naps the day of the study as instructed and was sleepy and tired after I was all hooked up and put to bed. I think it may have been the lack of noise as my partner and I both saw enough logs everynight to build a whole village. And then I little brown eyed four legged girl was not there to cuddle with either.

The first half of the night the Sleep Tech just monitored during normal sleep and the second half I was put on CPAP for titration hoping the added noise would help me get to sleep better. The CPAP did help some but I was still unable to fall asleep and stay there. The only thing the frightened me about the CPAP is there where a couple of times that I woke up feeling as though I was not getting enough air.

The Tech did say that during the first half of the study he was able to record several events and he believed that he was able to collect enough data for Doc. to determine the next step.

Over all I would say that this was very positive experience even though I could not get into a deep sleep.

I really hated that I could not crash within 10 min. of going to bed as usual, I just hope they do not think that I was lying to them about how hard it is to stay awake when sitting still for a short time.

Guess I will find out on 7/22 what the plan is.

[brazospearl]

Glad your sleep study is over and done with! Your experience is pretty typical. Those of us who don't sleep well anyway are pretty certain to not doze off easily in a strange place with stuff glued all over us while we're being recorded and filmed! My guess is that you'll have a diagnosis of sleep apnea, since the lab tech hooked you up to a machine for titration--why else would that have happened? Now is the time to do LOTS of research, so when you go to the doctor on the 22nd you'll know exactly what to ask and how to get the best possible equipment. Let us know!