Made it through Sleep Study!!!

[divachyk]

Hello All,

I'm a newbie to the forum and to the sleep apnea thing altogether.

I've dealt with the inability to fall asleep during reasonable times of night for years. I was not uncommon for me to drift to sleep around 2 or 3am but that doesn't work with having to report to work before 7:00 a.m. I believe my sleep issue to be stress induced resulting from my husband experiencing medical issues. The good news is, when I do fall asleep, I am able to sleep just fine and can sleep upwards to 10 hours at one time.

I finally decided to have an at-home sleep study done to uncover the reasons for my sleep cycle issues to be told I have apnea. I've had extreme difficulty accepting this diagnosis for whatever reason. The at-home study showed I have very low oxygen at night, lowering down to as low as 83%.

The Dr. prescribed me Lunesta for insomnia and deemed it to be stress induced. The Lunesta is a short-term treatment for resetting my sleep clock. The Dr. advised I take it the night of the exam as well.

I will be going for an in-lab study this weekend. The study will validate the at-home sleep study since I am not experiencing any gasping for air or shortness of breath during the night. I do have inflamed turbinates and acid reflux. The Dr. really feels my inflamed turbinates is the cause for the apnea but will know more after the study is complete. I will post results when received.

This entire journey scares me as I'm very claustrophobic. However, I'm willing to have turbinate reduction surgery and/or wear a cpap if it means preserving life.

My questions / concerns are:
Is Lunesta safe for the night of the exam?
Is it really necessary to have zero product in the hair the day of the study?
Can I at least apply a small amount of leave in conditioner to my hair so long as I don't get product on my scalp?
How to remove the gunk from the scalp? I have coarse hair and have some real concerns about glue/gunk removal.

Thanks in advance!!!

[kaiasgram]

divachyk, hello and welcome. Do stick around, not everyone will welcome you that way.

I didn't use any leave-in product on my hair but I did use a rinse-out conditioner after I shampooed. Just didn't use any styling or leave-in products afterwards. Worked fine.

I came home with the "gunk" still in my hair and it washed out in the shower fairly easily with regular shampoo and hot water.

If your Doc suggested Lunesta and you already have experience using it, I would think that's a reasonable choice. I was offered Ambien but had never taken it before so I was reluctant to take something for the first time at the sleep clinic.

I hope this helps. Others will be along with their thoughts. Good luck with your overnight study and we'll look forward to seeing the results and having you come aboard.

[ems]

My questions / concerns are:
Is Lunesta safe for the night of the exam?
Is it really necessary to have zero product in the hair the day of the study?
Can I at least apply a small amount of leave in conditioner to my hair so long as I don't get product on my scalp?
How to remove the gunk from the scalp? I have coarse hair and have some real concerns about glue/gunk removal.

Hi there and welcome. Of course we understand your questions and concerns. I think Kaiasgram covered it beautifully, but I'll add a few things. I was told I could take whatever I needed to help me relax and get to sleep. I'm sure Lunesta would be just fine. If you are very concerned, run it by your doctor.

For me personally, I'd probably skip the leave in conditioner... only because I wouldn't want to do anything that would make me repeat the study. My hair is thick and course too. I did exactly what Kaiasgram did to wash the stuff out and then left a conditioner in for an additional few minutes. Blew it dry like I usually do and that was it -- looked the same as before.

Good luck with the study. Please let us know how it goes.


~And Julie... this person wanted some answers - not a lecture!

[PreemieNrsTiffy]

Divachyk:

Is Lunesta safe for the night of the exam?

Lunesta is a pretty mild sleeping pill and there could hardly be a safer place to take it than during a sleep study. There are staff constantly monitoring your breathing and brain waves. Use what sleep aides you need to make sure you sleep during the sleep study.

Is it really necessary to have zero product in the hair the day of the study?

The instructions from my sleep center were to show up with freshly washed hair with no product. Somehow with the multiple other instructions I didn't see this one but all I had on was a scant spritz of hairspray earlier that day and it was not a problem.

Can I at least apply a small amount of leave in conditioner to my hair so long as I don't get product on my scalp?

I will admit I cannot speak authoritatively on this. I know they need to get their electrodes to stick during the study and you don't want them coming loose during the night and having to "reglue".

How to remove the gunk from the scalp? I have coarse hair and have some real concerns about glue/gunk removal.

If they use the same gunk, I was able to wash it out with a couple of scrubbings with regular shampoo. You may need a good conditioning after the thorough scrubbing.


I actually had a horrible time for my initial sleep study which was not anyone's fault except my sleep disorder and some poor planning. I was not prepared to have lights out as soon as they planned (9pm!!) and I probably didn't drop off to sleep until closer to midnight. In fact, I truly believed that I didn't sleep at all but apparently the data showed otherwise. I would suggest to ask your sleep center the routine they will follow as this would have helped me tremendously. My second sleep study went much better and part of the reason that I got up extremely early that day, ran around doing errands all day, planned my mealtimes so I would be satisfied, but not with a full stomach, restricted my fluids so I would not be up going to the bathroom all night like the first study (I cannot recommend this for others, it was probably wrong-thinking) and was really ready for bed at 9pm. I also had a much easier time because I actually slept soundly on the CPAP and didn't have to get up once all night for the bathroom.

I hope others can chime in on the turbinate surgery. I've heard not good things about this surgery on this board. Many report great improvement in their GE reflux symptoms with CPAP therapy. I have it though not severely and I haven't noticed any changes but my symptoms are well controlled on Nexium.

[TheUglyTruth]

The Dr. really feels my inflamed turbinates is the cause for the apnea but will know more after the study is complete.

I hope you misunderstood the doctor as he should surely know better than this.

If a person has swollen turbinates, even to the point of completely blocking both nostrils, when that person falls asleep he will simply breathe through his mouth. Swollen turbinates is not a cause of sleep apnea. But in any case, they should be treated or addressed surgically.

[divachyk]

Thank you all!!! You all were so kind and friendly and I truly appreciate it. I must have missed a posting but whatever was said, I would not have been offended because I belong to other forums and know some respond differently than others. I'm just thankful you all took the time to assist me and my questions. Again, thank you!

The Dr. really feels my inflamed turbinates is the cause for the apnea but will know more after the study is complete.

I hope you misunderstood the doctor as he should surely know better than this.

If a person has swollen turbinates, even to the point of completely blocking both nostrils, when that person falls asleep he will simply breathe through his mouth. Swollen turbinates is not a cause of sleep apnea. But in any case, they should be treated or addressed surgically.

Hello TheUglyTruth, Pulmonay, ENT and Allergist are all believing the same theory of turbinates prompting apnea. However, they won't commit to being 100% sure that's the cause. I'm just ready for the study to be over that way I'll have conclusive results and go move forward with whatever the outcome is. All roads lead to apnea thus far so I'm sure I'll be around the forum for a while.

[Jimster]

If you want to get your hair clean and quick after a sleep study, without too much trouble, use dishwashing detergent. I used DAWN and it worked Great, and much better than my hair shampoo.

[caffeinatedcfo]

I had no problems washing the goop out in the shower after. I washed twice just to be sure I got it all.

Great that you are moving forward to get some answers. Like you, I didn't get the answer I hoped for regarding my sleep disturbances. However, I found lots of support and information on this website and from my Dr which helped me with the acceptance phase.

Welcome & Good luck!

[kaiasgram]

I must have missed a posting but whatever was said, I would not have been offended because I belong to other forums and know some respond differently than others. I'm just thankful you all took the time to assist me and my questions. Again, thank you!

You didn't miss that posting, it was removed. Not sure when.

[divachyk]

You all rock! Tomorrow is the big day. I'm was nervous but that's now turning to excitement to finally get some answers about my sleep disturbances. Thank you all for the suggestions. I will have results on Thurs of next week so I will keep everyone informed.

[divachyk]

I arrived to the sleep center, got hooked up and was ready to go about an hour later. I closed my eyes in an attempt to drift to sleep around 10. Around midnight, I asked the nurse to come in as I wanted to know if I had slept. I felt that I had not slept a wink but she assured I had been sleep. This study was to be a split study but I didn't meet the criteria for being fitted for a cpap for the latter part of the study. I get official results from the dr. later this week. Keep you all posted!

The glue came out of my hair with ease. I'm really pleased about that.