Just had split sleep study, went bad! Questions.

[Rizzo777]

Hello

I had a split sleep study done last night to determine if I have sleep apnea as I feel like I havent slept every morning I wake up. The nurse advised that I would have to fall asleep by 11pm for a split so that made me anxious and tried real hard to fall asleep. I finally fell asleep at 130am and then 20 minutes after my nose piece came out so nurse had to wake me up. She said the next morning that I disqualified for a split but she probably wouldn't of put me on a cpap machine from the small amount of data she collected from my 1.5 hrs of sleep. She also mentioned I never hit REM stage. At home I crash real easily and deep sleep til the morning but I just couldn't fall asleep at the sleep center. When my results come back and they say I don't qualify for cpap, should I ask for a Retake? I read that usually sleep apnea occurs during Rem. Thanks.

[Rob K]

All my tests were split night. I slept about 1/2hr on the first one and that was with taking one Ambien. They had me come back a second night and take two Ambien to knock me out. They had such little data the first night they just had me come back a second night and filed it as one claim. It's been several years so maybe I'm not recalling that incorrectly. My third test, years later, I knew that I would need 2 Ambien and I was out for nearly 8 hours on that one.

I think it is pretty common for people not to sleep much with all the equipment and that the sleep lab deals with this problem often. I would ask what their policy is for retesting. Will they file a separate claim for another night or role it all into one claim? Like me, you may have to medicate to put you to sleep so they can get some data.

[Julie]

Many people ask their doctors for an Ambien when testing as it's an unnatural setting for anyone to try and sleep in, and it should relax you better than you've been so far.

[Holden4th]

My sleep study was like yours but I did get a couple of hours sleep. This enabled the clinic to gather enough data to determine that I definitely had OSA. Because this is Australia and the test was bulk billed (means free) they couldn't do the titration as wellon that night. That was done on another night and I got even less sleep with nasal pillows and hoses restricting me. However, they decided that 13cm H2O would treat my condition. It ended up being quite close. By all means get another titration done. One thing I can't understand is why all the sensors have to be hard wired instead of WiFi.

[jimsp1]

Many people ask their doctors for an Ambien when testing as it's an unnatural setting for anyone to try and sleep in, and it should relax you better than you've been so far.

Unfortunately some doctors like mine refuse to order a sleep aide like Ambien as it might somehow compromise the test results. Of course not sleeping would seem to compromise the test even more. My initial sleep test didn't go so well so when they scheduled the titration test I asked and was denied any sleep aide. The titration test was a disaster and the sleep lab doctor suggested that perhaps with better sleep hygiene we would be more successful. Not that having a dozen electrodes attached head to foot and a mask strapped to my face blowing air into my face had anything to do with me not being able to sleep.

[Okie bipap]

When I had my initial meeting with the nurse practicioner, she suggested I might want to take a sleep aid during my tests. She gave me a prescription for two ambian pills which I used for my sleep study and my titration study.

[raisedfist]

Well that sleep study sounds rather useless. I would ask them if you can do a home sleep study - most likely you would sleep better and more comfortably.

[dvejr]

I was so lucky.
First, I had a 2-night study. (This may be related to the fact that the doctor examining my sleep issues was a partner in the Sleep Lab! )
Second, I had no trouble falling asleep. Ever. Anytime, anywhere. Fell asleep once during a root canal. Slept through a rocket attack once. Because apnea had deprived me of a good night's sleep for years, all I ever needed to do to fall asleep is close my eyes for a minute or two. Bang, I'm gone.
Nowadays, whenever I lie in bed a while waiting for sleep I am thankful, not frustrated. My apnea is treated and I probably had a perfectly good night's sleep the night before. I'm never as sleepy now as I ALWAYS was before....

[Cardsfan]

There are At Home sleep studies. That is what I did. I did the at home test for 3 nights in a row. Then the Dr. looked at all the data. There wasn't the pressure of "oh my gosh, I have to fall asleep right now... like you have at the lab.

[Sheriff Buford]

When my results come back and they say I don't qualify for cpap, should I ask for a Retake?

Why? This is great news!! You don't have this ugly disease!! Most folks don't sleep much, but they do get enough data during the sleep study to work with. I suspect maybe you didn't get enough data. Call the sleep center/doctor and ask if you got enough sleep to get quality results. Also, ask for a copy of the test results and give us more info on the results. What are your symptoms?

Sheriff

[Rizzo777]

I feel like I haven't slept each morning that I wake up and feel tired throughout the day. I don't want sleep apnea but I'd like to know for sure I don't have it. I downloaded a snore app and my peak levels of snoring (which is loud) is about 3 hours into my sleep. My sleep study recorded around an hour of light sleep without any REM times. I didn't get my results back yet.

[jds2001]

If they didn't get enough data, they'll have you redo it. As I understand it, the criteria for a split night study is an AHI greater than 15 during the first part of the study. Just because you didn't hit that DOESN'T mean that you don't have OSA. You have OSA if the number is greater than 5, however a doctor needs to interpret the entire body of evidence. They'll likely have you come back another night for a titration study. At that point, as many have said, get a sleep aid.

I initially did a home sleep test, which went well. However, the doctor thought that he saw central apneas on it, and had me come for an in-lab titration study. During that, I didn't sleep well AT ALL. The doctor said that I got a grand total of 2 minutes of REM sleep! However, despite that he was able to find a (fairly accurate!) pressure for me. Don't give up!

[D.H.]

I was so lucky.
First, I had a 2-night study. (This may be related to the fact that the doctor examining my sleep issues was a partner in the Sleep Lab! )
Second, I had no trouble falling asleep. Ever. Anytime, anywhere. Fell asleep once during a root canal. Slept through a rocket attack once. Because apnea had deprived me of a good night's sleep for years, all I ever needed to do to fall asleep is close my eyes for a minute or two. Bang, I'm gone.
Nowadays, whenever I lie in bed a while waiting for sleep I am thankful, not frustrated. My apnea is treated and I probably had a perfectly good night's sleep the night before. I'm never as sleepy now as I ALWAYS was before....

Yes, I had separate studies back in 1999. There was supposedly a six week backlog to get results, but they called with two days! When I went for initial titration, I got annoyed that the technician turned off the CPAP machine while I still lying down when I needed to go to the restroom. They even did a third test, which was a an eight week follow-up with my own machine (just to make sure that I was using it successfully).

[MrGrumpy]

I refuse to have split night sleep studies. I have had one and it was a disaster as yours was. I felt the same as you, pressured to get to sleep early so they could wake me up to titrate me. I will never have another split night sleep study, ever. They are a waste of time and money at least for me.

Split night studies are a thing the insurance companies push, its a save money thing for the insurance companies. Its good for them, not good for you. How can they titrate you properly in two or three hours?

After I had a split study last year that was a disaster, I went to another sleep doctor and told them, "no more split night studies." I requested the good old fashioned way. A night in a sleep study with no night "being split." Then a meeting with the sleep doctor who told me if I had OSA anymore or not and if so, how severe was it now. Got told yeah, but its mild to moderate now. Then a old fashioned titration study.

One night devoted to each phase, one for the diagnostic part, one night for the titration. Thats like I like it.

[Rizzo777]

Well the sleep center called and said I was negative. As I stated I barely slept so I asked if they had enough data. She said my sleep was very "fragmented" so its up to my pcp to decide if I should have another test. I don't know if I should pursue this, but it feels like it wasn't a good study for me..