Home speep study

[rbanavara]

I was just browsing the net and have found there are few "home sleep study" machines. There are youtube videos for sleepView and respironics stardust II. There are few threads on stardust here as well abt the cost of the study. Just if we could buy / rent those units and conduct the sleep study at home over a period of days and may be we can get better results. It may only record O2 saturation / snore / chest-abdomen effort and most likely apnea events.

Please share your experience if you already haad used this / your views on this.

Also I just wanted this to be on my threads list so that I can come back to this later (sort of bookmark).

[harry33]

are they expensive?
usually a person comes with machine and hooks you up to it at bedtime and returns later to collect it, so they hire it to you

sleep lab people dont like this but I guess they fear losing customers

it seems the results are not quite as good as a sleep lab overnight study, but are obviously much better than no study at all

I wonder if it will be long before CPAPs come with a diagnostic mode, and all the sleep labs might be shut down
btw re the all important pressure setting, studies show thta CPAP users taught how to set the pressure eventually get near enough to the pressure they need

[Physician]

I had the ARES/Watermark Home Sleep Study. It was a breeze, comfortable, and yielded considerable accurate and useful information. It was billed as $350 to insurance. Not only was the study covered 100%, but the study qualified me for a new machine and all accessories at 100%.


WATERMARK: http://www.watermarkmedical.com/

[snore_question]

I went to a sleep center that decided to do the sleep study on me at home rather than in the lab. My referring doctor preferred an in-lab test and ordered one for me but the sleep center doctor claimed a sleep study at home was even better than one in the lab, since people sleep better at home than they do in the lab. When I got the results I realized I was scammed. There are many results you don't get with the home test. I had severe problems with the home testing equipment and the sleep lab ignored my report of any problems. They charged $2000 for the home test and I will never, ever go to that lab again. I wish I could share the name here. A home test is useless with an unethical lab.

[jonquiljo]

I had a "Stardust II" test. If you want, PM me and I will post a copy of my report so you can see what it measures. I just picked up the machine and put it on when I went to bed that night. The big issue is supposedly that the insurers won't accept the data as good enough to pay for a CPAP if necessary (according to my Dr.). My insurance company wasn't about to pay for a CPAP machine anyway, so I just did the home study. My wife has a disabling spinal condition, so I am needed for lots of things at home - and therefore the "take home" part was ideal.

Frankly I cannot sleep in a lab with people watching me, etc. It's kind of creepy. When I was younger, I could sleep with strangers watching, but the goal then was different . I also have a very nocturnal lifestyle and most sleep labs do not accommodate it. So the take home machine is really a help there too. So frankly, though the Stardust gets less information, it probably is far more representational to your real life. But perhaps everyone is not as neurotic as I am.

I posted here about being mis-billed for the test. It has been straightened out and it only costs me $200 now. Lots of insurers will pay for for the test - just not mine (long story, I have garbage coverage, if you even want to call it coverage). If only the insurers would take the machine determinations as enough info to prescribe (and pay for) CPAP, etc.!

[roster]

Just if we could buy / rent those units and conduct the sleep study at home over a period of days and may be we can get better results.

Absolutely.

If we could throw away the FDA and state licensing boards, I could see patients forming small cooperatives to buy the units and pass them around among members. A lot of people could cheaply get diagnosed.

Someone should design one whose sensors do not interfere with CPAP masks. Then CPAP patients could check how they are sleeping with CPAP.

The Federal and state governments are big impediments to good healthcare and it is going to get worse before it gets better.