Got sleep study ... what does this mean?

[dunninla]

I had my results faxed to me, but the Dr. can't meet with me until Tuesday afternoon next week... I'm dying to know... what do the results mean?

Test given at about 10:15pm

Copied from the Report

Final Impressions:
1. Mild to loud snoring
2. Mild Obstructive Sleep Apnea/Hyp0pnea Syndrome (ICD code 327.23)
3. Mild desaturation associated with the respiratory events

Recommendations:...therapeutic options may include mandidbular advancement device, upper airway surgery, and CPAP mask. Clinical correlation is advised.

Sleep Architecture
Total Sleep Time: 319.5 minutes
Total Time in Bed: 416 minutes
Sleep Efficiency (TST/TTB) 76.8%
Latency to Sleep onset: 23 minutes
Latency to REM onset: 69.5 mins
Number of REM periods: 8
Wake Time after Sleep Onset: 73.5

Sleep State Distribution
Sleep Stage / Duration (mins) / % TST / Normal Range %
Stage 1 / 15.5 / 4.9 / 2-5
State 2 / 158 / 49.5 / 45-55
Stage 3 / 60.5 / 18.9 / 13-22
Stage 4 / 85.5 / 26.8 / 20-25

Summary of Arousals
Type / number / Index
PLMS arousals / 26 / 5 per hr.
Respiratory arousals / 31 / 6 per hr.
Snore Arousals / 14 / 3 per hour
Spontaneous (non-specific) 29 / 5 per hr.
Total EEG Arousals / 100 / 19 per hr.

Respiratory Events
Body Position / Duration (min) / Apneas / Hypopneas / AHI
Supine / 22.11 / 2 / 2 / 11
Right / 237.61 / 4 / 19 / 6
Left / 59.51 / 0 / 4 / 0
Prone / 0.2 / 0 / 0 / 0

Oxygen Saturation
Baseline Saturation Awake: 96%
Average SpO2 during NREM: 95%
Average SpO2 during REM: 95%
Minimum SpO2 with Respiratory Event: 88%

Type / Duration (mins) / % TST / Apneas / Hypopneas / AHI
NREM / 234 / 73.2 / 6 / 19 / 6 per hr.
REM / 85.5 / 26.8 / 0 / 6 / 4 per hr.

[LSAT]

I'm certainly not an expert on this, but, to me it looks pretty good. Any sleep problems look mild.

[dunninla]

That's sort of the impression I got reading it too... but I have no frame of reference.

I am sleepy almost all day, every day. Heavy eyelids I guess is the best way to describe it. But sleepiness can be caused by allergies also, and any number of things. Sleepiness combined with pretty loud snoring is why I was prescribed the Sleep Study.

[Pugsy]

See if Robysue's blog will help you understand what you are seeing on your report.
http://adventures-in-hosehead-land.blog ... -test.html

Looks pretty mild based on the numbers.

[Todzo]

I had my results faxed to me, but the Dr. can't meet with me until Tuesday afternoon next week... I'm dying to know... what do the results mean?

Hi dunninla!

You have mild Obstructive Sleep Apnea
You have excessive arousals from various sources

I think your body is telling you it needs your tender loving care.

If I were you I would:

Do what I could to reduce the stress in my life.

Raise the head of the bed a couple of inches. This will likely reduce the OSA. I use concrete bricks from a building supply place (<$5).

Begin working with a personal trainer (or obtain a starter pedometer (e.g. Omron) and start moving toward 10,000 steps a day). Working up to aerobics and interval training is recommended.

Eat anti-inflammatory foods

Begin a long term relationship with a dietitian

Take some good cooking classes and stop eating processed foods (outside of the store rather than the center of the store).

May we find good health!

Todzo

[kteague]

Mild sleep apnea merits treatment. As the report mentions, you may have other viable options besides CPAP, but CPAP would offer you the ability to monitor data and see that your apneas/hypopneas are resolved. I noticed you had only 22 minutes of supine sleep. Not sure if any of your REM time was while supine, but it is not unusual for events to be worse in REM while supine. I only mention that because there's a chance your study did not have the opportunity to capture your worst case scenario. I'd hate for anyone to make decisions based on a possibly false sense of security.

[deltadave]

Sleep Architecture
Total Sleep Time: 319.5 minutes
Total Time in Bed: 416 minutes
Sleep Efficiency (TST/TTB) 76.8%
Latency to Sleep onset: 23 minutes
Latency to REM onset: 69.5 mins
Number of REM periods: 8
Wake Time after Sleep Onset: 73.5

Sleep State Distribution
Sleep Stage / Duration (mins) / % TST / Normal Range %
Stage 1 / 15.5 / 4.9 / 2-5
State 2 / 158 / 49.5 / 45-55
Stage 3 / 60.5 / 18.9 / 13-22
Stage 4 / 85.5 / 26.8 / 20-25

You should have about 450 minutes of sleep so you have Insufficient Sleep.

Your Sleep Efficiency is poor (poor technically starts at <75% but that's close enough).

You have too many REM periods but that could be a normal distribution that is fractured.

That SWS Summary is messed up. Stage 3 and 4 have been combined into NREM3 since 2008 so they are either way behind in the times or have mistakenly labelled REM as Stage 4 (which, although is the probable explanation, is a major blunder).

[deltadave]

I had my results faxed to me, but the Dr. can't meet with me until Tuesday afternoon next week... I'm dying to know... what do the results mean?

Hi dunninla!

You have mild Obstructive Sleep Apnea
You have excessive arousals from various sources

I think your body is telling you it needs your tender loving care.

If I were you I would:

Do what I could to reduce the stress in my life.

Raise the head of the bed a couple of inches. This will likely reduce the OSA. I use concrete bricks from a building supply place (<$5).

Begin working with a personal trainer (or obtain a starter pedometer (e.g. Omron) and start moving toward 10,000 steps a day). Working up to aerobics and interval training is recommended.

Eat anti-inflammatory foods

Begin a long term relationship with a dietitian

Take some good cooking classes and stop eating processed foods (outside of the store rather than the center of the store).

May we find good health!

Todzo

You're an idiot.

[deltadave]

That SWS Summary is messed up. Stage 3 and 4 have been combined into NREM3 since 2008 so they are either way behind in the times or have mistakenly labelled REM as Stage 4 (which, although is the probable explanation, is a major blunder).

OTOH, if that was your typo, that's OK.

[old64mb]

Respiratory Events
Body Position / Duration (min) / Apneas / Hypopneas / AHI
Supine / 22.11 / 2 / 2 / 11
Right / 237.61 / 4 / 19 / 6
Left / 59.51 / 0 / 4 / 0
Prone / 0.2 / 0 / 0 / 0[/b]

Many people with mild or moderate apnea do far better on their sides than their backs - do a search for "positional apnea" - and it looks like you may be in that group.

While 22 minutes isn't a ton of data, your doctor will probably suggest that you continue trying to avoid sleeping on your back ("supine") since you seemed to have a couple of events in a short period of time there, where on your side your weren't bad. Don't be terribly surprised if they suggest some tennis balls sewed into the back of a tshirt to help you avoid it.

[deltadave]

Respiratory Events
Body Position / Duration (min) / Apneas / Hypopneas / AHI
Supine / 22.11 / 2 / 2 / 11
Right / 237.61 / 4 / 19 / 6
Left / 59.51 / 0 / 4 / 0
Prone / 0.2 / 0 / 0 / 0[/b]

Many people with mild or moderate apnea do far better on their sides than their backs - do a search for "positional apnea" - and it looks like you may be in that group.

Given the poor quality of this report, it is not known if the events are obstructive or central (at least for the apneas - hypopneas are generally not qualified), and positional therapy is generally reserved for OSA.

Further, if they are central, and post-arousal (certainly a strong possibility because of the sleep fragmentation), they should not be counted in the OAHI, which would now be 4.7.

[old64mb]

Given the poor quality of this report, it is not known if the events are obstructive or central

Oh, I agree with you on what we can tell from the report and it's entirely possible those are transition-related centrals, but since it's just as possible they're not...

...but the Dr. can't meet with me until Tuesday afternoon next week... I'm dying to know... what do the results mean

...the point was to pass on one possible Rx so that they're not quite as surprised by it. The general reaction of people being told they might benefit from sewing tennis balls into a t-shirt is "Huh?!" unless they're given the opportunity to understand why something that appears slightly wacky is common practice in sleep medicine.

I would however agree that the bigger issue is the poor overall quality of sleep. If you believe the 19 EEG arousals per hour number, you've got something to treat. We'll see what their doctor ends up discussing, but that (and the ok Sp02 numbers) suggests there's some work to be done opening up the upper airway.

[dunninla]

thanks for your replies.

re: Stage 4 -- Yes, that was my typo. The report reads: REM sorry about that.

OK, so I have mild Sleep Apnea. Can this account for my constant feeling of sleepiness? I guess there is only one way to find out... after Tuesday's appt. with the Dr, I'll try CPAP therapy and see how it goes.

[chunkyfrog]

Everyone's tolerance for lack of sleep is different.
I was a total mess with only 13 AHI, while some might have 30, 50, or more,
and never complain of symptoms bad enough to bring them to the doctor.

[avi123]

I had my results faxed to me, but the Dr. can't meet with me until Tuesday afternoon next week... I'm dying to know... what do the results mean?

Hi dunninla!

You have mild Obstructive Sleep Apnea
You have excessive arousals from various sources

I think your body is telling you it needs your tender loving care.

If I were you I would:

Do what I could to reduce the stress in my life.

Raise the head of the bed a couple of inches. This will likely reduce the OSA. I use concrete bricks from a building supply place (<$5).

Begin working with a personal trainer (or obtain a starter pedometer (e.g. Omron) and start moving toward 10,000 steps a day). Working up to aerobics and interval training is recommended.

Eat anti-inflammatory foods

Begin a long term relationship with a dietitian

Take some good cooking classes and stop eating processed foods (outside of the store rather than the center of the store).

May we find good health!

Todzo

You're an idiot.

Todzo,

I put DeltaDave on my foe list so that I don't see such personal attacks from this Registered Polysomnographic Technologist™ (RPSGT).
You're lucky not to get attacked with 4 letter words, which is this guy's specialty!

p.s. to qualify for RPSGT you need less education than for a Nurses Aid.