If I never have another sleep study it will be too soon

[jonny515]

Oh boy well this was pretty awful, hopefully no one will suggest one of these (sleep studies again), this was the titration. But I did survive.
Hopefully the pitiful hour of sleep can determine some sort of titration (my appt is the 18th).

[Hose_Head]

Oh boy well this was pretty awful, hopefully no one will suggest one of these (sleep studies again), this was the titration. But I did survive.
Hopefully the pitiful hour of sleep can determine some sort of titration (my appt is the 18th).

The real scandal is that too often the titration sleep study fails to determine a proper set of pressures. This is the real benefit in getting an auto-pap for your therapy. With an autopap you can self-titrate in the comfort of your own bed and every night of the year! And adjust your pressures accordingly! Unless you have complex SA, this is the way to go.

[sewsleepy]

I can relate! My sleep study is a night of misery that I hope I never have to repeat!

[Michelle-OH]

Mine was awful too. The tech expected I might have to go back and be placed on a sleeping pill. I didn't get into REM in either sleep study. I don't know how anybody sleeps with all those leads attached, knowing someone is listening and watching you. I actually cried on the way home at the thought that I might have to go back, and I am not a crier.

[Pesser]

Did anyone ever get a good sleep study?

[jonny515]

I got so few minutes of sleep the first time, why they would ever even imagine I'd sleep the NEXT time is beyond me. Really I think it's a racket. My insurance paid for this (actually I had to stay hooked up for three hours, as the sleep tech gave up on me, but said, "well I have to keep you hooked up and I realized it was for insurance). So I read for three hours.

The idea of self-titration seems logical (or at least handing out the machines, starting with some range and then tweeking it. They would not have to give up their control. I can't imagine that any number they'd come up with would be accurate.

I have heard of people who slept for most of the study, but maybe they are in the minority.

The real scandal is that too often the titration sleep study fails to determine a proper set of pressures. This is the real benefit in getting an auto-pap for your therapy. With an autopap you can self-titrate in the comfort of your own bed and every night of the year! And adjust your pressures accordingly! Unless you have complex SA, this is the way to go.

[RogerSC]

My sleep study was about 4 years ago now, and the memory of the stress of it has considerably lessened. However, I did vow at the time (and still feel) that I don''t want to ever take another lab sleep study. I lay awake for hours on a too-small bed in a noisy room, with electrodes glued all over my body. I finally got 2 or 3 hours sleep at the very end because of sheer exhaustion, just long enough for them to see that I had sleep apnea problems (which I could have told them *smile*). I self-titrated with an apap at home, no problem there. The initial apap settings from my doctor got me in the ballpark, tweaked since then, of course. And the self-titration results were reviewed by my sleep doctor. At home, I'd never stay in bed awake that long, I'd get up and read a book *smile*.

Anyways, I'm all for home studies in my comfortable bed in my quiet bedroom (with cpap off). Or if I'm required to take another lab sleep study, Ambien's the ticket *smile*. Sleep doctor said as much when I told him about my experience.

[starbuck]

Count me in as another one that slept a total of 50 mins in an eight hour study. I likewise never want to do that again. I was paying the bill, so it was $1000 for nothing. I was working abroad at the time and had a two week window to get the sleep study done, the CPAP purchased and titrated. Thankfully I had a PCP that worked with me--he put an oximeter on me overnight and said it was enough data to prescribe the CPAP. Got the CPAP a day before flying out. I was forced to make my CPAP work without any help.

[Tootiredtosleep]

I really am glad to hear I wasn't the only one who had the worst sleep study in the world.

I hope I never have to have one again.

[Heart Jumping]

Did anyone ever get a good sleep study?

I'd call mine good, all things considered. I was incredibly excited about it because I felt it was going to give me long sought after answers, my only trepidation was whether my apnea would manifest since I wrongly thought it mainly happened on my back. Little did I know the sleep study would show that it happened constantly, and was just worse on my back. After about 3 or 4 hours she woke me up and put me on CPAP.

I think the main reason it went well for me was that I was on a very consistent early to rise early to bed sleep schedule at the time, which makes it much easier for me to fall asleep and not lay up, so that also made it easier to fall asleep there. It certainly wasn't a good nights sleep, but it served its purpose.

[yippeekia]

It was uncomfortable, awkward, and demeaning. With that being said, I was lucky to have a technician that was kind and patient. I am very compliant when asleep or half asleep. So it was very uncomfortable being vulnerable in that way. I just kept thinking, do the best that you can so it will be useful. I am not sure how I actually got to sleep. I just pretended that it was a very expensive hotel room. (After all it was expensive.) But when it was said and done, it all worked out. I was glad to have answers in the form of a diagnosis.

It was probably more the invasion of privacy than anything terrible.

[Janknitz]

When you have your appointment with the doctor on the 18th, INSIST that the prescription be written for an Autopap. Explain to the doctor that your sleep quality that night was VERY poor, and that the autopap will permit adjusting based on objective data if the determined pressure(s) isn't/aren't working for you.

Some doctors claim that autopaps are not accurate enough to titrate (Kaiser and Medicare disagree!), but tell him/her that under no circumstances will you EVER submit to another sleep study, so it's imperative you get an auto-titrating machine with FULL data capability in order to make sure that the treatment is optimal for you.

Remember, the doctor works for you. Even if the doctor disagrees, it's your health we are talking about here.

[jimsp1]

My sleep study was poor but the follow up titration test was a disaster. It was so bad that they couldn't determine a pressure and wanted to try again. I definitely wasn't looking forward to that. Fortunately the PA that was the sleep specialist canceled the second titration and set me up with an APAP. I have a 3 month follow up with him this week. I wonder why this shouldn't be the standard procedure once it is determined that PAP therapy would be required. After a few months of data collection it could be then determined if a fully instrumented sleep lab titration test would be advisable. A this point the patient could actually fall asleep with a mask on – sort of a basic requirement for a successful titration. I guess the cynical answer to why they don't do is this way has to do with money.

[Gasper62]

My sleep doctor sent me with a 10mg. Ambien for both of my sleep sessions at the hospital. No problems sleeping whatsoever either time. I can't imagine going there without some sort of sleep inducing aid. I have been very fortunate in that my avg. AHI for the last 8 months has been 0.55 using an S9 Autoset The Dr. said that unless I start having complex/centrals, I won't need any more studies done at a lab or hospital. APAP's are awesome ! PS: I'm sorry that you had such a lousy experience !

[Bill44133]

Did anyone ever get a good sleep study?

My sleep studies were perfect.. They ran the sleep study at the Court Yard by Marriott Hotel.

During my first sleep study I had to go to the bathroom around 5AM.. The tech told me that if I wanted to end the test that she had sufficient data.. They started me on bi-pap about 3 hours into the study.. I told her that I needed to go back to sleep for a while.. I actually felt pretty good.. It was 8am they came busting into the room and told me to go home.

I begged for another half hour and they told me to go home..

I had NO complaints except they wouldn't let me sleep in.