sleep study results

[onward60]

My daughter had a sleep study because her husband reports that she startles in her sleep and she wakes up exhausted most days. She was told she did not have sleep apnea or restless legs or anything else they were looking for and was sent away. She can see some of the results in her electronic chart. She sent me this. Can anyone tell me what this stuff means?

[Miss Emerita]

The bottom line is that your daughter doesn't appear to have sleep apnea, so PAP therapy is unlikely to help her.

It sounds as though she may be experiencing hypnic jerks, aka hypnogogic jerks. More here:

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/parasom ... pnic-jerks

This deserves some follow-up with her doctor, given her day-time problems. I hope she and her doctor will bear in mind that the source of her exhaustion may have nothing to do with a sleep disorder. Ideally she can be screened for other culprits, e.g., anemia, Lyme disease, autoimmune disease, or thyroid disorders.

When she talks with her doctor, she should be ready to describe how often she jerks awake per night (maybe with information from her husband), when her exhaustion began, whether it sometimes lets up, whether she gets more tired with exertion, and whether she has daytime sleepiness or instead feels worn out but not sleepy. Could her husband go with her? Often it helps to have a second set of ears to make sure all the relevant information and questions get covered.

[onward60]

The bottom line is that your daughter doesn't appear to have sleep apnea, so PAP therapy is unlikely to help her.

It sounds as though she may be experiencing hypnic jerks, aka hypnogogic jerks. More here:

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/parasom ... pnic-jerks

This deserves some follow-up with her doctor, given her day-time problems. I hope she and her doctor will bear in mind that the source of her exhaustion may have nothing to do with a sleep disorder. Ideally she can be screened for other culprits, e.g., anemia, Lyme disease, autoimmune disease, or thyroid disorders.

When she talks with her doctor, she should be ready to describe how often she jerks awake per night (maybe with information from her husband), when her exhaustion began, whether it sometimes lets up, whether she gets more tired with exertion, and whether she has daytime sleepiness or instead feels worn out but not sleepy. Could her husband go with her? Often it helps to have a second set of ears to make sure all the relevant information and questions get covered.

Thank you for these ideas. She was seeing a doctor about her fatigue, and was tested for many, many things before she did a sleep study. But the doctor changed her practice to a very expensive, private clinic, so now my daughter just has a not-very-useful NP. She does not actually wake up and was surprised that her husband said she was startling in some way. Perhaps her husband going with her would help. He travels 50%, so it could be a bit tricky, but definitely worth trying.