Biggest concerns when going for your night study?

[sleepstar]

Hi everyone!
I'm interested in knowing what any of your concerns or fears were when you went for your sleep study.

The most common one I'm aware of is not being able to sleep. A close second is about using the toilet during the night.
A lady came in a while ago who was concerned about us being able to see what she's thinking and dreaming about. When I showed her a print out of what we actually see (a bunch of boring squiggly lines!) she seemed more comfortable :~)

Being a tech, all this stuff is all so familiar to me, so I'm really interested to hear.
I was a patient once for a sleep study - probably 6-7 years ago now - well before I knew anything about sleep; and I know it can be a pretty daunting thing!

[John from Brookston]

Well, pretty much what you already listed.
1. Being able to sleep
2. going to the bathroom with all that wiring stuck to me
3. dealing with wearing pajamas (I normally keep them on the nightstand in case of fire)
4. talking in my sleep. I've been told the subject matter runs to the racy side.

I think having an understanding, caring Tech goes a long ways towards making the experience less unpleasant than it already is.

[imfletch]

Ditto to John's comments...
Having to sleep with pajamas is annoying if you're not used to it. I was also somewhat bothered by the three night-vision camera trained on my bed and the microphone pointed straight at my pillow!
It did take me about an hour to fall asleep. Still, I managed and, in the end, it wasn't nearly what I had feared it to be. The tech had the nicest, kindest attitude and a soft reassuring voice. Mine ended up being a "split study night." Still, despite only getting about 3.5 hours of sleep, I awoke feeling more energetic than I have in more than a decade!

[OutaSync]

Being told to change into my pajamas in a room with a camera. I'll bet there is a Youtube video out there somewhere.

[jwerley]

I have a sleep study coming up on the 2nd of May and I am most concerned about the techs seeing and addressing the many desats and apneas (like last night I had 99 obstrucive events with half of them being over 30 seconds, the highest being 87 seconds. (the linking of them is the most disturbing to me). Since getting my S9 Autoset 6/1/12 and being able to follow my own numbers I have had one other sleep study (6 mos. ago when Dr. ordered straight Cpap at setting of 9) and was having the same problem... nothing was said about this. I am always tired. Since the setting of 9 woke me up gasping for air I have tried autoset at various settings as well as straight cpap at various levels. It changes nothing.
when I had my consultation with the doc a month ago he did not seem concerned....saying that my AHI was not that high. it was running between 6 and 26. From everything I read on this board these numbers are awful. I told him how tired and foggy I felt in the mornings when I woke up and he did say that I could be a failed Cpap patient whatever that means. I have been compliant for the 8 years I have had cpap. They are so busy I have had to wait over a month for this study and it has been hard.

I have tried to address this before on the forum, but gave up because nobody could help me. My thinking is that maybe I need a bi-pap machine to keeping me breathing......I cannot go on like this, that is for sure!! I just want my problems to be solved with this study!!!!

Janice

[Kiralynx]

Hi everyone!
I'm interested in knowing what any of your concerns or fears were when you went for your sleep study.

1. Perfumed rooms. They'd used fabric softener and room deodorizer on EVERYTHING and I had such bad hay fever that it really contributed to

2. Inability to sleep, which was partially caused by

3. Sleep test was scheduled about four hours ahead of my normal bedtime. As a consequence, they're sitting around, waiting for me to go to sleep, and I'm reading, waiting to get sleepy, despite having taken a good sized dose of melatonin about 8p.

4. Since disrupted sleep = hip pain for me, I woke up, in severe pain, went to the bathroom, took my anti-inflammatories, and tried to go back to sleep, and had just gotten solidly asleep again when they woke me up to tell me the test was over, and I had to get up, get dressed, and get out of there.

Other issues included no grab bar near the bed to stabilize myself when getting up, and no grab bars in the bathroom.

I went to the pool, did my water exercises, which help the hip pain, and then went home and slept the rest of the day. I found a sleep test absolutely exhausting.

[chunkyfrog]

I dressed in the bathroom--no cameras.
I would appreciate the ability to ask the temperature to be raised or lowered AT MY REQUEST.
As much as the damn room costs, I'm not about to freeze my hiney off--or have a sauna--no thank you.

[Sheriff Buford]

What concerned me was my that the literature I took home stated in several places not to consume alcohol. When I made my appointment, I was told not to consume alcohol on the night of my study. When I was called to confirm my appointment, I was told.... no alcohol. When I arrived and was filling out the paperwork, I was asked if I had any alcohol and during my interview with the tech, he asked if I had any alcohol that day. This thoroughly stressed me out... then ticked me off. The tech told me that I would be amazed on how many patients showed up drunk! I had to go back for a followup study... and guess what??

Look at my Avatar... do I look like a person thats had a few...? Look REAL hard...

Sheriff

[zoocrewphoto]

For many years, I avoided the sleep study for a few reasons.

One, I am a severe night owl. I normally to go sleep between 4 and 6am. When my mom had a sleep study, they had her sleep fro 10pm to 5am. I knew that wasn't going to work for me. I have a hard time going to bed at midnight. How would I possibly sleep? About a month before I confessed to my doctor that I probably had sleep apnea, a pharmacy tech told me that I could get sleep medication for a sleep study. Duh. That would be useful. I asked for it in advance and used it at my sleep study. I slept great.

Another issue - I don't sleep well in hotels. Partly because of the timing, but also because I am used to sleeping in a waterbed, so regular beds aren't comfortable for me. I also get cold easily, and I don't use sheets at home. I sleep on top of 2 blankets with another 2 blankets and 2 comforters on top. Also, I sleep with the tv on. When traveling (1-2 weekends a month, average), I bring my own pillow, my own blanket, mp3 player, etc. Even then, I am typically awake part of every hour. I felt a bit odd arriving with my pillow, heavy blanket, etc. I don't travel light. When I had some free time once there, I pulled back the sheets and put in my heavy blanket, like I do at hotel rooms, folded in half so that I can sleep on it and under it, almost like a sleeping bag in the middle of the bag. During the night, I did get up once for the bathroom, and the tech asked me how the temp was and adjusted it up a little for me.

Bathroom trips. I was embarrassed by it, and I did not know it was related to sleep apnea. My bathroom trips are more frequent during hotel nights, so I was fully expecting 5 or 6 trips to the bathroom. I did wake up about an hour into the study, already needing to use the bathroom. I know I was awake for a bit, wondering whether I could fall asleep again and make it longer if I should tell the tech and go use the bathroom. I didn't realize it until later, but I believe the tech was an expert at dealing with bathroom embarrassment. She came in, saying she noticed I was awake and needed to check a wire. An ice breaker to give me an opportunity to ask for the bathroom trip and get me back to sleep. Later, when she woke me to start the titration phase, she asked if I needed to use the bathroom. I hadn't thought of it yet, but I'm not one to pass up a bathroom trip. I slept the last 5 hours straight.

Being watched. I was expecting a room with a huge window and somebody standing there watching me. You see examples on tv with windows and people being observed as they sleep. Very creepy. At my sleep study, the door was solid, and there was one camera up in the corner. The tech told me the camera would not be turned on until bed time. She also told me that if I needed assistance during the night to speak as she did not monitor the cameras the whole time. The room was set up like a hotel room, so it looked comfortable and not like a hospital room.

I was sure I would not be able to sleep with a machine or mask. My sleep tech had me try a mask and use the machine for 5-10 minutes before bedtime so that I would be familiar with it when it was used later in the night. I was surprised at how comfortable it was. Not scary at all.

I went in with a lot of scary assumptions, and all them were proved wrong, in my case. I have seen from stories on this forum that not everybody has a nice room or a great tech like I did.

[Kate M]

...and then went home and slept the rest of the day. I found a sleep test absolutely exhausting.

I hear ya! I had to go straight to work after mine and on my way home I had to pull over and take a nap in order to continue driving safely!

My fears were pretty much the same old boring ones...
1) Not being able to sleep
2) Moving a lot (I am a restless sleeper) and repeatedly disconnecting the electrodes, making the study time useless.
3) Sleeping worse than usual and having to work exhausted after the sleep study. (This actually happened. I thought I had slept about the same as at home, and made it through the work-day adequately, but then found myself close to falling asleep behind the wheel on my way home!)
4) This will sound silly, but I feared NOT having apnea during the study like happened once before. I WANTED to know what my problem was, and was pretty sure it was sleep apnea. If the study was negative, I'd have no idea what to do next to help myself.

[zoocrewphoto]

I made sure I requested the day off the sleep study and the day after.

I normally work until 10:30pm, so I had to have that day off. But I also fully expected to sleep like crap, so was planning to go home and sleep all day afterward. I actually felt pretty good afterward, so I did not take a nap that day.

[pootsie]

I have the electrodes on my head for study no. 1 as I post this. I have no serious concern but they are expecting me to sack out ahead of my usual midnight-1a.m. beddy time.

As for the cameras, well ... I am the sort who is tempted to put on some sort of show for them. Any ideas for something entertaining I can do?

[Kenwood]

For me....I was the most nervous about trying to fall asleep. They wanted you there by 8:30pm, which was no biggie - as you could watch TV or use the WiFi for iPad or computer. I had a Sleep Study about 5 years prior and just could not fall asleep. A couple days before my appointment had a panic attack about the mask. So the day of my sleep study, I just tried to say calm all day. I told the tech upon check in that I usually don't fall asleep till really late - so since I've done a sleep study before....he saved me for last. The Sleep Tech was super nice and explained everything as he hooked me up. I asked if I could take a Tylenol PM to help and he said that was ok. I took a little bit to fall asleep, but woke me up about 2 hours later for the MASK. I think the most important question I should have been asked was if I liked WARM or COOL air. Cause I had a super hard time with the mask. The warm air made it feel like I was suffocating in the FFM. Woke up ripping off the mask gasping for air. But on my first night on CPAP, the was pleasantly surprised at the nice cool air blowing in my FFM.

The comment of "I haven't seen numbers that high in a while.....was also very calming" Later found out I had AHI of 131. Every damn doctor keep saying the same damn thing too

[SleepingBetty]

I thought I was well-prepared for my sleep study, but it didn't really work out that way. I had a list of things I was supposed to/could take. Well, I had planned to take my own pillows, but forgot as I had to leave the house several hours prior to my study and was rushing even more than usual! I thought it really wasn't that big of a deal as the rooms were supposed to be similar to a hotel, so I thought they would have the soft, squishy kind of pillows. Yeah, right! It kind of went downhill from there!

They said to bring something loose fitting to sleep in, so I took the gown I usually sleep in. Not good. I was embarrassed, actually. I knew there would be a camera on me, but I didn't really think about that. It just felt awkward. So, I revised my plan for the second one. I decided I would wear a sports bra and tank top with a pair of comfy shorts. To make sure I could sleep in that, I started wearing my sleep outfit to bed about a week or so before the second study. It worked! It was a pretty comfy outfit, anyway, but I got acclimated to it and that helped a lot. It also provided me with a way to not have to change in front of the camera! OK... so it was a little cool that evening, so I wore jeans and changed to the shorts after I got there. The first study, I had changed in the bathroom. More about that in a minute. This time, I got over in a corner of the room where I wouldn't be seen on camera and turned my back to it, slipped out of my jeans and into my shorts. I had worn a loose-fitting shirt over the tank top, so I was wearing something that I was not embarrassed to be seen in public in. I shed that for the night, then donned it and the jeans again in the morning. That worked really well for me! It would have been much more comfortable if I had been assured that the camera would not be turned on until I was wired up, though!

Now, about that bathroom... I had expected a private bathroom, but no... it was shared! I think there was just one other person sharing it the first time, but there were 3 of us on the second night. This was basically a little brick office building that was one of several in a row. It was nice enough, but it was like they had the offices around the edge and had converted them to bedrooms with the bathrooms across the hall. Now, I did find it interesting that some of the rooms had fireplaces in them. Neither of the rooms I was in had fireplaces. But, I digress... For my first study, I was one of those that was embarrassed to let them know I needed to use the bathroom. The tech had asked me if I needed to go before he wired me up, so I said yes. I had no idea how long it would take and I often find myself needing to go just before I go to sleep, even if I went 30 minutes earlier. So, here I was, like so many others... used to going to sleep around midnight, if not 1 AM and they are expecting me to be asleep no later than midnight because to do the split study, they have to have 2 hours of data prior to 2 AM. Didn't happen. I decided not to ask to go before falling asleep. Not a good choice on my part. I did drift off to sleep somewhere around midnight, but I was awakened just a few minutes later by the other person who apparently was not caring if anyone else was trying to sleep. I assume it was the bathroom door that woke me. I know that I was awake when I heard the toilet flush and then filling. No choice, at that point! I had to go! Took me the better part of 2 hours to get back to sleep, so that put an end to any hope of a split study.

Come to think of it... they never even tried a mask on me that first night. I did have mine with me, but that was basically ignored. I could have used a lot more explanation about what was going to happen. The tech actually showed me a video about it all... the next morning! I had a TV to watch, but no internet. I'm used to messing around on FB or forums or what have you before going to sleep. It may not be good sleep hygiene, but I have read in bed for about as long as I can remember... I just use my iPad these days! But, they don't exactly foster good sleep hygiene with a TV in the room! I did watch TV, even after lights out until I was sleepy enough that I thought I could go to sleep. It just didn't happen for the reasons mentioned above. Oh, and I couldn't read a book because the tech turned the lights out when he left the room and my iPad (I can read on that in the dark!) wasn't handy. NOT the way I'm used to doing it!

The second night was different. I was looking forward to trying a different mask and to actually be able to sleep with the machine since I had already gotten used to it. I had a different tech that night and he waited until he had me all wired up, then asked if I needed to use the bathroom before lights out. I had arranged my day differently and was super tired by the time he came in to get me all hooked up. In fact, I had to fight falling asleep before he got there! I was ready for lights out, but I had my iPad on the bed next to me, just in case! I think I was out by 11 that night.

Let's see... the beds. The first night, I had a room that was very dark and masculine feeling. I didn't really like it, so I don't think that helped, either. The pillows were hard and the bed wasn't much better. I think they need to flip the mattresses occasionally as there was a bit of a dip on the side I was on. It was a full-size bed both nights. The bed I had on the second night was much better and the pillows were more like I was expecting that first night, but I had remembered to bring my own! Something that probably should be considered, if your lab uses something other than twin size beds is which side is a person used to sleeping on. I was on the "wrong" side of the bed the first night, but was delighted when I got to my room the second night to discover that I would be sleeping on the "right" side. The bedding was white instead of dark, so it felt a little more feminine or at least neutral. Actually, they have a picture of one of the fireplace rooms on their website and the bedding in that room is much more inviting, at least to me! Oh, well.

Sorry for the book again, but I think I covered everything. I knew what to expect the second night, so it was a bit easier. I think they could put that video online, so that a person has a better idea of what is going to happen before they arrive... certainly not the next morning! And every sleep lab I've heard about other than this one seems to have private bathrooms. Good grief! It's supposed to be like a hotel room and there's not even a private bath??? OK... I'm going to shut up now. I was in pain last night and got very little sleep, so I lost the sleep that I managed to gain over the weekend and now, I'm rambling!

[stage0]

I see some insights for addressing concerns of my patients too. Thanks for the honesty. I will also bring up these insights at our next office metting.