Sleep Study Inconclusive - help!

I had to do a home sleep study because I have an autistic son at home and no one to stay with him. On top of that, I have severe insomnia and cannot sleep away from home. The sleep study was "inconclusive" because I don't breathe through my nose when I sleep. I know I snore because my throat hurts every morning. I wake up countless times a night. I'm always tired and dragging. I've tried a friend's cpap. I know you're not supposed to, but I was curious and desperate. I slept 7 hours that night! And woke up feeling rested. I normally only get 3-4 hours of sleep. Is there a way for me to get a cpap of my own without doing an "away" sleep study? I'm desperate.

Welcome! I’m assuming in what follows that you live in the US.

You can get a prescription for a CPAP machine from an MD specialist, a primary care doctor, a nurse practitioner, or a dentist. Any of these may choose to accept the results of a home sleep study. if you need insurance coverage, you’ll need to get in touch with your provider to find out what conditions they may set.

Your experience with your friend’s machine strongly suggests you have obstructive sleep apnea and would benefit from using a machine. Can you go back to whoever ordered the study and tell them what happened? I’m not sure why they aren’t writing you a prescription, but maybe the additional information would do the trick.

I also don’t understand what mouth-breathing has to do with your study. Lots of people breathe through their mouths and have home sleep studies.

Do you have a copy of the report on your study? Can you scan it and post the scan here? If you don’t have it, please request it.

elishaoconnell78 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 20, 2021 10:06 pm

Is there a way for me to get a cpap of my own without doing an "away" sleep study?

Yes. There are ways of purchasing cpap machines and going the DIY route.
Insurance won't pay though without a doctor's prescription. People do it and are successful going the DIY route.

You wouldn't necessarily have a sore throat from snoring, but might have one if you have acid reflux (GERD) which many of us do have - seems to go with apnea in many cases. I'd ask your doctor about that.

Julie wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 21, 2021 12:54 am

You wouldn't necessarily have a sore throat from snoring, but might have one if you have acid reflux (GERD) which many of us do have - seems to go with apnea in many cases. I'd ask your doctor about that.

Important point by Julie. You can test the hypothesis by taking something OTC for reflux an hour before bed. I take 40mg Famotidine an hour before and it controls my GERD overnight. If i forget to take it I wake up quite a few times, so in my case it works well.