Confused about sleep study experience

I'm new here and am confused about my first sleep study last night.

My doctor sent me for a split night study because I can't ever go to sleep, can't ever stay asleep and am a grouchy zombie all day every day. I also have a congenital heart defect that is likely to cause central sleep apnea. I don't snore, but apparently have long conversations with myself in my sleep and my family tells me that the sound of my smashing and grinding my teeth is like, 'bricks being dropped onto the sidewalk from the top of a tall building.'

While the tech was attaching all of the sensors she had me try on a full face, nasal and nasal pillows mask to figure out which I would prefer during the titration phase. She also told me that sleep apnea tends to be worse during REM and that when I went into REM she would speak to me over the microphone to tell me to lie on my back, as I am a side sleeper. She then shut off the lights at around 10pm. After about an hour of tossing and turning I drifted off into fitful sleep. I woke up several times during the night, which is typical. I then woke up and could tell that it was morning. It was 5am, which meant that I had no titration and the tech never woke me up when I reached REM, so I assume that I didn't. She couldn't tell me whether or not I had any apnea events and/or if I ever reached REM, which I know she's not allowed to do.

Is this a typical experience? Does this mean that I'm likely to not have apnea? I know that this doesn't mean much, but I don't snore and my neck measurement is 15 inches. While no one 'wants' a diagnosis of sleep apnea, I'm so desperate for a solution to the fog that I've been living in for the past several years that I'm willing to live with CPAP. I've tried everything else and my fantastic cardiologist has done every test imaginable to rule out the heart defect as the cause of how I feel. I've also had several blood tests over the past few months and it's not diabetes, thyroid, anemia, etc.

I'm sorry that this post is so long and I really would appreciate hearing about other people's experiences with sleep studies.

Thanks!!!

It doesn't mean you don't have apnea, it does mean you may need a second study to titrate your potential pressure settings... but not necessarily. You'll have to wait and see what your doctor says. It may have been obvious to the tech whether or not you have apnea and to what degree, so a 2nd study just might not be needed. And your experience sounds pretty typical! One thing - they wanted you back sleeping to get a baseline (worst scenario) result, but it is otherwise not recommended because it does provoke more events, so it's good that you're a natural side sleeper.

It could mean that either you didn't have enuff events to begin titration or didn't get enuff sleep time or something else. You should get a copy of the sleep study results for yourself either from your doc or the sleep center. I would want it before I see the doc so I could ask any questions it brought up.

I too thought no titration meant no apnea - but I was wrong (AHI=40). Saw PA then set up titration night. That did not work too well and did not really nail a pressure (too many leaks i think) so got an APAP set up with 10-20 range. Turns out my pressure is 11-12 or so for an AHI of around 1.

Spend time on mask selection for the titration study, in terms of my choice I love pillows and hate FFMs.

Minky wrote:I then woke up and could tell that it was morning. It was 5am, which meant that I had no titration and the tech never woke me up when I reached REM, so I assume that I didn't. She couldn't tell me whether or not I had any apnea events and/or if I ever reached REM, which I know she's not allowed to do.

In both cases during the diagnostic portion of the split study, I never got any REM sleep, in fact I only reached stage 1 and 2. I felt that I didn't sleep at all. The latest one done recently, the tech said that I got the required 2 hours needed to move on to the next phase. While she didn't talk in detail about the study, she did give indications of how it went.

My first study 8yrs ago was about the same with this new one being actually harder for me since I have not slept without a mask for many years... I did get through it though.

Usually, only the doctor is allowed to tell the patient anything meaningful.
The tech may know, but if he tells YOU, he could lose his job.
You cannot get answers to direct questions, but roundabout queries may give meaningful hints.
You could ask if you slept long enough for their data, or if you might need a second study.

I agree with the others. Typically the insurance companies and the sleep labs have specific criteria that have to be met to do a split study, such as the patient must get a specific number of hours of sleep in the diagnostic phase (2 or 3) with moderate to severe apnea, and enough hours are left to do the titration phase. So, it is quite possible you have significant apnea (and/or another sleep disorder...sleep studies can diagnose much more than apnea), even though the tech didn't put a mask on you during the first study. Often apnea is worse in REM and/or on your back, and the first few hours have a lower average AHI than required, but by the end of the night the AHI would have been high enough. If you have apnea, your doctor may choose to either have you come back for a titration study, or just prescribe an auto machine (APAP).

Do you have a follow up appointment scheduled with your doctor, or did they specifically say that they would call with results in a certain time frame? If not, I'd call the office and ask if you should schedule an appointment to receive your results. They should know how far out they should schedule it to allow enough time for the report to be finalized. Best wishes.