Doctor says sleep pill will mess up the test

avi123 · Post by **avi123** » Thu May 07, 2015 10:48 pm

Enchanter wrote:My new test is on Friday, the 8th. Doctor told assistant he doesn't prescribe Ambien because it will mess up the test. I talked to them on Monday and was expecting a call back but didn't get one. So I called back today and the assistant tried to get a hold of him but he was busy, but she said she spoke to him about it and he said no to the Ambien. He said I just need to do the best I can and keep trying.

So here I go is my next shot. I'm not too confident I will be able to sleep, but the only thing I can do is try. I'm not used to the CPAP, so that works against me.

How do you sleep every night? At the sleep study you don't need to sleep differently. Just do the same. You can be awake till midnight or even till 2 AM and then fall a sleep for 30 minutes. And it would be OK for the Doc to draw conclusions. During my last study I was not happy with the temperature in the room. It was too cold for me and there was no thermostat in the room. So I left and went home. In another sleep study the Tech there told me that they use faucet water in the humidifiers and not distilled water. So I left the place and drove home. In another study I took 10 mg of Zolpidem (Generic Ambien) at midnight b/c I could not fall asleep. In this case I did fall asleep within 30 minutes but the results of the test were useless. This is b/c Zolpidem delays REM sleep. So I did not get REM before 6AM when it was time for everyone to wake up and leave to allow the Techs to go home too and get some sleep themselves.

Enchanter · Post by **Enchanter** » Thu May 07, 2015 10:54 pm

robysue wrote:
Enchanter wrote:
Pugsy wrote:That study was talking about people with idiopathic central sleep apnea and it's highly unlikely that you have central sleep apnea plus it was a relatively small study anyway.
The most common form is obstructive sleep apnea and the ambien won't affect the test results.
My sleep doctor is a board certified sleep doctor. He routinely prescribes ambien..7 of them to be exact and routinely tells people to take 1 at home to see how it works...one during the diagnostic sleep study and whenever else might want to take one but make sure to hold one back for the titration sleep study.

How do u know I don't have CSA? Sure maybe it's less common, but would it prevent the data from showing it?
Enchanter,

The titration study is NOT to determine if you have OSA or CSA or any other sleep disorder---the diagnostic part of the first sleep study gave the sleep center and the sleep center's doctor(s) enough data to conclude that you have some form of sleep disordered breathing. You haven't seen the official test results, but most likely it was OSA.

The titration study is to find out the pressure needs. They will start you off at 4cm of pressure. If by some chance you fell asleep at 4cm and had no events the whole time you slept, the results will be written up as "CPAP was initiated at 4cm and patient had no events at that pressure. Recommendation: Patient should use CPAP @ 4cm."

You have to understand: While most people do need more than 4cm of pressure, there are a few people whose apnea is well managed at that pressure. Not many, but a few. And if you insist on getting a full efficacy data machine once you have a script for a CPAP, if the titrated pressure is not high enough, that will show up in your nightly data.

Okay. But for the sake of putting my mind at ease I am going to ask the tech what he thought of my first test and if I really slept enough. I know you said I did, but I am going to ask him anyways. That test was a while ago and the doctors office never even called me back, they never even got the results.

ems · Post by **ems** » Thu May 07, 2015 11:07 pm

avi123 wrote:In another study I took 10 mg of Zolpidem (Generic Ambien) at midnight b/c I could not fall asleep. In this case I did fall asleep within 30 minutes but the results of the test were useless. This is b/c Zolpidem delays REM sleep. So I did not get REM before 6AM when it was time for everyone to wake up and leave to allow the Techs to go home too and get some sleep themselves.

Avi... I know you are trying to be helpful... but, you have come in on the tail end of many threads started by Enchanter. At this point he knows all he needs to know from some of the most knowledgeable people on this forum, and he is capable of making his own decisions. Saying anything else is just going to confuse him.

Krelvin · Post by **Krelvin** » Thu May 07, 2015 11:15 pm

Enchanter wrote:Okay. But for the sake of putting my mind at ease I am going to ask the tech what he thought of my first test and if I really slept enough. I know you said I did, but I am going to ask him anyways. That test was a while ago and the doctors office never even called me back, they never even got the results.

DON'T, DON'T, DON'T!

Forget about the other test, just let them hook you up, and try to sleep.

They can't talk to you about results about any tests, that is not their job.

You will get the results of both tests later.

Enchanter · Post by **Enchanter** » Thu May 07, 2015 11:56 pm

avi123 wrote:[

How do you sleep every night? At the sleep study you don't need to sleep differently. Just do the same. You can be awake till midnight or even till 2 AM and then fall a sleep for 30 minutes. And it would be OK for the Doc to draw conclusions.

That's what I was thinking. Based on some people's experiences, it seems that labs can vary in how they run the first test.

zoocrewphoto · Post by **zoocrewphoto** » Fri May 08, 2015 1:24 am

Enchanter wrote:Just spoke with my friend who is a medic. He suspects that my particular plan doesn't cover certain things and the doctor is not telling me that.

My insurance did not cover the ambien, so I paid $10 for the single pill. It was worth it though. I am a severe night owl, and I slept great. I was able to do a split night study, got my severe diagnosis in 2 1/2 hours and 5 hours straight with the cpap (and a bit more after).

I was told my insurance would not pay if I did not sleep at least 6 hours, so I would have been screwed if I had not slept enough. And my sleep study was expensive. $6,000, and yes they got that. My copay was almost $900. I really needed to sleep during that study, and the ambien did its job well.

Sir NoddinOff · Post by **Sir NoddinOff** » Sun May 10, 2015 5:30 pm

I've got a lab coat phobia, especially if they're are pasting 20 wires all over my body before I go to sleep. More to the point - just give me the g-damn ambien and nobody will get hurt (except the sleazy sleep doctor's MULTIPLE sleep study fees will suffer a bit) Bad sleep doctor. No 40' sailboat for you this year

library lady · Post by **library lady** » Sun May 10, 2015 6:05 pm

49er wrote:
BlackSpinner wrote:
Enchanter wrote:My new test is on Friday, the 8th. Doctor told assistant he doesn't prescribe Ambien because it will mess up the test. I talked to them on Monday and was expecting a call back but didn't get one. So I called back today and the assistant tried to get a hold of him but he was busy, but she said she spoke to him about it and he said no to the Ambien. He said I just need to do the best I can and keep trying.

So here I go is my next shot. I'm not too confident I will be able to sleep, but the only thing I can do is try. I'm not used to the CPAP, so that works against me.
Your doctor doesn't know what he is talking about. Go and sit on their door step until they give it to you. Or find someone else to write the prescription.
I totally agree. I am seething with anger at your doctor for his stupidity.

49er

I agree with Blackspinner and 49er.... my doctor automatically prescribes a sleep med, I forget which one it is, and when the script was given to me I was told to bring it with me, but not to take it before coming in ... If I didn't fall asleep within 30 minutes, they would come in and have me take it... apparently, I was asleep in 12 minutes so they never came in to give it to me. At 7:00 AM they had to wake me up.

I do think they prefer to test without it, but if it is needed, a small dose is still sufficient for results. There is no reason for you to have to keep going in for a sleep test until they can get results when you do go to sleep. You and the insurance companies have to pay for your portions of each one of those tests, and that just drives up the cost of medical care.

Doctor says sleep pill will mess up the test

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Re: Doctor says sleep pill will mess up the test

Re: Doctor says sleep pill will mess up the test

Re: Doctor says sleep pill will mess up the test