I'm back to Diagnostic Study- Home Study Tonight

It's hard to follow. I've been reading his posts since the beginning. I believe he's had other sleep studies where he says he failed to get any sleep, studies were done in a dr office. This has been going on several months so far. Hope he can get some kind of results from this new at home (?) test.

I had a sleep study years ago - they used the first part of the night to diagnose the apnea and the second to titrate - why on earth would they ever drag it out over 3-4 weeks?

Cardsfan wrote:This is a little hard to follow. So what you had last night was an at- home sleep test?
That is what I had, but I had to do it for 3 nights in a row. The dr. who read those results prescribed my pressure settings from the results of the at home study. I never did have a titration test. I guess they all do it differently.

My sleep study was done in a lab. No titration (doctor left that up to me) but based on the results of the study my sleep doctor prescribed pressure settings. That was four years ago... today I know people who see her and had their sleep study at home... only one night unless there was a problem.

I don't know if Enchanter has Kaiser. If he does, I know for a fact that Kaiser is not up-to-date in certain areas of medicine... sleep apnea being one of them - and it seems to vary from one Kaiser facility to another. Also, they are well known for taking their time with just about everything, especially if it's not an immediate life threatening situation.

Someone to advocate on Enchanter's behalf would be ideal; perhaps there isn't anyone he can call on.

Madalot wrote:Okay -- I admit I probably missed something along the way here, but I am THOROUGHLY confused. I read the original post in this thread 4 times and still do not understand what is going on.

Maybe I'm just stupid.

No you are not stupid. What don't you understand?

The doctor sent me to go to the Sleep Lab.

I took the Diagnosis Test. I slept for 2 hours, but was alert the whole time and never entered REM. The tech came in that night and said my oxygen was running low and he put a CPAP mask on me. I didn't sleep with the CPAP mask.

Then I took another Titration study. I got 1 hour of broken sleep and I was alert the whole time. The tech didn't know if they had enough data. But he did tell me I have sleep apnea.

So after some time I call the doctor's assistant and she says that what's going to happen now is they have to do a Home Sleep Study for me because I didn't sleep.

So now there are new people. They came to my house and showed me how to use the Machine. Not the CPAP machine, but the one for diagnosis. They said that the titration would be done in the lab afterwards. They said there wasn't enough data because I didn't sleep enough.

I slept last night between 5 am and 10 am. I turned off the machine and hope that the test is good enough.

Cardsfan wrote:It's hard to follow. I've been reading his posts since the beginning. I believe he's had other sleep studies where he says he failed to get any sleep, studies were done in a dr office. This has been going on several months so far. Hope he can get some kind of results from this new at home (?) test.

That's right I did a couple of studies in the lab. The first study was the diagnosis. It didn't take long, but the tech came in and said my oxygen was low and he put the CPAP on me. I didn't sleep with the CPAP.

The 2nd study was the titration only. I didn't sleep enough.

The 3rd study was the diagnosis all over again but it was at home, last night. So I guess we went back to square one. This is what I worried about. I told everyone that I didn't sleep enough in the first night. And I was right because they are testing me all over again. Why did we do the titration if the diagnosis wasn't good enough?

Madalot wrote:

chunkyfrog wrote:Me, too. It's the weekend. Brain took a day off.

Whew. At least it's not just me. I was getting concerned about my mental abilities.

you're not the only one, no.

Enchanter wrote:

Madalot wrote:Okay -- I admit I probably missed something along the way here, but I am THOROUGHLY confused. I read the original post in this thread 4 times and still do not understand what is going on.

Maybe I'm just stupid.

No you are not stupid. What don't you understand?

The doctor sent me to go to the Sleep Lab.

I took the Diagnosis Test. I slept for 2 hours, but was alert the whole time and never entered REM. The tech came in that night and said my oxygen was running low and he put a CPAP mask on me. I didn't sleep with the CPAP mask.

Then I took another Titration study. I got 1 hour of broken sleep and I was alert the whole time. The tech didn't know if they had enough data. But he did tell me I have sleep apnea.

So after some time I call the doctor's assistant and she says that what's going to happen now is they have to do a Home Sleep Study for me because I didn't sleep.

So now there are new people. They came to my house and showed me how to use the Machine. Not the CPAP machine, but the one for diagnosis. They said that the titration would be done in the lab afterwards. They said there wasn't enough data because I didn't sleep enough.

I slept last night between 5 am and 10 am. I turned off the machine and hope that the test is good enough.

I know why I'm confused. You are not being very specific about what is happening, where it's happening, how it's happening, etc. You said that they came to your house to show you how to use the machine, but were not specifying WHAT machine or for what purpose. It seemed like they brought you a cpap machine, but then it made no sense why you still need a titration.

I know it's very hard, especially in your shoes. But I might suggest that you take a little time to read your posts before submitting them and make sure you are being a little more specific about what is happening.

Just my 2 cents.

Another reason why I'm ticked is because the doctor's assistant told me that the study was going to be a titration study, simply for seeing the settings I need. But now I'm back to the diagnostic study. So I have to think the tech perhaps didn't do his job correctly because why would I be back to a diagnosis study after attempting 2 titrations? I'm not making this up. I'm not gonna lie, I'm losing faith that this is every going to get done.

herefishy wrote:I had a sleep study years ago - they used the first part of the night to diagnose the apnea and the second to titrate - why on earth would they ever drag it out over 3-4 weeks?

A friend of mine had one of those "one night" quickie sleep studies and the Sleep Center was run by a DME company.

My Sleep Center is at a teaching college.

Enchanter wrote:Another reason why I'm ticked is because the doctor's assistant told me that the study was going to be a titration study, simply for seeing the settings I need. But now I'm back to the diagnostic study. So I have to think the tech perhaps didn't do his job correctly because why would I be back to a diagnosis study after attempting 2 titrations? I'm not making this up. I'm not gonna lie, I'm losing faith that this is every going to get done.

Hi Enchanter,

It looks like you have had at lease 3 studies. You are entitled to a copy of the results of each study even if the studies need to be repeated. Have you considered posting the results of each study on this forum in effort to help getting some of your questions answered? Just a thought.

Sonnyboy wrote:

Enchanter wrote:Another reason why I'm ticked is because the doctor's assistant told me that the study was going to be a titration study, simply for seeing the settings I need. But now I'm back to the diagnostic study. So I have to think the tech perhaps didn't do his job correctly because why would I be back to a diagnosis study after attempting 2 titrations? I'm not making this up. I'm not gonna lie, I'm losing faith that this is every going to get done.

Hi Enchanter,

It looks like you have had at lease 3 studies. You are entitled to a copy of the results of each study even if the studies need to be repeated. Have you considered posting the results of each study on this forum in effort to help getting some of your questions answered? Just a thought.

Maybe I'll tell a couple of people. No reason to announce personal info on here.

We all do it - it's how we help each other! We don't post the parts (or else cover them) with our addresses, etc., but the graphs and diagnoses, etc. etc.

Why are people not understanding Enchanter?? I understand exactly what's going on. I don't know if he has Kaiser, but if he does, it's totally understandable. Half the time Kaiser doesn't know the left hand from the right! Again, some facilities are better than others. He just might be going to one of the Kaiser facilities that is less than desirable, especially as it pertains to SA. As was mentioned, my daughter and Gdaughter have Kaiser. One Kaiser facility is near by. Another facility is much further away. Guess which one they go to more than half the time. Case in point... one facility is much better than the other when it comes to the care of children. The doctors are younger and seem to relate to the kids in a different way. There are many variables when it comes to Kaiser! Or, for that matter, any HMO.

He's explained what's going on over and over. Seriously, you don't have to be a genius to get it.

Enchanter- Hang in there. Hopefully there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I know I must have made 100 phone calls to Dr. offices, insurance company, and sleep study center just to push things along. Most people have a tough time getting through the maze to get diagnosed.
I think it was a good suggestion to get copies of your sleep studies that you have already gone thru. There a lots of people here who want to help you.

Enchanter wrote:Another reason why I'm ticked is because the doctor's assistant told me that the study was going to be a titration study, simply for seeing the settings I need. But now I'm back to the diagnostic study. So I have to think the tech perhaps didn't do his job correctly because why would I be back to a diagnosis study after attempting 2 titrations? I'm not making this up. I'm not gonna lie, I'm losing faith that this is every going to get done.

Maybe the tech person didn't do his job correctly, you'll never know. Maybe the doctor made the decision that you have another study because the results of the first study (and the titrations) weren't acceptable to him/her for whatever reason and wanted to be 100% certain you were correctly diagnosed in order to correctly prescribe your pressures. Again, maybe because if you don't speak to your doctor you'll never know. Maybe the doctor wasn't even sure you have sleep apnea. There are so many unanswered questions. You are absolutely entitled to get answers to all your questions, along with copies of all your studies thus far! You are also entitled to change doctors.

We are only guessing based on what you tell us. You need to call your doctor to get the answers you are looking for. The only way this will get done is if you let your doctor know in no uncertain terms that you want answers! We are not doctors so can only guess what you are asking; and the answers you get are only guesses based on our own experiences.

Think about this... unless you are asking simple, generic questions how can we answer the questions you ask? We don't know you. We aren't doctors. Call your doctor and hopefully you'll get the answers you are looking for.