Panic at thought of CPAP.

motherhen3 wrote:Had sleep study last night. Took clonazepan at hospital. Tech came in at 1:00am to say I qualified for CPap. Whips it out and instructs me to lay back and breathe. Man, I had a panic attack and said (I can't do this) Do what? what her reply. Slapping on a mask in the middle of night while all strapped in and wired up isn't an explanation enough? Anyway, she acted pissed. Left the room and then when 6:00am came she came in and ripped the electrodes off of my head not saying a word. I felt like such a failure. She did comment that a few people need a second try but right now I say never again. Glad to hear I'm not alone on this, man anxiety is a killer.

So is Sleep Apnea.......it just takes longer and does more damage to your body and organs over time.

On one hand, the person at the lab probably could have done a better job explaining things to you, but on the other, you could have done a little more to prepare yourself for what to expect. It's a two-way street.
Most of us have "been there, done that" in many ways......but got through it far enough to accept this therapy as the lifesaver it is.


Den

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chunkyfrog wrote:It should be SOP for referring physicians to give potential sleep study subjects encouragement to watch
one or more of the sleep study videos that are online--or if they lack internet access, then in the office or library.
No-brainer!

My referring physciain was useless with sleep apnea. I'm the one who asked for it, and I realize she should have thought of it years earlier.

The lab was awesome though. They gave me a packet of papers to read and fill out. It talked about the study, what to expect. It told me to go ahead and bring my own pillow, blanket, whatever I need to be comfortable. When I got there, they had me watch a video. The sleep tech did an awesome job of making me feel comfortable and choosing the perfect mask for me. She had me use the cpap for about 10 minutes while awake before it was time to go to bed. That way, it wouldn't be such a surprise in the middle of the night. Later, when it was time, she gently woke me up, sent me to the bathroom, then put the mask on perfectly.. I rolled over and had the best 5+ hours of sleep I had experienced in YEARS. She gave me a huge head start in my treatment since I had a taste of what great sleep feels like..

I wish everybody could have a good experience like that.