Home Sleep Test

voxter · Post by **voxter** » Fri Dec 21, 2018 5:46 am

Hi all Im new to the forum and sleep apnea testing. I just got done doing a at home sleep study now I did find it a bit hard to get to sleep with it all on but I think i did manage to fall asleep between 3am and 5 or 6 then at 7 till about 8.30 when the machine finished. Did anyone else have this same experience with the test like thinking probably over thinking to much but then getting some "sleep"? and getting a apnea diagnoses? I suffer from all the symptoms with waking up feeling horrible no sleep feeling, dry VERY dry mouth and throat hard to breathe when laying down without four pillows etc...red eyes, big dark eyes.

I think I'm worrying that I didn't get enough sleep for it to show on the test i guess i suffer a little of anxiety prob from lack of sleep.

realshelby · Post by **realshelby** » Fri Dec 21, 2018 7:29 am

Don't worry! If I could have choked whoever thought I could sleep with all that stuff on me I would have. Took me two tries. The first night I got mad at one of the sensors. About the time I got to sleep it would cause the unit to start beeping. Fixed it a couple times...then ripped it off and went back to my regular bed.

And I mean ripped it as in pulled the wires out. So, had to get that replaced. Next try was better, might have gotten three hours of sleep. Felt bad the next day because of it.

But, in the end that was enough that they could tell I had 29 events per hour.

Hang in there. Going on the cpap machine was certainly not without anxiety, but you have the advantage of being here first! That will help more than you will know.

If your study shows you would benefit from cpap therapy, you will be contacted by someone that will be the provider of your equipment. If you have insurance they will pay for this, based on your deductible of course. It is VERY important you get a good cpap machine to start with!!!! They may try to give you a cheap machine to make them more profit. There are a couple good ones, but most here would agree you will be well served with the ResMed Airsense 10 Autoset. Don't settle for one of these that is not the Autoset. You may go to their office, or they may come to your home to fit you with the mask and explain the machine. Probably tend to want you to use the full face masks. That is ok, but I can tell you that for many here that the nasal pillows masks are more comfortable and much easier to wear. Masks are fairly inexpensive if you want to buy them out of pocket.

From there you might have questions or problems that members here can help with. Go in with a positive attitude. I knew after my first night with my cpap machine that I felt better than I had in years. Plan to do what it takes to make it comfortable to use. It is and always will be a thing you have to deal with. I would love to go to bed without a mask on, no hose to deal with, and all the negatives there are to deal with. But I have not kept my wife awake one time from my snoring and I do NOT want to go back to the way I felt before. So I use it and am getting to the point I don't even think about it much.

voxter · Post by **voxter** » Fri Dec 21, 2018 8:18 am

realshelby wrote: ↑
Fri Dec 21, 2018 7:29 am
Don't worry! If I could have choked whoever thought I could sleep with all that stuff on me I would have. Took me two tries. The first night I got mad at one of the sensors. About the time I got to sleep it would cause the unit to start beeping. Fixed it a couple times...then ripped it off and went back to my regular bed.

And I mean ripped it as in pulled the wires out. So, had to get that replaced. Next try was better, might have gotten three hours of sleep. Felt bad the next day because of it.

But, in the end that was enough that they could tell I had 29 events per hour.

Hang in there. Going on the cpap machine was certainly not without anxiety, but you have the advantage of being here first! That will help more than you will know.

If your study shows you would benefit from cpap therapy, you will be contacted by someone that will be the provider of your equipment. If you have insurance they will pay for this, based on your deductible of course. It is VERY important you get a good cpap machine to start with!!!! They may try to give you a cheap machine to make them more profit. There are a couple good ones, but most here would agree you will be well served with the ResMed Airsense 10 Autoset. Don't settle for one of these that is not the Autoset. You may go to their office, or they may come to your home to fit you with the mask and explain the machine. Probably tend to want you to use the full face masks. That is ok, but I can tell you that for many here that the nasal pillows masks are more comfortable and much easier to wear. Masks are fairly inexpensive if you want to buy them out of pocket.

From there you might have questions or problems that members here can help with. Go in with a positive attitude. I knew after my first night with my cpap machine that I felt better than I had in years. Plan to do what it takes to make it comfortable to use. It is and always will be a thing you have to deal with. I would love to go to bed without a mask on, no hose to deal with, and all the negatives there are to deal with. But I have not kept my wife awake one time from my snoring and I do NOT want to go back to the way I felt before. So I use it and am getting to the point I don't even think about it much.

Thanks for the positive feedback yea I can only imagine the hospital sleep study with all the wires and so on but I do think I manged to get some "sleep" or my regular sleeping. Like i even tried to go down to three pillows but i just cannot breathe with three my air cuts out so i went back up to using the four. Its crazy isnt it that we want to show them how bad our sleep is but to get things put on you makes it difficult but you can tell by my appearance i get such poor sleep. In response to what you said about cpap Iam from the UK so I will get provided with whatever the NHS will give to me machine wise i think with masks i will be able to pick im not to sure though. Im not much of a mouth breather. Next Thursday i hope to have the results to see but prob have to wait till January now to be honest.

realshelby · Post by **realshelby** » Fri Dec 21, 2018 8:27 am

There are members here from the UK. They may chime in with what you can expect as far as the machine goes over there. I suspect you will have a say in it, especially if you know ahead of time and "request" a certain machine. The biggest reason you want the better machine is their ability to allow data downloads. You can use an app called "Sleepyhead" available for free that tells you most all you need to know about your therapy. The cheap machines won't do this.

djams · Post by **djams** » Fri Dec 21, 2018 11:09 am

Was just reading this thread the other day. Lots of good posts about the UK process.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=173702&p=1280179#p1276319

zonker · Post by **zonker** » Fri Dec 21, 2018 11:32 am

djams wrote: ↑
Fri Dec 21, 2018 11:09 am
Was just reading this thread the other day. Lots of good posts about the UK process.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=173702&p=1280179#p1276319

good link. i was just going to say rick blaine is our man in UK.

voxter · Post by **voxter** » Fri Dec 21, 2018 12:39 pm

djams wrote: ↑
Fri Dec 21, 2018 11:09 am
Was just reading this thread the other day. Lots of good posts about the UK process.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=173702&p=1280179#p1276319

Thanks for the link good info

rick blaine · Post by **rick blaine** » Fri Dec 21, 2018 12:40 pm

Hi voxter,

What I said in that thread linked to above – it's still true. (And thanks djams for the link.)

The software in the sleep-study recorder is quite good at telling when you were asleep and when you were just moving about. And if, as I hope, the instructions that came with the kit told you to use the stop/start button for any time you got up to go to the loo, etc, that makes it even easier for the staff at the sleep-medicine department to assess you.

And if you got a total of three hours sleep – that's usually enough to get a reading.

If you haven't been told,

0 to 5 apneas per hour is considered 'normal';
5 to 15 apneas per hours is 'mild-to-medium' in terms of seriousness;
15 to 30 per hour is 'medium to severe'; and
30 and above is classed as 'severe'.

As I said in the other thread, the NHS treats 15 and above.

If you qualify, the machine you get – at no cost, and on a permanent-loan basis – depends on which foundation trust hospital your sleep-medicine department is part of, and which machine they have standardised on.

Each sleep medicine department gets to set its own policy. And it used to be that most NHS patients got a fixed-pressure machine – because that's what the NICE guidelines said was adequate.

But doctors around the country have clocked that issuing an auto-adjusting machine and/ or a machine with a cellular-telephone link to the hospital – both make patient management easier.

The mask they give you – also at no cost – will be the one that best fits your face. So, as I said in the other thread, if you qualify for NHS treatment, you'll have an appointment where they try different masks on you – with the machine running.

And if you have any problems during the first three months of use, you can call up the sleep-medicine department – and if they're like the service in my area, they'll quite happily see you again. The staff aren't surprised to see people again in the first three months because they know from experience that there is a process of adjustment.

voxter · Post by **voxter** » Fri Dec 21, 2018 12:49 pm

rick blaine wrote: ↑
Fri Dec 21, 2018 12:40 pm
Hi voxter,

What I said in that thread linked to above – it's still true. (And thanks djams for the link.)

The sleep-study recorder is quite good at telling when were asleep and when you were just moving about. And if, as I hope, the instructions that came with the kit told you to use the stop/start button for any time you got up to go to the loo, etc, that makes it even easier for the staff at the sleep-medicine department to assess you.

And if you got a total of three hours sleep – that's usually enough to get a reading.

If you haven't been told,

0 to 5 apneas per hour is considered 'normal';
5 to 15 apneas per hours is 'mild-to-medium' in terms of seriousness;
15 to 30 per hour is 'medium to severe'; and
30 and above is classed as 'severe'.

As I said in the other thread, the NHS treats 15 and above.

If you qualify, the machine you get – at no cost, and on a permanent-loan basis – depends on which foundation trust hospital your sleep-medicine department is part of, and which machine they have standardised on.

Each sleep medicine department gets to set its own policy. And it used to be that most NHS patients got a fixed-pressure machine – because that's what the NICE guidelines said was adequate.

But the doctors around the country have clocked that issuing auto-adjusting machines and/ or machines with a cellular-telephone link to the hospital – both make patient management easier.

The mask they give you – also at no cost – will be the one that best fits your face. So, as I said in the other thread, if you qualify for NHS treatment, you'll have an appointment where they try different masks on you – with the machine running.

And if you have any problems duting the first three months of use, you can call them up and they'll quite happily see you again. The staff aren't surprised to see people again in the first three months because they know from experience that it is a process ofasjustment.

Ok thank you no i was never told to hold any buttons when going to the loo but i only got up one time in the morning then went back to some sleep. I have a long history with my neck thyroid cancer when i was younger so my vocal cords are permanently fixed with a slight gap for me to breathe also I have a very long uvula that is touching my tongue and ever since that happened because of a virus my sleep has been worse so 3 years now i have been like this. Iam a slim 26 year old not your typically sleep apena person but my dr the new one said because of my history and my symptoms it is more than likely i do have apena.

I just panic that i wasnt able to sleep a long time you know but i do think i did have a few hours of sleep as i said i struggle very much to breathe when laying on anything less than 4 pillows.

Thanks for all what you have wrote im new to the whole apena world. My thyroid btw is ok the levels in the blood because at first we thought it was just that buts its more than that now.

rick blaine · Post by **rick blaine** » Fri Dec 21, 2018 1:11 pm

Hello again voxter,

If your home sleep-study is inconclusive and/ or your previous medical history is considered carefully, you might be asked to repeat the sleep study at the hospital, staying overnight in what's sometimes called 'the sleep lab'.

That way they can check for things in addition to pulse rate, oxygen saturation, resp rate, and air flow rate (which are what the home sleep-study looks at). And those other things might point to treatment, even if the apnea rate is borderline.

I'm sure your GP has given the sleep-medicine department a summary of your medical history in the referral letter. But at your next appointment, tell them about it anyway. And about the pillows. You might be someone who needs a more specialised machine, called a ventilator.

voxter · Post by **voxter** » Sat Dec 22, 2018 7:47 am

rick blaine wrote: ↑
Fri Dec 21, 2018 1:11 pm
Hello again voxter,

If your home sleep-study is inconclusive and/ or your previous medical history is considered carefully, you might be asked to repeat the sleep study at the hospital, staying overnight in what's sometimes called 'the sleep lab'.

That way they can check for things in addition to pulse rate, oxygen saturation, resp rate, and air flow rate (which are what the home sleep-study looks at). And those other things might point to treatment, even if the apnea rate is borderline.

I'm sure your GP has given the sleep-medicine department a summary of your medical history in the referral letter. But at your next appointment, tell them about it anyway. And about the pillows. You might be someone who needs a more specialised machine, called a ventilator.

Rick you mentioned (in the link) that for them to get the AHI number they divide it by the hours slept do they count all the mins you slept by adding it all together to generate those hours?

rick blaine · Post by **rick blaine** » Sat Dec 22, 2018 10:06 am

Hi Voxter,

Yes, they add up the time. So if a person sleeps for two hours and then wakes up briefly and goes back to sleep for two hours – then wakes up again (or gets up to pee), and then sleeps for another hour – that counts as five hours of sleep.

The staff at the sleep medicine department are used to reading the charts from the recorder, even charts from people with 'broken' or interrupted sleep.

And it's also worth noting that, as well as the overall AHI, they also notice if you have bunches of apneas all close to each other. That can be important in making a diagnosis too.

And they also notice when a patient's heart had to beat faster because the patient had a lower level of oxygen in the blood. Because that's what treatment is designed to avoid.

I get the sense that you're worried that you didn't sleep for long enough for it to be a proper study. Well, if that ever does happen, the staff at the sleep medicne department can simply ask you to do the sleep-study again. It isn't a test that you pass or fail, it's a 'let's-find-out-what's-going-on' thing.

The staff at the sleep-medicine department have been asked by your GP to evaluate you. And that means they will keep going until they can form a clinical opinion about you. All you have to do is: let them do their job.

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