My first sleep study last night..

Last night went well.. I'm dog tired today though. Having all the sensors and stuff on was a wee bit daunting at first and I was afraid of moving around too much. We were supposed to be asleep @ 10:30, but I still wasn't completely hooked up by then. I usually fall asleep immediately with no issues, but lay awake for quite a while last night. I'd estimate it took me over 30 mins to really fall asleep. My mind was racing, and I was trying convince myself to fall asleep (you know how that usually plays out..) I also was told to try to stay on my back as much as I could: I usually sleep on my stomach/side, so it made it tricky to fall asleep.

Woke up a few times during the night because of the wires/thing stuck in my nose/on my finger, and wondered where the hell I was. Of course, then realizing where I was and how important it was to be sleeping, I started the whole cycle of trying to coax myself back to sleep!

All in all, it was an okay experience. I mean, I felt silly with all the sensors and wires stuck everywhere. The building itself was nice, and the bedroom had a recliner chair/TV/DVD player and everything. I was a little self-conscious with all the crap on me, and really didn't feel like joining the other people in the common area. It was nice to be able to sit comfortably in my own room.

Just how much data do they get from this study? It was really remarkable the amount of sensors they pasted on me. They can tell, based on your brain activity, whether you're sleeping or awake? I wondered that when I woke up one time, whether the technician could now tell that I wasn't sleeping. In the end, the sensors weren't as fragile as I was afraid, and I didn't end up pulling any off me as feared.

On thing I was a little irked about is that you get *NO* feedback whatsoever. I have another appointment almost 2 months down the road (another consultation). Then, after that consult, I have to come in for another sleep study before I get a prescription.. and they're currently booking 2-3 months ahead. I guess some of you weren't kidding when you said this is quite the process! Just didn't like walking out today with no idea how my 'performance' was.

All-in-all, it was okay. It was nice and private, and as unobtrusive as it could be!

Chris,

Glad to hear it went well for you. Each lab is a little different. When I had mine, I was lucky enough to get a couple of great techs who explained everything to me and went over my results with me the next day. They showed me the raw graphs and explained how they showed where I was sleeping, where I was having apneas, everything. This made for it a very positive experiance for me. In my case, they were able to do what is called a split night study in which they spent the first part of the night recording my apneas and the second part titrating me. That is what you will be doing during the second sleep study, is having a titration study. After reviewing the data from this nights sleep they will determine if you have apnea and the severity, and then hook you up to a CPAP and mask and try a variety of pressures, starting low and working their way up, to find out what pressure will best resolve any apneas for you. After this the sleep doc should write you a prescrition for a cpap set at a prescribed pressure. A local health care provider will likely provide you with the actual equipment you will be using.

Its very wrong that it will take at least another 2-3 months for you to get through this process so that you can begin treatment. Some of it has to do with insurance (most require a certain amount of time spent sleeping at the study for them to approved payment) but I have to be suspect of a process that allows them to charge for 2 sleep studies when in many (most?) cases it could be done in one.

You have a great attitude about things, and I believe that you will learn to be successful in your treatment. Use the time to study up on the treatment and the common pitfalls so that you can hopefully avoid them. Good luck!

Try checking to see if you can get on a cancellation list. That might speed it up a little.

It really depends on the lab. It took my father three months to get his sleep study from the time he got his referral, but for me, I faxed in the referral on a Monday and they called me the next day offering to take me in on the Wednesday. It took my father two months to get his results from his sleep study -- I had mine in a week and a half. (Apparently they pulled me in earlier than their usual 2 weeks due to the severity of my results.) After his results, my father took ages to get an appointment for titration. I was given my machine the day after my results and told to get used to it for a few weeks before my titration. When I called to book my titration, they offered me the next day. It all depends on the lab.

The results of my titration haven't come in yet though and it's been a month. I suspect they either don't want to change my number or they didn't get enough data.

For my initial study, I only managed 1.5 hours of sleep. All the wires and the strange bed just ruined any ability I had to switch off my brain. For my titration study, I got to sleep easier. But when a technician came into my room after three hours due to my mask leaking and yanked my mask so tightly that I was bruised for a week, I didn't manage to get back to sleep. I was told before I went to bed that night, they needed at least 6 hours of data to properly titrate me.

I'm not in a rush though. When I was diagnosed, I had an AHI of 91.3. At the setting they put me at to "get used to it" before my titration, my AHI dropped to between 4 and 5, which I'm pretty happy with. I've increased my pressure by 1cm, but it didn't change my numbers at all according to my S8 Elite II. I've had a pretty easy go of it -- I was able to sleep through the night with the mask after just two or three tries.

This made me think of my first sleep study....though it is also my only sleep study, and it was just a month ago (Dec 1st). :D

I was supposed to show up a 7pm, but I was a little late since it took me a little longer than I thought it would to throw all the stuff I needed to take with me there....partly because I didn't really know what would all be there. I could probably have taken a shower there, if I had packed for that...though I don't think I would've been comfortable enough to do it. Even though the camera is outside the bathroom....

The lab was 3 sleep rooms (one ADA room), one technician...and 2 appointments each night...one showing up at 7pm and the other showing up at 9pm. I wasn't fully wired up when the 2nd person showed up. But, once I was done, I immediately went to bed....it was just a small analog TV in the room, so I didn't feel like watching anything....that I knew I would see later on my TiVo HD :P

They wanted me to try sleeping on my side and on my stomach, if possible, during the study. But, I stayed on my back the whole time...not feeling comfortable to try any other positions while wired up. According to the sleep study results (got my RT to make me a copy of it for me)....I apparently did fall asleep pretty quickly....though I wouldn't have thought so.

During the study, the tech came in just as I had woken up....he said he seen that me wake up and if I needed anything (I hadn't opened my eyes for waking up until he came in, so he must have seen it from other readings). And, then it was that process of waiting for him to unhook me enough to go use the bathroom and then hook me back up....

I suppose needing that second study before you get a prescription suggests that it wasn't a split study?

I didn't know that's what it was, but the tech explained what kind of study I was scheduled for and that he might have to wake up for the second part....so during the night the tech came in to wake me up (from a dream where I thought the sleep study was already over, and I was waiting in the common area... under dressed and surrounded by a bunch of cute nurses, a common lucid nightmare) to say that sleep apnea had been observed and time to try sleeping with positive pressure..... Now that was even harder to sleep with. But, according to the results I did sleep and better than before it.

Afterwards, he had mostly processed me out before getting to the other person.....

The technician did hand me a bunch of pamphlets afterwards....though he didn't get into specifics of what was observed, etc. I had to wait until December 27th, when I received the letter from my doctor (dated December 5th) which gave a summary of the findings (just AHI before and after, and part of the recommendation). I assumed he wanted me to make an appointment to see him further about it. Not like the letter he had written me last year about my high cholesterol findings, and it wasn't until I saw him about 6 months later that I started treatment for it. Of course, I was a little freaked out by the fact that they did have to do the second part of the split study....

Though I was still in denial when I got the letter. Which landed me in these forums....

Later when I read the sleep study results, I was amazed by how much data they collected on my sleep.

I probably would've gotten a copy of it from my doctor, along with my prescription...but I opted to go to the DME that was in the same complex as my doctor....and I only thought to ask the RT for a copy of the sleep study results (because I wanted to have them to discuss with my aunt).

I had heard that it was only a month wait to get an appointment at our sleep lab. Though it was kind of surprising to me that it would be that long....guess there's enough people in this small city and surround area that need to use it.

Though now that I think of it...the results letter from the doctor, came after I got the claim summary from the insurance company....

I think it would've been neat to have seen the raw results of my study....

The only wire I had trouble with was the leg wire....I stepped on it once coming back from the bathroom. But, apparently a common problem. Otherwise, I worried that I would kick it off during the night....I know that I have experienced some pretty significant leg jerks at times, but as far as I could tell...I didn't experience any of those during the sleep study. But, they did record 12 leg jerks that didn't wake me up.

The Dreamer.

Knowing what I know now, having time before your study follow up is good fortune, as now you have time to highly educate yourself via this forum vs. relying on the Dr. and the clinic to give you some or too much info for you to suddenly have to process properly, espeically if you are tired. Read this forum, make notes, make a list of questions, research the equipment possibilities, the costs, the user favourites, measure your face for mask choices, etc., so that you go in well informed and able to ask applicable questions at your study follow up. To otherwise learn and do this all quickly can be overwhelming and potentially fraught with detours and disappointments. Your lucky to have found this forum now, so I hope that you can benefit from it, as you likely won't learn nearly as much from your follow up or the clinic.

Good luck.