Sleep Study Results - Hmmm...

The more I think about this, the more aggravated I get. I sent the following to my doctor a bit ago...

I've been looking at this and thinking about it and wanted to tell you that while I get you have to go on what the study showed, please understand that aside from about 15-20 minutes where I did get on my back on my own (because I wasn't sleeping well because the backup rate was fast and bugging me) the time I spent on my back was forced on me by [tech - name removed]. I was never so happy as I was when he told me I could get on my side.

Is is possible that because [tech - name removed] saw nothing but "smooth sailing" while on my side, he elected to force supine sleep to see if that was the problem?

Is it possible that I DO sleep on my side most of the time, but that increasing pressure sometimes wakes me up, thus making me feel like I'm not getting enough rest? And if this is the case, then can we assume that this is simply the best we can do?

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but it's difficult for me to just accept this when I know what I know. If the backup rate, early on, hadn't been a problem, I would have fallen asleep on my left side and most likely stayed there for a while. I was having trouble sleeping on my left side, but stayed there for almost 2 hours before flipping to my back, where I didn't stay more than 15-20 minutes before turning on my right side and finally falling into a nice sleep. When I woke up on my right side, I was almost turned to my left side before he came in and asked me to sleep supine. Had he not done that, I doubt I would have ended up on my back at all.

It seems really stupid for me to worry about trying to rig up a way to keep me off my back when I know I don't sleep on my back.

Plus, looking at this, I WAS on my left side (preferred side) for almost two hours, dozing on and off, but never getting into a good sleep. I WOKE UP and did flip on my back, but only for about 15-20 minutes and barely sleeping at all during that time. Then I turned on my right side where I stayed for quite a while, but I WOKE UP again, and tried to flip to my left side.

Madalot wrote: I was having trouble sleeping on my left side, but stayed there for almost 2 hours before flipping to my back, where I didn't stay more than 15-20 minutes before turning on my right side and finally falling into a nice sleep. When I woke up on my right side, I was almost turned to my left side before he came in and asked me to sleep supine. Had he not done that, I doubt I would have ended up on my back at all.

Based on that information, I completely understand your disappointment, Madalot.

Madalot wrote: I have a graph or two, but they sent them in TIF format and I need to separate them out from the Word document, then save them in jpg. I'll do it if anybody asks, but unless someone wants to see them, I'm not going to bother.

Which graphs do you have? I assume they're highly basic.

-SWS wrote:

Madalot wrote: I was having trouble sleeping on my left side, but stayed there for almost 2 hours before flipping to my back, where I didn't stay more than 15-20 minutes before turning on my right side and finally falling into a nice sleep. When I woke up on my right side, I was almost turned to my left side before he came in and asked me to sleep supine. Had he not done that, I doubt I would have ended up on my back at all.

Based on that information, I completely understand your disappointment, Madalot.

Madalot wrote: I have a graph or two, but they sent them in TIF format and I need to separate them out from the Word document, then save them in jpg. I'll do it if anybody asks, but unless someone wants to see them, I'm not going to bother.

Which graphs do you have? I assume they're highly basic.

Yeah, I'd say they are very basic. It is a one-page that has the full night (10:09 pm - 5:46 am) Hypnogram, Respiratory Events, Sp02%, Body Position and Limb Movement Events. This one page has all this broken down. The other sheet I got had similar information, but also included the pressure. The problem with the second page is it looks to me like all of it is on top of each other.

I appreciate your understanding my disappointment. I know I probably sound like I'm in denial about back sleeping, but I'm really not. I ALWAYS turn onto my left side to go to sleep -- and if I have trouble sleeping that way for some reason, I flip to my right side. I can't breathe well on my back (obviously) but I know that. My awakenings just cannot be my ending up on my back (at least not all the time) because I know that I am on my side when I wake up because I remember flipping totally over...

One thing I wanted to mention...

Based on this, there is no doubt NOW that my day-time RECLINER naps are a serious problem and a habit I have GOT TO BREAK. Those ARE on my back, obviously.

I just wish like the dickens that I could lay down on the couch to take a nap. I would do that, but I can't get up off the couch without assistance and I am usually home alone all day...

No easy answers, huh?

No matter how basic the charts, if they were my charts, and I had the opportunity for -SWS to see them, I'd want him to, since his eyes might see something that I would miss in my own charts.

Speaking strictly for myself, I think I would use a cheap digital recorder of some sort to record how I slept at home overnight before I decided to have a tennis ball surgically attached to my back.

jnk wrote:No matter how basic the charts, if they were my charts, and I had the opportunity for -SWS to see them, I'd want him to, since his eyes might see something that I would miss in my own charts.

Speaking strictly for myself, I think I would use a cheap digital recorder of some sort to record how I slept at home overnight before I decided to have a tennis ball surgically attached to my back.

I agree with you and if he wants to see them, I will definitely post them.

My husband just got home and he confirmed that we have talked about this before. Apparently, the few times that I used to turn on my back, my mask leaked horribly and woke him up. So, we have an agreement that IF I turn on my back and he knows about it, he is to wake me up. According to him, he hasn't found me on my back in MONTHS.

Please understand that when testing it is not unusual to come up with answers that are not practical or needed...

I've got it...

Why don't you do a movie of you sleeping. You may then either have something to show your doctor, or find out you are sneaking some time on your back...

Oops, you may have already done this...

This is the only thing they sent. It's not the best in the world...but what the heck..

Like usually happens with EVERYTHING I upload, the right side is cut off. But those of you that have dealt with me before seem to know how to pull that part up...Can anyone explain why this happens to me? Every time I post something like this, the right-hand side is cut off.

HoseCrusher wrote:Please understand that when testing it is not unusual to come up with answers that are not practical or needed...

I've got it...

Why don't you do a movie of you sleeping. You may then either have something to show your doctor, or find out you are sneaking some time on your back...

Oops, you may have already done this...

Yeah, I know. And I DO understand it.

I guess I'm still a little bit ticked off and perhaps oversensitive after that bipap fiasco. It's really hard when you know something is happening (or not happening) and people just refuse to listen to you or believe you. Even though I KNEW the bipap was not consistently changing to the Inhale Pressure, I got told everything under the sun including that I just didn't notice the higher pressure because I was used to it, that I was holding my breathe and/or intentionally breathing too shallowly, and (this is my favorite) I had to have been asleep and therefore, it couldn't have happened.

It's a bit of a "downer" because they seemed to have focused on something that really ISN'T a problem to explain another problem.

:::sigh:::

I can't imagine your frustration with this. One of the main reasons for this sleep study was to find out why you are waking up so often. There is NOTHING in your results to address that. I would be temped to have a long talk with the doctor about that. I'm glad you sent her the email explaining that you do not sleep on your back, and wondering how being forced to may have influenced your results. It will be interesting to see what she has to say about that. But it seems to me that they really didn't address the main reason for the sleep study. I'm really sorry for you. I wish this whole thing had gone more smoothly for you and that you had received better information, too.

As for the photos, you might want to decrease the size of the photo to include the entire photo in your post. I use photobucket, and when I hover over the picture, there is a spot on the top of it to click that says "resize". I can't remember how small I have to make it to get it to fit, but I usually just use the preview button here to see if I have it right or not.

jbn3boys wrote:I can't imagine your frustration with this. One of the main reasons for this sleep study was to find out why you are waking up so often. There is NOTHING in your results to address that. I would be temped to have a long talk with the doctor about that. I'm glad you sent her the email explaining that you do not sleep on your back, and wondering how being forced to may have influenced your results. It will be interesting to see what she has to say about that. But it seems to me that they really didn't address the main reason for the sleep study. I'm really sorry for you. I wish this whole thing had gone more smoothly for you and that you had received better information, too.

Thanks. At first, I was just kind of "huh" at the whole thing and had to think about it some. After thinking about it more, I got pretty ticked off. Still am actually.

jbn3boys wrote:As for the photos, you might want to decrease the size of the photo to include the entire photo in your post. I use photobucket, and when I hover over the picture, there is a spot on the top of it to click that says "resize". I can't remember how small I have to make it to get it to fit, but I usually just use the preview button here to see if I have it right or not.

Thanks! I'll try that...

Okay -- I am losing my mind trying to get this right....Maybe I'd better give up and try tomorrow. I take the original and resize it ever so slightly -- just a bit -- and it gets so small you can't see it...

I must be missing something...

Well, Maddie, its YOUR life and YOUR sleep and I know you have a lot of faith in this doctor - but - since she seems stuck w/the facility you've been working with I'd regroup and give myself a bit of a break - and then be moving on to a facility and doctor willing to work together for YOUR benefit even tho it means thinking outta the box. Obviously her facility is just too rigid to work w/her limiting what she can do for you.

As I understand it...

You had your sleep study done. The sleep lab gave a summary report telling you that you have more difficulties when you are on your back.

Your doctor looked at the summary report and told you to stay off of your back.

You already know this.

I don't see where the doctor has spent time analyzing the detailed data in order to see what else is going on...

I hope the report you have is strictly a preliminary report with more details to follow. Now that the obvious has been confirmed, what else did the study reveal? It can take some time to review the data and look for significance.

Let's take an ECG for example. Most people can tell from a quick glance at the read out that the heart is beating. The technician can usually recognize an abnormal rhythm. The cardiologist can usually "eyeball" the data and tell you what is going on, but it is not until he has gone through each beat carefully measuring the different wave components that he really "knows" what is going on.

Your doctor ordered the sleep test because of something that was recognized in the data you provided your doctor. The question is if a similar pattern showed up during the study. Give it another week with frequent reminders to the doctor that you are suffering as a result of sub optimal treatment and see if something else emerges from the study.

Another option is to go for a second opinion from a different doctor. Sometimes a fresh look can find things because of the different perspective.

HoseCrusher wrote:Another option is to go for a second opinion from a different doctor. Sometimes a fresh look can find things because of the different perspective.

Yeah...Probably so.

If not for the fact that I know a lot of people went to a LOT of trouble to get the Omni Lab into this facility for MY study, I wouldn't have done it. My instincts told me this was going to be a waste of time, but I really tried to go into it with a positive attitude and hope for the best. It's too bad that I'm going to have a nice co-pay for a useless study, not to mention hotel for hubby, dinner out and gas to get up there and back.

What a waste. I should have listened to my instincts and just not done it.

Slinky wrote:Well, Maddie, its YOUR life and YOUR sleep and I know you have a lot of faith in this doctor - but - since she seems stuck w/the facility you've been working with I'd regroup and give myself a bit of a break - and then be moving on to a facility and doctor willing to work together for YOUR benefit even tho it means thinking outta the box. Obviously her facility is just too rigid to work w/her limiting what she can do for you.

Thanks Slinky. I hear what you're saying - and you're right. It's just frustrating as hell.