Sleep Study

I had my sleep study last night. I had considered cancelling it because I didn't think it was necessary since all of my symptoms could be explained by something other than a sleep disorder, but I went through with it just to be sure. The tech told me this morning that there was absolutely nothing to be worried about and although she couldn't formally give me results, she said she wouldn't be seeing me again (they do follow up appointment for titration if you are diagnosed with sleep apnea) and everything was normal and I didn't even snore all night (which I was unsure if I did or not).

I'm happy to hear the news but just wanted to check on one thing -- I don't feel like I slept much. I told her that but she said that they got some good readings and I had some REM sleep and possibly some level/stage 3-4 but maybe just a "really deep" 2. She said people rarely get to 3-4 in the sleep studies because they aren't comfortable in their surroundings. I went to sleep around 10:45 and I would say it took me 15 minutes to fall asleep and then I woke up 3-4 times during the night (which is unusual for me as I usually don't wake up) because of what I am guessing was just being uncomfortable with all the wires and the thing up my nose. Each time I would say I was up for 20-30 minutes, but I guess it is hard to know for sure because I didn't check a clock. She woke me up at 4:45 and said I could go home if I wanted to. (I had told her I would like to go home as early as possible).

I told her I was concerned that they didn't "get enough" of my sleep but she said they did. She said it is measured by your brain waves so she could tell when I was up but that I went back to sleep quickly. I am just worried because when I would wake up, my brain was racing with thoughts of "Oh no, they aren't going to be able to finish this study" "Maybe I should ask for a sleeping pill" "How long have I been up this time?" and things like that. I just didn't know if these racing thoughts could have an effect on my brain waves, making them think I was asleep.

She said most people do not sleep well during their studies, which I understand. I was in the hospital and there were noises and things like that that I was not familiar with. Of course, they tried to make it as comfortable as possible, but I can't sleep well in any bed but my own.

I'm just curious if it seems like this would have been enough for an accurate study. I would say I was in bed for 6 solid hours, but probably spent up to 1.5-2 of those awake. This woman had been doing the studies for a long time so I doubt she would have woken me up early to go home if she didn't feel that there was enough data, but I just want to be sure it was accurate.

Thanks for any feedback.

Yes, it is common to not sleep well at these sleep studies and also common for us to under estimate our time asleep. If you went through the sleep cycles even if they were brief, then she has enough time asleep scored to be able to have an accurate picture of what is going on. Even if you really did only get 4 hours of sleep that is still enough to evaluate things very well as long as you did get to REM and the cycles preceding REM (even if for a short time).

Thanks for the reply...I hope that is the case. I don't want to have to repeat it but I worry that I did not get enough sleep. Once the doctor reviews my data, will he be able to see if I didn't get enough sleep? Is the data very clear on when you are and when you aren't asleep?

beth0277 wrote:Once the doctor reviews my data, will he be able to see if I didn't get enough sleep? Is the data very clear on when you are and when you aren't asleep?

Extremely clear to a trained eye. All those wires on your head and by your eyes..EEG leads and very easy to see sleep and sleep stages. Doesn't even have to be MD...a good sleep tech will have seen enough of them to know what is going on. Of course it takes the MDs final say so but the EEG leads tell a very clear story. Now if you never got to REM sleep and you happen to only have sleep apnea events in REM sleep, then we would worry a bit. Since the tech says you got to REM...then you went through all the stages.
Now you might have some other issue that affects sleep architecture like having minimal sleep stage sleep when you need more of that stage to feel rested. Again...the EEG will tell the doctor what went on and he can then evaluate how much sleep in which stage and see if something is lacking. Not all sleep disturbance issues can be blamed on sleep apnea but we do have to rule that common cause out before investigating other possible issues.

Thanks, Pugsy. I actually sleep quite well, usually...I just didn't last night.

My study was due to a period of a month where I had excessive, out of nowhere, snoring, which has since went away (tech said it was likely due to allergies of some kind since I didn't snore at all last night and haven't for probably 6-8 months), and also due to occassional panic attacks as I am falling asleep, though I suffer from anxiety disorder so I also experience panic attacks during the day.

I honestly didn't think I had a sleep disorder, but wanted to get confirmation to be sure. It sounds (from the tech, who was experienced) that everything looked good, so I will just be hopeful that she knew what she was talking about and wait to get my report.

I was reading about sleep studies and different things that they look at and one thing that I read said that most people will disagree with the amount of time the report says that they slept. It said that most people (raising hand!) don't feel like they slept a wink, when in fact the study shows they got 5-6 hours of sleep. I'm hoping that is the case for me. I doubt the tech would have woken me up at 4:45 to go home if there was an issue. I was just worried that the machines would think I was sleeping when I wasn't, but it doesn't sound like that is a concern.

Be sure to ask that a copy of the written report be faxed or mailed to you, not just to your doctor.

Reading that report and its details will likely reassure you more than that brief conversation with the therapist, and it will be something you can pull out and review whenever you start to have further questions or doubts. A few words in a conversation evaporate and blow way like smoke over time, or get distorted in memory, but you may see more rather than less in a written report every time you get it out and read it.

In addition, it may become useful in the event you require a followup sleep study several years from now.

Regards, Nate

Well, congratulations. Pending the doctors approval you don't have sleep apnea! Yeah!

There's no stage 4 sleep anymore! Sorry, just a pet peeve that techs still use that! I disagree with this tech tho! I have alot of patients that still enter stage 3 and rem sleep, even with sleep apnea! Maybe the water is just different at that lab! Ha!

Realistically, we only need 2 hours of you sleeping to get enough data, provided you have rem sleep (preferably supine rem - just to make sure).

Your doctor will go over all results with you! I agree that it's a great idea to request the signed interp from your doctor for your records as well. Congrats, if anything, you can atleast rule out sleep apnea That's a good thing!