No, I would be thrilled if you didn’t have sleep apnea and the whole test proved negative. That wasn’t the question you asked. What is so hard to understand about why your question is bizarre and inflammatory? You can’t prove you don’t have it unless you take the test and it is good to know either way. No one can make you take it in an absolute sense so just refuse it and deal with the consequences if it means that much to you. In any case, you should just go through with your decision one way or the other and either refuse the test outright or cooperate with it fully if you do take it.
If you don’t want the results of the test don’t take it. If you’re so worried about losing your access to pain meds that you just have to keep your doctor happy then take the test. Then either pass it and don’t worry about it, or fail it and take the apparatus. Once you have the apparatus you can use it and help your problem, or you can not use it at all. Either way you can donate its cost to your favorite charity to offset the karma of the insurance payment. Or you can learn to achieve REM sleep while keeping your airways completely open. Any of those suggestions should work perfectly.
There is no way to take the test and fake it. There just isn’t. They monitor you while you sleep and count the number of times you stop breathing, the rise and fall of the oxygen level of your blood and your breath, and sometimes (not in all sleep tests, but in most) your brain wave activity to monitor how long you’re in which portion of your sleep cycle.
There’s no faking it. If you don’t fall asleep, the test will be repeated another day (if you consent). You can’t fake sleep in front of sleep specialists and their machines, and you can’t fake breathing or brain waves when you are asleep.
Sleep apnea isn’t the *only *thing a sleep study could show, actually. It’s possible that you have some sort of sleep disorder other than sleep apnea, which will be best treated without a CPAP machine.
(Coincidentally, my SO is at his own sleep study tonight, and I have no doubt they’ll find sleep apnea to be a problem. They’re not doing the brain wave measurements, but they’ve got a nasal canula type thingy measuring his exhalations, a pulse oximeter to measure the oxygen in his fingertip, and some harness kind of thing, we think it’s for measuring chest expansion during breathing, but we’re not sure. My bed is lonely tonight. 
)
Got it in one. In so many ways.
Your doctor cannot force you to take the test.
You can tell your doctor not to discuss your medical situation with your husband.
I am pretty sure that’s illegal. Even if you’re married you can’t talk about other patients like that without them present.
I could be wrong tho.
I never expected a request for information to bring such judgmental replies. I’m really disappointed in the Dope.
I think I outlined your options pretty clearly.
Well, WhyNot, who is a nurse, gave you your answer… you cannot flunk a sleep apnea test. What else do you want?
It would violate HIPPA regulations for your doctor to ask your husband. This, in addition to so many things apparently, is something about which your doctor knows more than you.
This. This is the answer to your question. I’ve been through three different sleep studies and the specialists will know if and when you’ve fallen asleep. After one of them they were actually able to show me a graph of precisely when I entered each stage of sleep.
I would also like to second other responses about doctor/patient confidentiality. It is against the law to share any of your medical information with your spouse. The only exception is if you’ve given the doctor permission, or if something in your diagnosis puts your spouse at risk.
And another vote for tell your doctor “no.” Just tell him no. Say, “I do not want to take the sleep test, I will not wear a sleep apnea mask, and I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t ask me again.” Of course, my intuition tells me that you’re more concerned about your husband’s reaction than your doctor’s. No judgement intended, but are you perhaps being nagged by your husband, and you WANT to take the test and pass just so he leaves you alone?
No, I don’t think think Mr. singular is very worried about the test. The doctor has been nagging about it, and I’m afraid he’ll use my need for pain meds as leverage - take the test or else. I just don’t want to, because I know the thing won’t last more than twenty minutes on my face. I have talked with people at work that have them - some like it, some hate it, a couple like me won’t tolerate it on their face at night. I can’t convince the doctor that I know what will happen, so I hope I can flunk the test and not have it prescribed to me.
And you’re very welcome.
(Y’know, sleep apnea can cause irritability. Just FYI.)
I have sleep apnea and have been using a CPAP machine for over ten years.
I’m wondering why your doctor is insisting on the sleep study.
It was my wife who first noticed that I was stopping breathing at night and then gasping for air. Has your husband observed your cessation of breathing while you sleep? If not, there is a good chance you don’t have sleep apnea. Loud snoring does not equate to sleep apnea. Is that the reason your doctor is insisting on the test? A CPAP machine would cure the loud snoring but that is not sufficient reason for it to be prescribed. And I get that you are totally against using a CPAP machine.
BTW, once the CPAP machine is purchased the ongoing cost of using it is minimal.
Have you considered getting a new doctor? One who will listen to your opinion and not try to coerce you into doing something you don’t want to do?
That explains it. It is about access to the pain meds. You aren’t the first to have that conflict or order of priorities but you should be honest with yourself what the real motivation is. I know you will take that as an insult or attack but I promise you it isn’t. People on pain meds often consider protecting their supply the number one priority rather than looking at the situation as a whole which a good health professional is trained to do. You shouldn’t consider your doctor an obstacle to work around solely to protect your supply of pain meds because that is a problem on its own.
Shagnasty makes a good point about the pain meds. However, if you’ve convinced yourself that deception is the answer, and your husband isn’t concerned at all about the test, why not just ask him to lie to the doctor?
Take the test. If you have sleep apnea, you’ll be prescribed a breathing machine. Your doctor violates HIPPA regulations and asks your husband if you’re using it. Your husband lies and says yes, even though you’re not. Problem solved.
My sweetie stopped breathing at LEAST 4 times a minute. I couldn’t sleep in the same room with him, as I’d constantly be shaking him to make sure he started breathing again.
He took the test, after years of dodging it, got the mask, and is 1,000 times better off for using it. It wasn’t easy for him at first, but hey, he gets to sleep with me now. And I can sleep without worrying he’s going to be dead when I wake up. Seriously, you have no idea how scary it is to watch someone with sleep apnea. Do it for your future partner if not for yourself.
Edit…Sorry, I didn’t read far enough down to realize I was just repeating words that weren’t desired.
Don’t take the test if the results aren’t going to affect you.
Don’t despair; there may be other options for you.
Some dentists specialize in TMJ-biteguard-like devices especially to treat sleep apnea. These are designed to bring your lower jaw a few millimeters forward (or, if lying on your back, upward) of where it would normally be. This brings the base of the tongue along with it so it improves the passage of air through your airway. I have a deviated septum and hardly ever used to feel I that I could could breathe comfortably through just my nose. But when I started using the biteguard, that seemed to magically clear up.
It’s HIPAA.
Thus ends my contribution to this thread.