Tell Me About Your Sleep Study (for sleep apnea)

In My Humble Opinion
1

So I went to the doctor the other day, and I was telling her that I thought I have low thyroid, one of my symptoms being that I am completely exhausted all of the time. I wake up more tired than I was when I went to bed. I can sleep 10 or 11 hours plus take a 3 hour nap. She looked in my mouth and said that my soft palate almost meets my throat and asked me if I snore. I sleep on my side, so no, I don’t snore, but if I happen to end up on my back, yeah, I wake myself up with snoring.

So it looks like I might have sleep apnea. I have to have a sleep study. I am not looking forward to it. I am very particular about the conditions under which I can fall asleep- things have to be exactly the same as they have been the previous thousand nights, or else I can’t fall asleep. I have to have my box fan, or I can’t fall asleep. I’m envisioning being completely covered with wires, probes, og-knows-what! and I won’t be able to fall asleep. But most importantly, WHAT IF I CAN’T FALL ASLEEP??

Can one take a sleep aid to do this? Can one bring one’s box fan? What happens if you don’t fall asleep? I’m just slightly nervous that I won’t be able to fall asleep, ha. I’ve not even started to freak out about what will happen if I actually have sleep apnea- I might not ever be able to sleep again!

Comfort me. Reassure me. Or at least tell me about your own experiences with sleep studies and/or sleep apnea. Please?

2

Set your alarm clock early for the day of your Sleep Study. And probably it’d be a good idea to avoid caffeinated beverages after 6:30 pm or so. These are basically so you’ll be sort of short on sleep when you get there, which is a good thing.

They’ll put a bunch of electrodes on you. It’s not painful at all. Some are placed at various places to pick up brain waves, I guess. Others are placed to track your eye movements (how will they know you’re in REM sleep unless they can detect the rapid eye movements, eh?). There will be at least one on your jaw to see if you’re a sleeping teeth grinder. There will be one or two on your chest to get your heart beats. And there will be one on each calf to see if you’re a sleep kicker. Or at least, that’s how mine went.

Now, the room where I had mine had a ceiling fan above the bed that they’ll turn up for you, so I don’t think you’ll need a box fan. I think there was a TV, but I don’t remember. They’ll be watching you on low light cameras and be listening to you also. Accept that. Once you’re wired in, they’ll have to calibrate some of the stuff. They’ll be talking to you over the speaker and ask you to, with out moving your head, look as far to the left as you can. Then your right, then up, and then down. That’s the REM thing. Then you’re supposed to go to sleep. I didn’t sleep very well myself, or at least I thought I didn’t, but they had me wired up and had proof that I, in fact, did fall asleep.

You’re not going to be completely covered with wires. You’ll probably forget about them until you turn your head in your sleep.

There’s a bathroom with a shower off your sleeping room. Let them know if you have to go and they’ll come and unhook you and hook you back up when you’re done with that. Bring a change of clothes because when the study is over you’ll want to take a shower and wash your hair. Because the paste they use to stick the electrodes to your skull is a pain to get off. It’ll be a bit easier to clean up afterwards for you than it was for me, I suspect, because going by your user name, you won’t have a full beard like I did.

It’d probably be a good idea if you bring your own pillows in your own pillowcases with you. You’ll probably sleep better with them. As for the sleep aids, I don’t know. Do you always use them? I guess you can ask about them. And if they say no, it’d probably be better if you didn’t take one.

And if you end up having sleep apnea, it’s not a death sentence. Relax! CPAP stuff isn’t that terrible. It means you can pull the covers up over your head and still breath cool air. And, in my case, it means the cat can’t suffocate me in my sleep by sleeping over my mouth and nose.
And I am better rested for the day.

3

I got to watch TV until I got sleepy. The wires were a pain to sit through while they hooked them up, but by the time it was bedtime, I was exhausted! And I still didn’t sleep much, because they kept trying to set me up with a CPAP on the first night. (They had told me it would be the second night, but apparently I was pretty bad.)

I wish I had not tried to go to work the next morning, because I was more tired than usual. I also quit smoking the night of my sleep study.

I love my CPAP machine. I can get the rest I need! And the covers over your head is pretty cool.

4

Okay, knowing a bit about the experience is good. Fear of the unknown, and all that. I’ve been using a box fan for years for the white noise of it, and now I am used to having it and can never sleep if I don’t have it. I guess I will just have to wait until they call me to schedule it so I can ask them.

When you have to use a CPAP machine, do you have to sleep on your back or can I continue my side sleeping? Doesn’t the tubing irritate your skin? Isn’t it a pain in the ass to clean/maintain? Is it loud?

Thanks for any and all answers!
Wait, wait- second night??

5

I had one and it wasn’t bad.
It was close to 10 years ago so I don’t remember everything.
The sleep study was done in the basement of the hospital, cell phones won’t work. I don’t know if that was on purpose or not. A technician hooked up a bunch of wires to my head and chest. The bedroom was small, had a TV and a night stand with a cup and a pitcher of water.
I can’t sleep without the TV on so it was okay to leave it on all night.
I didn’t sleep real well, it’s not my own bed, there are people watching you on a monitor and the wires get tangled if you move around too much.
I had my own room, as did all the other participants.
I can’t remember where the rest room was, I think it was down the hall from the sleep rooms.
It’s very very quiet there.
Falling asleep wasn’t that hard but then part of the reason for the sleep study was that I had fallen asleep during an MRI and people could hear me snoring down the hallway. I was working two jobs at the time and 80 hour work weeks were the norm for me.
Usually I had more trouble staying awake than falling asleep.

Anyway, nothing hurt, it wasn’t uncomfortable other than the wires getting tangled a few times. You could wear your own pajamas, night gown or whatever. I wore shorts and a t-shirt. Everybody was very nice, explained everything as they were doing it, told me what to expect.

It’s all good, no reason to be nervous.

I don’t know if they’ll let you bring anything with you. Ask, the worst they can do is tell you no.

6

My husband got the CPAP about half way through the night. You might not sleep well, but you will very likely sleep well enough for them to get a read on you. Take the next day off work because you won’t get a great nights sleep, but it doesn’t seem to take much for them to say “yep, apnea.”

My husband did the sleep study because I said he snored, and he should check it out. He didn’t think he was tired. At first, he hated the CPAP and only wore it because it lets ME get a good nights sleep - it took a month, but now he packs it for international travel because he feels that much better rested.

They’ll have instructions for you - I believe my husband brought his own pillow. Remember, they’ve done thousands of these, you won’t be the first freaked out patient they have.

7

Like Ranger, I have a full beard.

I did not have a pvt room, 4 beds, only 2 of us that night.

Lots of wires, like an EKG but a few more wires.

I am / was an aerial mapping pilot so wearing a mask was not a problem when I got my CPAP machine. I have used Ox a lot over the years.

Sleep: back, left, right, no problem. Face down, not so much.

The air hose control you will have to an automatic response in just a couple days as you will find how you like it and how to keep it where you want it.

Get an extra air hose, use both in series, then the machine does not need to be so close.

It will be your white noise soon.

I too need a lot of air blowing on me to sleep.

It saved my marriage.

I get to stay in the same bed as my wife which was on the block if I did not get SOMETHING done.

Snoring & apnea are really two different things and you don’t have to have them both. Most people do usually.

Keeping it clean is a once a week deal & you will eventually figure out what works for you. More or less or partials, etc. Loves my white vinegar much more than bleach.

Don’t worry, take a camera, have them take pictures of you so you can see what you looked like. I did. Bawahahaha but I don’t post them that often… he he he

Don’t worry, not big deal. You will like the end result.

8

I complained of insomnia once, specifically having a very difficult time falling asleep (that is, I’d lay in bed tossing and turning for a long time before falling asleep). That doesn’t sound like apnea to me. But the doctor decided it was probably apnea anyway and sent me to have a sleep test.

The lab (at the same clinic) looked like it was just a big sales pitch for CPAP machines. There were apnea awareness posters on the wall in the waiting room. There were apnea awareness pamphlets on the table. There were ballpoint pens on the receptionist’s counter with the names of apnea treatment products’ companies on them. There were more apnea awareness posters on the wall behind the receptionist’s desk.

Uh… Sounds like the kind of lab where they only look for one thing, and you know what the diagnosis is going to be as soon as you walk in.

This was early afternoon, by the way. I wasn’t going there for the night. The technician gave me a do-it-yourself-at-home kit – a little box of electronics with a belt to wear at night, a few wires with sticky electrodes to stick on to myself at a few places on my body, a big clothespin-like clip to put on my thumb that measures how much oxygen is in my blood.

So I wired myself up that night. Now try to sleep like that. Brought it all back the next day. Later that day, they called and said the entire results were no good for some reason and I had to do it again. After the second try, they gave me a good solid diagnosis of . . . wait for it . . .

Sleep Apnea of course

So I got a CPAP mochine. I found it only vaguely helpful, and I never got comfortable with it. For one thing, I’m too restless, and I toss and turn all night, but with that mask and air hose, it was awkward. I lie face down a lot, and that didn’t work at all. Even laying on my side was rather cumbersome. It really only seemed to work out when I lay flat on my back and didn’t move – which I absolutely can’t do for long. I’ve never been comfortable laying on my back for long.

After a few months I gave up on it. That was about 5 years ago. Maybe someday I’ll try again, and try to get some better advice about how to work with this mochine. Everything was all so perfunctory about it, I think I need to be more assertive with them all and demand that they work with me to get it right.

ETA: TL;DR: What they didn’t do was a polysomnogram, the all-night study like everybody here is talking about, which might be able to detect, measure, and diagnose a variety of possible sleep disorders. It seemed like just a simple superficial test that was designed to detect just one thing, because they’ve probably found that it’s the most common thing, so they’re just doing cheap one-size-fits-all medicine.

9

This, for sure. They expect you to sleep on their schedule, not yours. They’ll put up with you reading, watching TV or whatever usually till about 10:00 or so. Then they want to get to work (which means they want you asleep). They will probably also be ready to sound the alarm clock and kick you out of the room by 5-6:00 or so. So the more tired you can be when you arrive, the better.

Sleep studies are no fun, but they aren’t torture either. For me, the worst part is not being able to move much during the night (I’m a tosser and turner), and trying to get the gunk out of your hair afterward.

10

I have had several sleep studies. Relax about not being able to sleep. The worst that will happen us that you’ll have to do it over. It’s not painful at all.

You can bring anything you want with you, including your box fan. At least that’s my experience. I always take my special pillows, my iPod, my book and Kindle.

11

Senegoid, if you really have sleep apnoea, you can end up with serious heart problems. I wouldn’t be so cavalier about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment.

12

I have heard that playing the didgeridoo can help relieve apnea symptoms, is anyone familiar with this?

13

Thanks for all the responses. I am feeling a bit better about the whole thing. Although, if, as someone said, they literally sit there and watch you fall asleep, I think that’s very creepy. That alone seems like it would make it hard to fall asleep, knowing that someone is watching you.

I feel like an asshole, because I know that every day, people are getting diagnosed with cancer, heart disease, MS, and countless other disfiguring and life-threatening things, and I have sobbed and stressed a lot over possibly having sleep apnea. But I am going to stop looking at it as a negative thing, with all the changes (change! eek!) that might happen and start thinking of the good and refreshing sleep I could start having. Plus I might not even have it anyway.

14

Medical threads go in IMHO, so I have moved this thither (from MPSIMS).

15

I had one last year and during the wire hook-up process, I was made to watch videos about how awesome CPAP machines are, produced by the machine manufacturer. Like you, I began to get a slight concern about objectivity.

16

A thread from a couple years back
Search for post # 18, which is my definitive guide to surviving a sleep study (I’ve had more than my share, I’m such a slut).

17

CPAP and back: no, you don’t have to sleep on your back. If you wind up being told you need a CPAP, make sure that when you try out masks, the one you get works when lying on your side.

Noisy: No - it’s quieter than normal background noises. If you have fan running, any bed partner won’t hear your CPAP.

Skin irritation: not at all. I mean, the mask straps may leave temporary red marks due to pressure, but if the mask is adjusted properly that will be minimal.

Second night: Yes, if you’re determined to have sufficient apnea to require treatment, you’ll need to come back a second time so they can mask you up and watch to see what setting is required to address the apnea. As another poster noted, sometimes they can do it that same night if the apnea is bad enough.

Cleaning: Minor, but not a big deal. A minute or two in the morning (or… every few mornings :o).

18

I’ve been going through that thread and it’s various links, and it’s been extremely informative and helpful. Thank you so much for sharing so much and so painstakingly! It’s very appreciated.

19

I had an at-home sleep study, which made life easier - I have a hard time sleeping in new places the first night or so. Electrodes stuck to my head, chest, face etc - not painful, but I was very aware of them and it took me longer than usual to fall asleep.

The diagnosis of sleep apnea was no surprise - my husband had already heard me stop breathing etc at night. The CPAP machine is very easy to live with: I have a nasal pillow that only covers my nose, with a single strap. It’s very light, but feels surprisingly secure. I sleep on my side, no problems with that. I didn’t have any dramatic improvement, but over the first few weeks of using it, I found myself sleeping better and feeling much less tired and cranky.

20

Is there a way to make a permalink to another thread? If not, there should be.

I had a do-it-yourself test—it’s not as easy as it sounds. It could have been a good test if you had three hands but that requirement defeated the purpose. The company sent me a second test kit along with a scathing letter about how to apply the self test apparatus. They included a step by step drawing that they didn’t include the first time. Several of the steps were shown with a helper----equal to three hands. I had to recruit my sister to help me put the thing together and the test results revealed that I did not have apnea.

I used to wake myself up with snoring but that hasn’t happened since I’ve acclimated to living alone and sleeping alone—I shoulda done it years ago.