Help! Don't understand sleep study results-no REM

I had a sleep study done in 2015 and am still very fatigued so I ordered a copy. My results were no apnea but is that accurate with these results?
Recording time: 362.5
Total sleep: 269.5
Sleep efficiency: 74.3
Sleep latency: 62 minutes
Stage N1: 29 min
Stage N2: 195.5
Stage N3: 45 min
REM: 0 min
77 arrousals 4 awakenings
Apnea-Hypopnea index: .4/2

How can my sleep study be normal with no REM sleep????
Thanks!
-Exhausted Angela

Do you take any medications of any kind? If so, what?

No REM.....obviously not normal.
The AHI is low and not diagnostic for OSA but your arousal number is high.
Now what is causing the arousals...unknown. What is missing from the report is the number of arousals that might be spontaneous (no known cause) or related to a flow reduction or breathing.

You have crappy sleep...takes a long time to fall asleep and lots of arousals from something.
Some medications create crappy sleep and some will even suppress REM stage sleep.

The arousals cause fragmented sleep and when our sleep is fragmented a lot we don't rest well.
Figuring out what causes the arousals...not always easy to do.

The sleep study is 3 years old...I don't know if anything might have changed between now and then.

Besides Sleep Apnea, there about eighty other known sleep disorders. Probably half of them can be ruled out as they have very specific symptoms.

Just to add a bit more - A sleep study s a very unnatural sleep experience. It's very difficult to extrapolate from a night of wired up sleeping in a strange bed to normal sleep experiences. So lack of REM and lots of arousals may or may not be typical. That said, feeling tired and fatigued needs to be investigated and treated. determining SA is only one step. IF you Dr is throwing in the towel ask for a referral to a sleep specialist who can look beyond simple SA.

I am unsure what medications I was on at the time. Why would they say my study was normal if I had no REM sleep? So confused...been to the dr so many times and they never even look at these results

TASmart wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 12:10 pm

Just to add a bit more - A sleep study s a very unnatural sleep experience. It's very difficult to extrapolate from a night of wired up sleeping in a strange bed to normal sleep experiences. So lack of REM and lots of arousals may or may not be typical. That said, feeling tired and fatigued needs to be investigated and treated. determining SA is only one step. IF you Dr is throwing in the towel ask for a referral to a sleep specialist who can look beyond simple SA.

My Dr always says it's due to my weight....I've had bariatric surgery and am down 110 lbs and now he's saying I don't eat enough...I feel like I'm going crazy-fuzzy headed...and I know it's my sleep.

Dark13angel wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 12:34 pm

Why would they say my study was normal if I had no REM sleep?

Beats me. You would have to ask the doctor.

Dark13angel wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 12:34 pm

I am unsure what medications I was on at the time.

So what about now?

I am just trying to figure out if medication side affects could be a factor in your continued fatigue.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 1:05 pm

Dark13angel wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 12:34 pm

Why would they say my study was normal if I had no REM sleep?

Beats me. You would have to ask the doctor.

Dark13angel wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 12:34 pm

I am unsure what medications I was on at the time.

So what about now?

I am just trying to figure out if medication side affects could be a factor in your continued fatigue.

Welbutrin, omeprazole, metoprolol, multi vitamin, b complex, vitamin d, iron, calcium and sometimes melatonin to sleep (recent addition)

metoprolol

See the side effects which include fatigue
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metoprolol

wellbutrin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_s ... _bupropion

and do some extra reading about it commonly causing insomnia.
Specifically it is well known to mess with sleep stages and sleep architecture.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 1:33 pm

metoprolol

See the side effects which include fatigue
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metoprolol

wellbutrin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_s ... _bupropion

and do some extra reading about it commonly causing insomnia.
Specifically it is well known to mess with sleep stages and sleep architecture.

If I go off these meds how long does it take to find out if it helps?

Dark13angel wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 1:54 pm

If I go off these meds how long does it take to find out if it helps?

I have no idea and it's really something you should discuss with your doctor.

My sister was having some fatigue issues and was on some kind of heart medication or BP med (I forget exactly) and she got her doctor to changes the medication to something else and she said within about 2 weeks she was feeling a lot better.

The Wellbutrin....really need to talk to the doctor about that one because I have no idea how long it stays in the system.

These are just something that might be a factor in the fatigue issues. Something to check out.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 2:41 pm

Dark13angel wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 1:54 pm

If I go off these meds how long does it take to find out if it helps?

I have no idea and it's really something you should discuss with your doctor.

My sister was having some fatigue issues and was on some kind of heart medication or BP med (I forget exactly) and she got her doctor to changes the medication to something else and she said within about 2 weeks she was feeling a lot better.

The Wellbutrin....really need to talk to the doctor about that one because I have no idea how long it stays in the system.

These are just something that might be a factor in the fatigue issues. Something to check out.

Thank you! I'm really hoping my new dr will be better than my old one!

Dark13angel wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 3:58 pm

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 2:41 pm

Dark13angel wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 1:54 pm

If I go off these meds how long does it take to find out if it helps?

I have no idea and it's really something you should discuss with your doctor.

My sister was having some fatigue issues and was on some kind of heart medication or BP med (I forget exactly) and she got her doctor to changes the medication to something else and she said within about 2 weeks she was feeling a lot better.

The Wellbutrin....really need to talk to the doctor about that one because I have no idea how long it stays in the system.

These are just something that might be a factor in the fatigue issues. Something to check out.

Thank you! I'm really hoping my new dr will be better than my old one!

Wishing you the best! Good luck with everything...

Dark13angel wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 12:36 pm

..I've had bariatric surgery and am down 110 lbs and now he's saying I don't eat enough...I feel like I'm going crazy-fuzzy headed...and I know it's my sleep.

You wouldn't be the first person who had weight loss surgery and ended up malnourished but still overweight...

Don't skimp on the diet, it's important to get your nutrients.

palerider wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 9:20 pm

Dark13angel wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 12:36 pm

..I've had bariatric surgery and am down 110 lbs and now he's saying I don't eat enough...I feel like I'm going crazy-fuzzy headed...and I know it's my sleep.

You wouldn't be the first person who had weight loss surgery and ended up malnourished but still overweight...

Don't skimp on the diet, it's important to get your nutrients.

Oh I do! I see a dietician and my surgeons nurse regularly! Plus had all my labs done and they are great...if I could just get some GOOD sleep I'd feel soooo much better! Maybe tonight