Sleep Study Question

carolmacd · Post by **carolmacd** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 6:31 pm

I am wondering about other people's sleep study experiences. I went for the first night of my sleep study last week. I was told that the first night, I would be hooked up to the eeg, ekg, pulse ox, etc, and monitored. Then, on the next night in the sleep lab, they would hook me up to the cpap machine and adjust the airflow. Well, on the first night, the tech woke me up after just a couple hours and put me on the cpap. I don't know exactly why, just that I was having "episodes". I was too sleepy to ask any questions. Is this significant? I am going on Tuesday for the second night of the study. I am frankly starting to feel kind of scared....Last night, I slept in the same room with an out of town friend. She said that she was scared to death listening to me, that she'd never heard anything like it, that I was struggling for breath all night. The tech last week did tell me that I would stop breathing, but would not wake up. I know that the best person to get answers from is the sleep doc, but I won't meet with her until February 1. In the meantime, does this sound par for the course? Should I be worried? Thanks for any input.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 7:30 pm

I would call the sleep docs office and find out if they got everything they needed last week and if you need to go in again. Tell them they hooked you up to a cpap and see if they can get the report.

Lab Sleeper · Post by **Lab Sleeper** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 7:50 pm

Yes, I concur. Ask your doctor for a copy of the lab results and make her go over the results, like how many "interruptions" occurred during the diagnostic period and explain exactly what the episodes consist of. My lab experience was identical to yours. Thought I was out for the night and 3 hours into it the door opened and the technician said I needed to try it with the mask on. It helped that an instructional video was shown while they were hooking all the wires up, explaining what was going to happen. I was relieved that they were able to do both the observation and mask testing in one night, but don't be afraid of a second experience, it is all for your benefit and the more time they commit to you, the better. Also, don't hesitate to call the technician back into the room for any reason, like the mask in use isn't working out or you have any concerns at all. The only part of the Lab experience I didn't understand was not being able to view the tape of yourself. I'm really curious about what I look and sound like, but they wouldn't show it to me and didn't say why. Good Luck!

jennifer31 · Post by **jennifer31** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 8:57 pm

They also did this to me on my first test it just means that you have sleep apena and they were trying to see if they could figure out your pressure that you need to maintain with no intruptions. It does get better tho. Call your doctor and let them know your concerned about this and they should let you know something.
Jennifer

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 6:12 am

Same experience for me, but I didn't have a second sleep study.
If it would have taken all night for me to "qualify", then I would have had to go in for the titration of the cpap.

Marie, I'm registered, but have been "kicked off" again.

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 10:55 am

carolmacd wrote: ......does this sound par for the course?

Should I be worried?

Carol,

"Yep" and "Nope".

Stopping breathing while you sleep is what apnea is.....and what you've been doing (probably) for years.....and why you're having sleep studies done.

Now that you know you have it, you will be on your way to therapy. Hopefully, the labs and doctors won't take too long and you'll be able to get your equipment pretty soon. Make sure you get and keep the original of the prescription the doctor writes for you. That way you'll be able to chose the machine you want and (preferrably) the source from whom you're buying it.

Do lots of reading on this forum. Check out the equipment and prices on CPAP.COM. Don't let the doctors and DME suppliers dump an old machine on you. Get something that will record all of the nightly sleep statistics.
Ask lots of questions.....that what these forums are for. You'll probably learn more here than from the doctors.

Best wishes,

Den

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 11:03 am

Wulfman wrote:Check out the equipment and prices on CPAP.COM.

Don't forget to shop around. I can't imagine better service than at CPAP.com though. Usually they have the best price, too. When they don't, their policy is to price match.

Regards,
Bill

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 11:07 am

Wulfman wrote:You'll probably learn more here than from the doctors.

Guaranteed. (just a fact)

Bella · Post by **Bella** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 12:36 pm

Same thing for me too - almost. Part way through the first study they woke me, told me that I had had events, and asked me to try a mask. They had told me before the study that they might do this, so I wasn't worried. In the morning they told me that the sleep doctor would call me in a few days after he had interpreted the study. Instead I got a message to call back the centre as soon as possible to set up another study. That's when I got worried! When I called the person I spoke to said that it was just that they needed to have me on the machine for a longer period. I wasn't quite satisfied, but that was all I was getting from her. When I went for the second study, they told me that the results of the first study showed that I had central sleep apnea and that I had stopped breathing 117 times an hour. I had no stage 3 or 4 sleep and no REM sleep. So that night they set me up on a bipap rather than a cpap. When I left I got my px for the bipap, with a setting of 14/4 and a back up rate of 8. So, really the need for the second study was to try out the different kind of machine.

Bella