Had a sleep study done last week

[Stormienite]

Not bad at all! I thought it would be difficult to sleep hooked up to all those wires but it really didn't bother me. It was nice and quiet and it was a REAL bed and comfortable. I got to sleep a little before 11 and got woke up around 6. The tech asked me if my ox level dropped durning the night if I wanted to have her come in and put that mask on. I refused it. I'm extremely closterphobic. It wouldn't last 10 min on me before I had a panic attack.

In the morning I asked if I did drop and she said there were a few dips. (when I had an overnight pulse ox it dropped down to 80 several times) I'm disappointed the paper said I would have results in 2-3 weeks. I don't understand why it takes so long.

So who else has had a sleep study done?

[beetle]

I've never had one done but I'm glad to hear that it wasn't hard to sleep under those circumstances.

A pdoc once suggested it but I didn't think my insurance would cover it and I, like you thought it would be hard to sleep normally, being all hooked up to stuff and in a strange bed in a strange place. So I never looked into it.

How do you get referred? Just have a doctor that thinks you need one and then set it up with a hospital that has a sleep lab?

Did they have a video camera on you? I think sometimes they do and that would freak me out...I think. I still wonder if I would sleep like I normally do in my own home, in my own bed.

Did they monitor your brainwaves and all that stuff? I find it all so interesting.

[Stormienite]

Well, my pulmonologist in town sent me to a Pittsburgh pulmonologist to get checked out there and he set me up for an ENT videoprobe, Gastro endoscopy and sleep study. He thought that the flap in my esophogus that closes when you lay down no longer works do to gerd. (acid comes up and chokes me at night when I lay down) My throat is constricted. I've still got my tonsils. He thinks that just relaxing in my sleep my tongue goes back in my throat and blocks off the air. Thus the overnight sleep study.

Beetle: yes, the sleep study was done in one of the hospitals in my town. I went in at 9:00pm. The room has a regular bed ad they try to make it as homey as possible. You can set the temp to whatever you want. They put 3 electrodes on my scalp. Left, right and back. You can't even feel them. Then you have several on your face. Forehead, under eye, jaw I think neck too and 2 on your chest. Then they use straps on both ankles to test for leg jerks while you sleep. Then there's straps above and below your breasts to check your breathing during sleep. They also put a very soft band-aid like pulse ox on your finger.

All the wires to the electrodes are very thin and flexible. They're bunched together in like a little box and you wear it like a necklace. It falls to your chest. It's really not constricting at all. You can toss and turn normally. As long as you don't try to turn the whole way around you're good.

There is a video camera hooked up to the wall with.. is it infra red that makes it see in the dark? Whatever it is, you don't see it. There's also a mic in the room so if you need something they'll hear ya. They monitor you all night via tv. There were 5 bedrooms all together and each has their own tech to monitor you.

If your oxygen saturation drops they'll come in and fit you with a cpap to see if it helps. Again, I refused it. There's no way I'd ever wear it. I'm guessing they're gonna at least take out my tonsils.

[LunaRufina]

I had one done and it really wasn't that bad.

Though the women came in in the middle of the night and put the safety railings up and I still wonder wtf that was all about, I guess I was tossing and turning a lot.

But I really wish I'd taken a picture. Looked pretty funny.

I was under the impression that a lot of insurances cover sleep studies. Since a lot of the time it's to investigate stuff that's fairly serious, like apnea.

[Mayteana]

I'm disappointed the paper said I would have results in 2-3 weeks. I don't understand why it takes so long.

Because after the technician records the data, it all has to be interpreted which generates the report that goes to the physician. Two weeks is pretty normal for all that. Does it need to take two weeks? Not at all. It could be done the next day. But - to be blunt, it's expensive to have the reports generated that quickly and would involve a physician reading them daily which most don't do.

How do you get referred? Just have a doctor that thinks you need one and then set it up with a hospital that has a sleep lab?

Did they have a video camera on you? I think sometimes they do and that would freak me out...I think. I still wonder if I would sleep like I normally do in my own home, in my own bed.

Referrals depend on how your insurance works. For some people their GP can give them a prescription to have one done and away they go. Sleep tests are run both in hospitals and in specialized private labs.

The camera thing weirds out a lot of people. They are there so that the doctor can review the video if they choose to. They are also there for the protection of the patient having the test and the technician running it in that it's really obvious documentation that the test was run correctly. The video files can be (and usually are) nuked after 30 days.

There are belts with leads aroud your chest and waist which (I think) record respiration things.

Chest & abdomen to measure respiratory effort aka the effort your body is putting forth in trying to breathe.

They put 3 electrodes on my scalp. Left, right and back. You can't even feel them. Then you have several on your face. Forehead, under eye, jaw I think neck too and 2 on your chest. Then they use straps on both ankles to test for leg jerks while you sleep. Then there's straps above and below your breasts to check your breathing during sleep. They also put a very soft band-aid like pulse ox on your finger.

The newest American Academy of Sleep Medicine standards are I believe 7 on your scalp, 5-6 on your face, 2 on your chest, 2-4 on your legs, 2 belts for your breathing. There's a neck sensor and a position sensor that may or may not be there and usually a nasal cannula. It kinda varies depending on which system the place is using, and if the lab is accredited or not. Accredited labs have to follow AASM guidelines to keep their accreditation, non-accredited labs don't.

No, I'm not just being obnoxious. I ran sleep studies for five years.

~ May

[Stormienite]

I had one done and it really wasn't that bad.

Though the women came in in the middle of the night and put the safety railings up and I still wonder wtf that was all about, I guess I was tossing and turning a lot.

But I really wish I'd taken a picture. Looked pretty funny.

I was under the impression that a lot of insurances cover sleep studies. Since a lot of the time it's to investigate stuff that's fairly serious, like apnea.

You know I had my cell phone and I was gonna ask my tech to take a picture of me. lol Wish I had.

Mateana: the nasal cannula... was that the nasal oxygen tube with what looked like a Bull nose ring? lol It was red. I remember it was hanging down and I kept trying to put it in my mouth. haahaa

[Mayteana]

You know I had my cell phone and I was gonna ask my tech to take a picture of me. lol Wish I had.

Mateana: the nasal cannula... was that the nasal oxygen tube with what looked like a Bull nose ring? lol It was red. I remember it was hanging down and I kept trying to put it in my mouth. haahaa

Yup, like an oxygen tube.

lol, could have totally asked the tech to take a picture. It happens all the time!

~ May

[notfred]

I do recommend using the mask if you need one. They aren't easy to get used to, but they really help.

Any suggestions on how to get used to the mask ? I am having real trouble with the mask making it hard to go to sleep.

nf