I've always been a big snorer, have slightly high BP (at age 29), have symptoms of ADD, and I'm constantly fatigued, so my doctor sent me for a sleep study. I went 3 nights ago. The previous night, I had to work until 3am and was up at 6am, so I was very tired and had no problem falling asleep (the first time) during the study. I had heard/read that the sleep study was painless, but I came to learn that its basically torture! While I was able to fall asleep within 5 minutes (for the first time), I had problems staying asleep with all of the wires on me. Plus, the tech must have woken me up 6 times to adjust the wires. At one point, he said that the ekg wires weren't on right, so he ripped them off (taking with him a lot of chest hair!) and replaced them, telling me to try to go back to sleep. Sure, no problem! At another point, I seriously thought about taking the wires off and leaving. I made it through the night and was absolutely exhausted the next day. My advice -- if you're about to have a sleep study, take the next day off (as I did).

Now the question: The tech refused to give me any info about e.g. apneas, since he wasn't a doctor. I completely respect this and didn't push him. But I was able to discern some facts just from talking with him. In the beginning of the study, you watch a intro video that explains the process, noting "your doctor may have requested that you try CPAP during the night." I asked the tech if this was the case and he says that everyone who has a significant amount of apneas goes on CPAP for at least some portion of the night. I think he defined apnea as 10 seconds w/o breathing and said that more than 20 apneas per hour would mean that you go on CPAP for the rest of the night. Does this make sense, or do I have my figures wrong?

Sure enough, at about 1:00am (after sleeping for about 1.5 hours), he came in and hooked me up to CPAP. I guess this means that I'm having pretty frequent apneas? I know that I have to wait for the final results, but I'm just dying to get some info now.

PS: The CPAP wasn't that bad. I have some sinus problems, and the warm/moist air felt great on my sinuses. I was a little weird getting used to blowing against the pressure (to exhale), but I think I could get used to it if need be...

Sorry for such a long post -- any insight into this would be greatly appreciated~!

I have my first study tonight and I am really nervous.  The idea of being hooked up to wires and not being able to get up as I normally do several times a night is actually frightening.  I know I need this done but that doesn't seem to make me feel better four hours prior.....

bbtexas,

Don't worry, you can get up at night as many times as you need to.    It's not a bad process.  Keep a sense of humor.  I looked in the mirror after they got me all set up and I looked like an astronaut getting ready for some space tests!

You'll be just fine.

We're here for you if you have any questions.

By the way, before I got my CPAP, I got up at least 3 times a night to use the bathroom.   Now I get up once or not at all!!!!  Last night I slept 7.5 hours straight....  LOVE THIS MACHINE!

bbtexas,

Don't worry, you can get up at night as many times as you need to.    It's not a bad process.  Keep a sense of humor.  I looked in the mirror after they got me all set up and I looked like an astronaut getting ready for some space tests!

You'll be just fine.

We're here for you if you have any questions.

By the way, before I got my CPAP, I got up at least 3 times a night to use the bathroom.   Now I get up once or not at all!!!!  Last night I slept 7.5 hours straight....  LOVE THIS MACHINE!

bbtexas wrote:

I have my first study tonight and I am really nervous.  The idea of being hooked up to wires and not being able to get up as I normally do several times a night is actually frightening.  I know I need this done but that doesn't seem to make me feel better four hours prior.....

Just to be clear -- the study was worse that I was lead to believe, but "torture" is probably a little too much.  It sucks, but you'll get through it...  Good luck.

Louise wrote:

bbtexas,

By the way, before I got my CPAP, I got up at least 3 times a night to use the bathroom.   Now I get up once or not at all!!!!  Last night I slept 7.5 hours straight....  LOVE THIS MACHINE!

Same here - when I went on CPAP I thought, "omg getting up to use the bathroom a few times per night will really suck now, as I have to remove the mask, put it back on, etc."  I was getting up 3-4 times per night, every night, to urinate.

Now, on CPAP, I go the whole night without having to use the bathroom!  What a difference just that makes.  I may wake up once or twice during the night, but I just look at the clock, roll over, and go back to sleep.


_________________
--Frank (FJC)

My sleep studies haven't exactly been torture, but it wasn't exactly painless either.   I was surprised at how well I was able to adjust to having all of the wires hooked up to me.   I had trouble during the titration study (done seperately for me because it took so long for the apneas to appear.   I had problems sleeping until they added a heated humidifier  which did the trick.  I didn't think I slept, but the tech indicated that I did very well at that point.  I guess it just goes to show that your perception of the experence isn't always representative of how well the sleep study people get what they need.

I was worried about having to get up to go to the bathroom with all those wires, too.  Pretty early on in the study, the tech came in and hooked me up to the CPAP.  I never had to get up at all.  That was the first time in a long time that I didn't have to get up.  I'm only 47 and didn't think I should be getting up every couple of hours to go to the bathroom, but I have been.  Apparently, the sleep tech came in the room several times during the night, but after she hooked me up to the machine, I never knew it.  I sure didn't want to get up at 6:30 and I didn't want to give up the machine either.  Now I have to wait until Wednesday to see the Doc and I hope I get my machine the same day.

BTW, the sleep tech told me that most people sleep a while before they quit breathing.  She said I quit immediately.  It will be interesting to see the report.

seriously_sleepy wrote:

My sleep studies haven't exactly been torture, but it wasn't exactly painless either.   I was surprised at how well I was able to adjust to having all of the wires hooked up to me.   I had trouble during the titration study (done seperately for me because it took so long for the apneas to appear.   I had problems sleeping until they added a heated humidifier  which did the trick.  I didn't think I slept, but the tech indicated that I did very well at that point.  I guess it just goes to show that your perception of the experence isn't always representative of how well the sleep study people get what they need.

I too thought that I did not sleep at all during my tritration study. My doctor laughed at me (nicely) because I was adamant I did not sleep and was worried that because of my lack of sleep they were not able to calibrate the machine and thus I would never get treatment to sleep better. Turns out I slept for several hours, but had numerous points where I woke up and lots of apnea events. Your right about perception.