Sleep Study.... HELP!

 Depends on the lab.  When I first started in the field one full night was dedicated to diagnosing apnea, and a second night dedicated to determing the proper pressure for a cpap if needed.  Now, it is super common for a "split" night.  If in the first 4 hours or so apnea is detected at sufficiently high enough levels, they will go in the niddle of the night and put the cpap on  and spend the remaining time determining the pressure.  This is both good and bad.  Good for the patient to get it over with in one night I suppose, but bad for the techs because it really crunches the amount of time to find the proper pressure.  From there, your insurance hopefully will cover the cpap- some don't and they are expensive.  If they don't be sure to check online, as the medical supply stores can be pricey.  

If you are prescribed one the idea is that you would wear it every night unless your conidtion improved (usually by weight loss).  If you gain weight, it could trigger the need to go back in for a study to reassess the pressure- also true with significant weight loss.  A pressure that is too high can cause central apnea and a pressure that is too low will not take out the obstructive apnea.  

People who have apnea are by definition chronically sleep deprived.   I have seen cpap make a HUGE difference in quality of life for people.  If you end up needing one try not to worry- it may take a little time to get used to it, but holy smokes does it make a difference!

 Get started with this sleep study process right away, because it took me a while. My primary doctor oriniginally sent me for a sleep study, which I had done at a local hospital and they did not use a cpap as part of the sudy.  They were able to diagnose me with sleep apnea, but I still had to go for another one because without testing me with a cpap for part of it, they idn't know my correct parameters.  After I was diagnosed, I had to follow up with a pulmonologist, who sent me for a more detailed sleep study, pulmonary function test, follow up appointments, mask fittings, then I had to wait for the cpap cpompany to call me to meet as they wanted a home visit to get me set up and educated on my machine...it's a long process.  IF you have it, it will help get you approved, but the cpap helps you function better during the day anyway so you will want to wear it.  Honestly, it's easy to get used to.  i have one that goes over my nose.  I've only had it for a few weeks because they wanted me to have it before surgery.  If you get one, you will want to bring it with you to surgery because the anesthesiologist will use it to help wake you up and keep you breathing after surgery. 

I had two. The initial one to see if I had apnea and a second one to put a cpap on me to see how I did with it. The first one sucked, I scheduled it for a Thursday night and had to work the next day. I tossed and turned ALL NIGHT LONG. I would wake up every few hours or so and it was just a rough night. I struggled at work the next day. My results came back as me having severe sleep apnea. I stopped breathing so many times through the night and they said they wondered how I even woke up....and I was sleeping on my stomach! (The tech told me stomach sleepers typically don't have it as bad so mine was pretty bad)

The second time I went back it was MUCH better. I knew what to expect this time and I had an awesome tech. I was much more comfortable and I ended up sleeping a whole lot more than I did the first time.

Now that I have my cpap I use it just about every night. I can't say that it was "the best thing to ever happen to me"....like some people say. But I can certainly tell a difference in my energy level and that I'm not as tired as I used to be.

Good luck with your test! :)

Bring your own shampoo, That gel stuff just sticks in your hair like molasses.

If you can do a split study, you'll sleep the first half of the night, then if indicated, you'll be titrated with a CPAP the second half.  It saves you from needing to go to the sleep study lab separate nights.

 Hi,
Before I taught I worked many years in a sleep lab as a tech.  Here are the conditions that usually brought out the sleep apnea.

1.  Sleep on your back, but spend some time on each side sleeping as well.  Most patients have apnea on the back (by far the position that brings it out).  Occasionally I would see a patient that was affected when only sleeping on the right side.  Bet on the back.

2.  Sleep apnea "peaks" at the last stage of REM sleep (deep sleep) for the night.  Try not to get frustrated at being uncomfortable- that last sleep phase could make or break it.  Be sure to be on your back for the last 3 hours or so of the study.

3.  People who are congested tend to have worse apnea.  Skip the allergy meds. 
4.  If you take sleeping pills regularly (which is terrible for you) then withdraw from them a few weeks before surgery to let it clear out of your system.  Many of these cause "rebound" insomnia for a relatively short period.  You will have to fight through that to get it out of your system, but it will be worth it.  Insomnia will not be consideree a comorbidity, but could keep you from getting enough data. 
5.  Try to go to the study EXHAUSTED.  No kidding, pull an all nighter the night before and have somebody drive you in.  One thing they will look at is how long it will take you to fall asleep.  If you are exhausted obviously this will take a shorter amont of time- people with apnea fall asleep very quickly.  It will also help you to hit deeper stages of sleep quicker- and these are the stages that shows the worse apnea.
6.  Finally, people with apnea many times have a very poor sense of how well they are sleeping.  I have seen patients who had more than 1200 events report they slept well, just woke up tired.  I have seen patiens with 200 events report never falling asleep, as they are aware of the many little arousals that keep pulling them out of sleep.  My point is that don't stress about falling asleep- you may feel like you are not, but you could easily be drifting in and out of sleep and arousals are waking you up- classic apnea.  

Personnally- I think it is a crappy rule to make people lose weight for 6 months then deny the surgery because the BMI is under 40.  Not that i wish that you have apnea, but the comorbidity here would sure help you get approved.  Good luck with all of this.  If you have any questions please feel free to PM me. 

I have my sleep study this Tuesday, and I had my consultation with the dr. about it all yesterday. I learned some great things!

The best thing I learned is that I don't look 40.. LOL. He started the visit by saying this is usually something that affects people middle age and up, not younger people like me. I was like well.. I'm 40. He looks down and says AHH you are! SCORE!

Anyway.. seriously, lol.

I had surgery a few years ago, and I didn't come out of anesthesia well. He explained to me exactly what happened... and how my probable apnea was the cause of it. And, he explained how using the CPAP machine before surgery will help avoid all of that.

Also, he was listing the ways they help sleep apnea: 1. cpap 2. mouth guard 3. surgery... But, he said the #1 way to CURE sleep apnea is the reason why I was there today.. weight loss. So, that made me feel really good about doing all of this. I will be SHOCKED if I am not diagnosed with apnea. My ex husband wouldn't even sleep with me it was so bad, and I've been told by him and multiple people that I stop breathing at night. I've also woken up a few times at night gasping for breath so badly that I've jumped out of bed.

Oh, I also take Melatonin PRN. Basically when I'm wide awake, and I KNOW I have something I have to be up for early in the morning. So he said it was ok to take my melatonin before going. So that will help me tons.

I'm looking forward to it!