Do you have to sleep for a sleep study to work?

[MoniqueU]

I have made a few posts/thrads here recently about my persistent and worsening problem with insomnia. The only suggestion made that I hadn't tried was a sleep study. I can fall asleep at home but the last 4 times I gave birth I just stayed awake round the clock until they released me. I don't think I would be able to sleep in a setting like that.even with medication. My problem is I fall asleep at home then wake up about 3 hours later. I went in to the drs yesterday got yet anoter new prescriptin,paid yet another co pay and was told if I don't sleep come back toda. Well I fell asleep from a bit after 10 til 1. I am getting desperate and depressed about the situation (not my life, I am on anti depreswsants and antianxiiety as well) Have ahy major insomnia sufferers had a successful sleep study?

 

[ericamanda01]

Morning Monique, right here with ya. I woke up about 15 minutes ago. I need more than 4 hours of sleep. This is killing me during the day. I can't believe it's only 4 am.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

I've only done sleep studies (2) to diagnose sleep apnea. I hated it and would never do it again.

Not sure what they do about insomnia. Good luck though.

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

Not 100% sure. But the stuff they hook up to you is pretty sophisticated so maybe in your case they could figure out why you're not sleeping. It measures depth of sleep and oxygen levels and other factors. I have no doubt they could knock you out, but the purpose of a sleep study is to study you as you would be every normal night. If that means you'd be on a prescription sleep aid then you could take that I'd guess. If what he gave you got you to sleep for a little while then maybe a sleep study could be beneficial.

 

[golfgal]

Have you tried hypnotherapy? I have a friend that is a clinical hypnotherapist and has had a lot of success treating insomnia. Just something to try maybe.

 

[MoniqueU]

Not 100% sure. But the stuff they hook up to you is pretty sophisticated so maybe in your case they could figure out why you're not sleeping. It measures depth of sleep and oxygen levels and other factors. I have no doubt they could knock you out, but the purpose of a sleep study is to study you as you would be every normal night. If that means you'd be on a prescription sleep aid then you could take that I'd guess. If what he gave you got you to sleep for a little while then maybe a sleep study could be beneficial.

IF they could give me something that knocked me out and kept me out I wouldn't need the study. I can take prescription slleep aids and still not sleep a wink if I am freaked outl. Last time I flew I was so stressed that I would have a panic attack on the plane that even with powerful sleep meds I didn't sleep at all. I am worried this would happen to me as I don't think I would relax. I am going to ask my dr about it today though.

 

[kirbydog48]

Have you mentionned this to the doctor who's prescribing your meds? Wonder if the combination of the two is affecting your sleep. I know what you mean about not sleeping in the hospital. Don't know if you're interested, but have you thought of giving acupuncture a try?

 

[arminnie]

MoniqueU - I've had at least half a dozen sleep studies at Stanford. The first one was a very comprehensive one that involved 2 nights and one day.

Stanford is the gold standard for sleep studies - but the good news is that they have trained so many other doctors especially in the last 15 years (I was having problems in 1994).

I am sure there are some wonderful doctors in your part of CA too.

 

[MoniqueU]

Have you mentionned this to the doctor who's prescribing your meds? Wonder if the combination of the two is affecting your sleep. I know what you mean about not sleeping in the hospital. Don't know if you're interested, but have you thought of giving acupuncture a try?

Yes I have mentioned what meds and condition I have to my psychiatrist. He has been treating me pretty successfull for 5 years, just the ambien stopped being effective for more then a few hours at a time now so this is happening and finding something that works is proving to be hard..

And yes I have tried accupuncture. Didn't work. Not willing to pay for hypnosis as my insurance doesn't cover it and I consider it experimental like accupuncture.

 

[dizluvah]

I have not personally had a sleep study but my DH has. He did not think he would be able to sleep either with all the wires hooked to him, he said he was warm (temp in the room) and it was uncomfortable (strange bed, pj's he wasn't used to wearing, knowing someone is monitoring you) and he thought he would be up all night. He said he must have dosed off because they woke him before the night was over to put him on a sleep apnea machine. He said he didn't even think he had fallen asleep but they showed him the readings they monitor so he could see when he was sleeping.

I say all that to say....it sounds like you don't have much to lose giving it a try. I understand there may be another copay involved but what if they learn something that can help you? I can imagine you are feeling at your wits end, three or four hours sleep a night is certainly not enough (as you well know).

Best of luck finding something that works for you!

Also, DH was specifically asked not to take any sleep aid medication the day of the study.

 

[LuvOrlando]

-

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

IF they could give me something that knocked me out and kept me out I wouldn't need the study. I can take prescription slleep aids and still not sleep a wink if I am freaked outl. Last time I flew I was so stressed that I would have a panic attack on the plane that even with powerful sleep meds I didn't sleep at all. I am worried this would happen to me as I don't think I would relax. I am going to ask my dr about it today though.

You said in your OP you got a new script and you slept from 10-1. If that ends up being consistant, it's obviously not enough sleep but they could prob get some good data during a study in 3 hours.

I understand having a problem falling asleep, but you were also asleep yesterday and then the anxiousness shouldn't cause you to wake up.

 

[MoniqueU]

Your story could be my DH's. He's been taking Ambian for a while now but it didn't work through the night reliably. He did a sleep study and there is nothing 'WRONG' other then the fact he doesn't sleep and never really did. The fix for him showed up on accident about a year ago when his allergies started to act up. One dose of Benedryl 1/2 hr before a lower dose of the Ambian and he slept through the night. I suggest checking with your Dr first to make sure its safe to combine them for you but for him, it's been a blessing.

FYI, we noticed that a caffeinated beverage, even early in the morning, would mess with him sometimes and that a drink containing alcohol even as early as dinnertime had the potential to keep him up all night even with the sleep meds.

My poor DH has gone days without sleeping, my heart goes out to anyone suffering with this.

I drink water mostly out of an adult sippy cup as I just quit smoking and it helps with the oral aspect of that. I LOVE iced tea but don't know how to make it so my mom or MIL will make it for me as a special treat. I do like my coffee and have it in the real early morning at like 3 am. I started having the ambien resistence for awhile before the quitting smoking so I don't think that is it.

I just did this with the benadrYl I took 200 mgs and my anti anxiety meds and slept anothe hour and 15 minutes. That ought to get me through the day with no voices.


I agree with the poster above that I have NOTHING to lose with a sleep study. My mom and another friend have sleep apnea, sleep a hell of alot more then I do and still complain about being tired and need a nap.

I am going to put this out there,, I really really didn't want to because there is such a stigma attached to it but I am diagnosed as bipolar 2 I think it is the one that is the worst kind to have. I am VERY med compliant and mania doesn't seem to be an issue right now, I am not shopping all the time, talking on the phone all the time or hyperventilating which is what happens to me when I hit mania. The doctor has been watching me VERY close for that.

If like a PP said they discourage you from taking any sleep meds I know for a fact I will not sleep. I may not sleep with them as well as hospitals stress me out big time and stress like that would take a higher precedence then sleep for me.

I am not trying to be negative or argumenative just honest. I will ask my Dr AGAIN and bring up if he thinks the sleep study would be ok.

 

[mickeyboat]

It sounds like it's worth a shot.

I have a thought - I wonder if the insomnia is a manifestation of your manic / bipolar problem, and if your psychiatrist should look into fiddling with your bipolar meds instead of adding sleeping meds.

I sure hope you get some help, soon.

 

[themarquis]

They can get plenty of data even if you only sleep a little bit. I think they like it if you sleep 5 hours or more, but it's okay if you can't. I had one sleep study where I only slept 3 1/2 or 4 hours, and they said that was fine.

Even if you end up not sleeping at all during your study, it's still worth doing for two reasons:

1) it could be that they'll get insight into the problem by studying what's going on when you're NOT able to sleep (i.e., you could be drifting and having microsleeps and then getting jolted awake, etc. or it could be that your brain never enters the "sleepy" stage needed to actually go deeper into sleep, etc.)

2) it could be that you ARE sleeping but aren't aware of it. I know that sounds crazy, but a pretty good proportion of insomniacs, when they go for a sleep study, turn out to actually be sleeping a fair amount (maybe not enough, but some.) Then they'll wake up the next morning and claim they didn't sleep at all!!!

The reason this happens is that your consciousness is greatly altered even before you fall asleep, so you sometimes sort of don't remember sleeping (for some people, that is.) Or there's another disorder going on where you're not entering deep sleep, so it's not refreshing and you remember tossing and turning and feeling "wakeful" a lot (even though you were actually sleeping). Anyway, this issue can be exacerbated by stuff like Ambien, since it causes alterations in consciousness.

Bottom line: get it done. It can't hurt, and it may help.

P.S. have you asked about Trazodone? I mentioned it when replying to your last post -- I've had some success with it.

 

[MoniqueU]

They can get plenty of data even if you only sleep a little bit. I think they like it if you sleep 5 hours or more, but it's okay if you can't. I had one sleep study where I only slept 3 1/2 or 4 hours, and they said that was fine.

Even if you end up not sleeping at all during your study, it's still worth doing for two reasons:

1) it could be that they'll get insight into the problem by studying what's going on when you're NOT able to sleep (i.e., you could be drifting and having microsleeps and then getting jolted awake, etc. or it could be that your brain never enters the "sleepy" stage needed to actually go deeper into sleep, etc.)

2) it could be that you ARE sleeping but aren't aware of it. I know that sounds crazy, but a pretty good proportion of insomniacs, when they go for a sleep study, turn out to actually be sleeping a fair amount (maybe not enough, but some.) Then they'll wake up the next morning and claim they didn't sleep at all!!!

The reason this happens is that your consciousness is greatly altered even before you fall asleep, so you sometimes sort of don't remember sleeping (for some people, that is.) Or there's another disorder going on where you're not entering deep sleep, so it's not refreshing and you remember tossing and turning and feeling "wakeful" a lot (even though you were actually sleeping). Anyway, this issue can be exacerbated by stuff like Ambien, since it causes alterations in consciousness.

Bottom line: get it done. It can't hurt, and it may help.

P.S. have you asked about Trazodone? I mentioned it when replying to your last post -- I've had some success with it.

Very informative post and easy for me to comprehend.

Yes I have been on Trazadone. That didn't seem to work either. It just seems like i am immune to every sleep aid out there and can't sleep on my own. I can go days with a few hours a night of sleep and not hit a wall and crash and the the scary voices start. I can suck it up and go to disey and walk miles in a day and that doesnt seem to help and on 2 or 3 hours of sleep I am not exactlyy in any sort of shape to be running a couple of miles.

Thanks for your post

 

[M5ward]

I have had sleep issues for years. Initially, I just couldn't fall asleep at all; it was nothing for me to go around the clock with no sleep. Then I started getting up early (for me)...between 7:00 and 8:00 am. That allowed me to fall asleep at night, but I would wake up in about 2 or 3 hours; then my mind would kick into overdrive and I'd just lie there and worry about how tired I was going to be. I did Tylenol PM or Benadryl each of which worked for a while then the Benadryl started making me jumpy (just what I needed.)Finally I asked my doctor for a prescription; he prescribed Lunesta (suggested Ambien but I refused based on information I had read) in 3mg. tablets. Now I'm tired enough to fall asleep about 11:30 and the Lunesta lets me sleep at least 5 or 6 hours which is really long for me. There have been times when I've gone 8 hours which is WONDERFUL!

 

[themarquis]

Very informative post and easy for me to comprehend.

Yes I have been on Trazadone. That didn't seem to work either. It just seems like i am immune to every sleep aid out there and can't sleep on my own. I can go days with a few hours a night of sleep and not hit a wall and crash and the the scary voices start. I can suck it up and go to disey and walk miles in a day and that doesnt seem to help and on 2 or 3 hours of sleep I am not exactlyy in any sort of shape to be running a couple of miles.

Thanks for your post

No problem! I have similar issues -- the insomnia plus feeling like I'm "immune" to all the sleep meds

a couple more thoughts -- first, can you try higher doses of the various sleep meds? (check with your doctor!) With trazodone you can take a ton. Benadryl, I think a double dose can be okay occasionally. The ambien, probably not (it works differently).

Second -- I recently started buying a tea called "Sleepytime Extra". It's made by the folks that make regular "sleepytime" tea, but it's different. It has an herb called valarian in it, which is fantastic! You can also buy valarian by itself at a health food store, but it is stinky stuff (hee hee, I once had a bottle of valarian in my car for a while and it started smelling like BUTT ... literally, the strongest butt smell you have ever smelled ... gross! )

The tea is not smelly and it tastes pretty nice. I recommend drinking it fast and then laying down right away, because it seems to hit you in a wave. I've had some success using it to sleep -- doesn't work every time, but about half the time for me.

Third, my sleep clinic that I go to has a special insomnia program. I guess you go to appointments every week for like 12 weeks and they have a "team" of doctors, sleep specialists, psychiatrists, etc. who work through anything that could be leading to or worsening the sleeping problems -- medical stuff, caffeine and alcohol use, anxiety, sleep hygeine, etc. it's very intense and apparently most people come out of it cured!!! Whoo hoo!!!

You're in CA and I'm in MI, but maybe somewhere near you, there is an insomnia program like this? It can't hurt to investigate or ask your sleep dr.!

 

[Candy30]

On the sleep study, my husband went and was totally uncomfortable with the wires and someone watching. He thought he didn't sleep at all!!! But the test showed he did for 10-15 minutes here and there. They were able to get enough data from that. I 2nd the motion for you to try a sleep study!! It may give you insight as PP have said.

 

[MoniqueU]

Couldn't figure out how to edit the title to update.
Back from the dr.s Picture the worst dressed person you have ever seen out cruising around, I think I looked like that but a meth addict look. Mismatched pjs and my hair is just indescribable.

He says I don't need a sleep study I need sleep. Says it is becoming an emergency. I got told to stop everything they put me on yesterday and go on doxipine and dalmane. Max doses. Do not drive (I don't drive anyway) do not lift anything hot. My mom lives with us which is good because I will be honest I am unable to care for myself right now let alone my kids and my DH would have to have taken time off work which in this economy isn't a smart career move. I told the dr I am worried about ending up in the regular hospital for exhaustion. I am not sad, no racing thoughts, he doesn't think I am manic right now, not depressed, not worried I just can't sleep. I told the kids no friends over and no noise. We usually have a houseful so I feel bad.
TO the person who said they were on lunesta I was on that last week. It worked about 3 days then stopped working and gave me some bizarre personality changes and I was saying inappropriate out of character things and really outgoing.

I have probably shared to much info that I will regret later when someone pulls my posts up to use against me like always happens on the dis, I just thought I would update those of you that were nice enough to take the time to try and help me out.

Also I am worried if this doesn't work over the weekend what to do?? I can have my dr paged but then what happens? I responded well enough to treatment once I was diagnosed with bipolar that I was never hospitalized or anything like that so I don't know how that works on weekends.