Sleep Study??

[hiwaygal]

Anyone ever have a sleep study?

My doc suggested one for me and it doesn't sound too bad, but I'm interested in others' experiences...

 

[GoofieRuthie]

I had to have one before my gastric bypass. It turns out that I had sleep apnea. (That went away after I lost weight) The sleep study itself isn't that bad, but....they hook lots of wires to you and you have to be careful how you lay so that they don't come off or get tangled up in them. I usually sleep on my side curled up and I couldn't do that, so I didn't get much rest. If you don't get a certain amount of sleep during the test you have to come back and take it over. Thankfully, I got enough in. Some places will give you a sedative to help you fall asleep easier. Some people have trouble getting to sleep in that environment, so you might want to consider that. I wasn't really ready to go to sleep yet but I managed to fall asleep pretty quick anyway. (They didn't give me anything to help) Hope that helps a little. Good luck. There's nothing scary or painful about it.

 

[bicker]

I had one once. Luckily it found nothing wrong, but I do have to admit it was practically impossible to get to sleep. I think they said they got only about three hours of useful data. I wouldn't plan on going to work the day after the study.

 

[hiwaygal]

Thank you so much for the info!

I'm not really sure what I want to know...it was just kind of unexpected to have the doc suggest it, you know?

I'm hypothyroid and I'm being treated for that...but I am always tired! I can come home from work, go straight to bed, sleep all night and come home the next evening after work and do it again! It's pathetic!

My doc said she wants to see if I have sleep apnea, or some other something that is interrupting my sleep and making me tired.

I told her I didn't see any reason not to do the test, but I am a little concerned about being able to fall asleep and stay asleep in a strange place.

 

[hiwaygal]

I had one once. Luckily it found nothing wrong, but I do have to admit it was practically impossible to get to sleep. I think they said they got only about three hours of useful data. I wouldn't plan on going to work the day after the study.

That's kind of what I am worried about. I'm always tired and can sleep almost anywhere, but you know how it is...when you WANT to or are SUPPOSED to do something, you can't!

I was planning to take the next day off. If worse came to worse, I could do some work from home.

 

[bicker]

Some folks can sleep with a bunch of wires stuck to them -- others can't. I figure, it's not a problem. So, I have one restless night, and then a whole day off to rest, afterwards. I call that a net-win for me!

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I have to be honest, I had one scheduled and cancelled it....the whole thing boggled my mind...I have to sleep with people watching me. I knew I would not be able to sleep so I cancelled it. I was going through a period of time when I was having difficulty sleeping, but that seems to have passed now. I do not believe a lot of sleep issues are caused by stress in one's life and I was having stress.....then for women add on hormonal....a lot of things can play into not being able to sleep.

If it starts up again, and I am having difficult, I will reschedule, but right now, I am good..

 

[bicker]

I don't remember anyone watching me sleep. I think that's the last thing they were interested in. The computers watched me sleep. The nurses and aides were just there to hook me up, and make sure that nothing unusual occurred because of being in an unfamiliar bed.

 

[hiwaygal]

I have to be honest, I had one scheduled and cancelled it....the whole thing boggled my mind...I have to sleep with people watching me. I knew I would not be able to sleep so I cancelled it. I was going through a period of time when I was having difficulty sleeping, but that seems to have passed now. I do not believe a lot of sleep issues are caused by stress in one's life and I was having stress.....then for women add on hormonal....a lot of things can play into not being able to sleep.

If it starts up again, and I am having difficult, I will reschedule, but right now, I am good..

I'm glad you are doing better now!

I once had something else going on (dizziness) and they tried to tell me it was because of stress. Now, I know stress can cause a lot of problems...but really, don't we all have stress and don't we all just have to find a way to deal with it??

My doc and I don't think it's a stress issue for me, we are just trying to find out why I'm so tired all the time. I'm sure most of it is my weight, but I have no motivation and...well...I'm too tired!

 

[hiwaygal]

I don't remember anyone watching me sleep. I think that's the last thing they were interested in. The computers watched me sleep. The nurses and aides were just there to hook me up, and make sure that nothing unusual occurred because of being in an unfamiliar bed.

I'm not too concerned about people watching me! That's what they are there for (but I can understand how that would bother folks).

It's the unfamiliar part that kind of worries me...

 

[powellrj]

I have had 4, the last one was a 24 hour one. The overnight ones aren't bad at all. You just go to the hospital in the evening and they hook you up. You get settled in and try to sleep. I would swear I didn't sleep, but they always insist I do. In the morning about 6am, they wake you up and you are free to leave. They tell you that you can shower there, but I prefer to go home and get cleaned up. I have always gone to work the next day. I was always tired anyway, so it was no worse than before. I have never been offered any kind of a seditive so I can't comment on that.

If its just an overnight one its really no big deal and I would go and not worry about it.

The 24 hour ones are a huge pain. You sleep for awhile, they wake you up for a few hours, then you have to sleep again for a few hours. You have to stay in your room, but you aren't allowed to lay on your bed, so you just sit in a regular chair with a hospital tray table and a tv with limited channels and try to keep busy.

 

[hiwaygal]

The 24 hour ones are a huge pain. You sleep for awhile, they wake you up for a few hours, then you have to sleep again for a few hours. You have to stay in your room, but you aren't allowed to lay on your bed, so you just sit in a regular chair with a hospital tray table and a tv with limited channels and try to keep busy.

UGH!!! That sounds horrible!! I would need my laptop so at least I could DIS!!!

The doc said that mine would be from about 9pm (lights out) til 7am...and I will definitely go home to shower.

The routine at home will be screwy too...maybe I'll just drive myself so DH can keep things here as normal as possible.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

Here's the thing.......I had very little information on the sleep study....I knew you would be hooked up to wires and I have watched my daughter go through sleep studies when she was little and it was not pleasant. Try making a child sleep when they do not want to sleep and hook them up to wires.....thanksfully it was not overnight, but she had to sleep and we had to deprive her of sleep the night before.. Probably part of the reason I was in no rush to have this done to me. At least, I understood what was going to be done, but nonetheless was not comfortable with it.

I understand someone hooks you up and then you just sleep with computers doing the study....but who checks the computers? and if you turn over and knock off one of the wires.....does the computer let someone know and they come in and fix it.. I felt vulnerable and uncomfortable....

There was not enough info given to me and I live a few hours away from Boston...I decided if I need this sleep study, I will have it done in Boston, not in this small local hospital on Cape Cod.. I was just not comfortable with the instructions and how it was handled hence my cancelling it......if the issue comes up again, I will reschedule but in Boston...probably Mass General.. not here on the Cape.

 

[hiwaygal]

Here's the thing.......I had very little information on the sleep study....I knew you would be hooked up to wires and I have watched my daughter go through sleep studies when she was little and it was not pleasant. Try making a child sleep when they do not want to sleep and hook them up to wires.....thanksfully it was not overnight, but she had to sleep and we had to deprive her of sleep the night before.. Probably part of the reason I was in no rush to have this done to me. At least, I understood what was going to be done, but nonetheless was not comfortable with it.

I understand someone hooks you up and then you just sleep with computers doing the study....but who checks the computers? and if you turn over and knock off one of the wires.....does the computer let someone know and they come in and fix it.. I felt vulnerable and uncomfortable....

There was not enough info given to me and I live a few hours away from Boston...I decided if I need this sleep study, I will have it done in Boston, not in this small local hospital on Cape Cod.. I was just not comfortable with the instructions and how it was handled hence my cancelling it......if the issue comes up again, I will reschedule but in Boston...probably Mass General.. not here on the Cape.

I hadn't thought about what would happen if one of the wires came off!

At least you know it's an option if you need it.

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

I've had a few at a few different hospitals. They all involved a bunch of wires stuck all over the body, and a monitor stuck to the finger to monitor oxygen levels. Then they turn off the lights and the room has a mic so any little sound they can hear. In the one they had a red circle of lights around the camera just to remind me that someone was watching my every move. I think I grunted or something once, and they asked me if I needed anything. That was during my first sleep study so I had a hard time sleeping after that just thinking that someone was watching and listening to my every move.

That one didn't go very well at all. I didn't know I could have worn sweat pants so it was easier to hook me up and I wouldn't have to change and little tricks like that that everyone else there to do a sleep study seemed to know.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

Wait.. didn't Bicker just say it was a computer watching you....so if you grunted, did the computer ask if you needed anything?? I am confused again.

"That was during my first sleep study so I had a hard time sleeping after that just thinking that someone was watching and listening to my every move. "

I knew I was not alone in my thinking here.. but bravo to you for having it done.. I just chickened out when the symptoms went away and thought I will do it another day if the symptoms come back..

 

[apirateslifeforme]

Mine was horrible. First off, it was WAY too hot in my room. The tech said, "Heat helps you sleep." Not me - I fall asleep quite easily when it's cold. So I was sweating and my heart was racing from the heat. She dug the wires into my scalp so deeply that when I tried to wash my hair the next day, I had sores where they'd been attached. Not only that, but the adhesive she'd used had pulled a lot of my hair out. She told me I had to be asleep by 10:30 p.m. or they'd consider that insomnia. Great...my normal sleep pattern is 2 a.m. to 9 a.m. She wouldn't let me read a book or anything - she said, "Okay, lights out!" and left the room. She also told me, "You have to lie on your back." I've NEVER slept on my back. I sleep half on my side, half on my stomach, leg thrown over a body pillow. I've had surgery; I can't sleep flat, and I cannot sleep on my back at all. At one point she came in and said, "Let's see if raising the back of the bed will help." Huh? I don't sleep sitting up! And she had to keep coming in because as I tried to get comfortable, the wires kept detaching. The tech was just generally really snippy and cross with me.

So the official diagnosis was "severe insomnia." Gee, there's a surprise...

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

Wait.. didn't Bicker just say it was a computer watching you....so if you grunted, did the computer ask if you needed anything?? I am confused again.

"That was during my first sleep study so I had a hard time sleeping after that just thinking that someone was watching and listening to my every move. "

I knew I was not alone in my thinking here.. but bravo to you for having it done.. I just chickened out when the symptoms went away and thought I will do it another day if the symptoms come back..

I'm sure every hospital is different in how they run their sleep clinics and stuff like that, but at the one hospital that I did one study in they walked me passed a room where there were three techs sitting in front of monitors that all had people sleeping in them. I don't know how many people each were responsible for or anything like that.

That was my first one I believe, so it was like "Here's your bed, and if you snore really loud or drool all over yourself, we'll be watching and laughing. Now try to get some sleep, M'K?"

 

[themarquis]

I've had two sleep studies in the last couple of months and was diagnosed with severe apnea. Now I sleep every night with a mask that provides air at a slight pressure. Although I still have a ways to go (I haven't found a mask that is really comfortable yet and I'm not sleeping through the night with it on), I can honestly say that being treated for apnea has changed my life -- transformed me from a zombie to a regular person!

I've spent so much of my life missing out on stuff because I had no energy. I got to the point where I thought being exhausted all the time was how everyone felt, and I was just lazy because I gave in to the exhaustion. It is so nice to be able to feel good every day, now that I'm being treated. Feeling good has a ton of ramifications, from lessening my problems with depression/anxiety to improving my job performance to having a better relationship with my gf (since I am not so b**chy all the time!).

The only advice I can give to you is please go get the study. Don't sit around and worry, oh, what if I can't sleep or gosh, those wires sound uncomfortable or that's weird that people will be watching me sleep. The study is a necessary inconvenience if you want to find out what is wrong. If nothing is wrong, well, great. All it's cost you is a night of poor sleep hooked up with wires. If something is wrong, then you can potentially be provided with a simple treatment that will make you feel great every day in the future. This treatment is easy to use, noninvasive, inexpensive, and does not have side-effects.

My personal experience with the studies was that they were fine. It wasn't the most fun thing in the world to be hooked up to wires and forced to sleep in a strange bed. But there are no horror stories to report. I slept most of the night. The techs were friendly and respectful. They had to come in a couple of times to fix wires that were out of place, but no big deal. I brought my own pillows and an extra blanket to replicate the feeling of being at home. I think you will be fine if you go in with the right attitude.

 

[themarquis]

oh re: watching you sleep -- yes, they do! Although usually they're watching several patients at once so they're probably not paying a whole lot of attention to what any particular person is doing. They also attach a microphone to you and listen to you snore.

I think it is important to realize that this is their job. They watch dozens of people sleep every week. I sincerely doubt they are sitting there laughing when people snore -- I mean really, snoring and drooling must be really boring to people who deal with it for a living! For those of you who are weirded out by this: do you refuse to go to the doctor because they are going to look at your naked body (and "laugh at you" with the other doctors?) Come on...