Anyone Know Anything About Overnight Sleep Studies?

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

I'm going to a sleep specialist tomorrow, who will then prescribe that I do an overnight sleep study next week or the week after (so they said). I have no idea what this entails and even though I'm sure he will explain more tomorrow, I wanted to know if any of you have gone through this before and can tell me your experience. That way I can be more prepared to ask the right questions :)

Thanks!

[TimeChaser]

1. I was in one before.

It all depends on what exactly is being studied. I had electrode thingys attached to my head while I slept.

[DanCa]

2. Just recently

They'll put you in a room and watch you on a monitor. THe mask itself isn't that uncomfortable once they get it hooked up. Note ask for a large -mediums suck.. Also your sleeping poisition will be restricted. Other than that its no big deal. Rember just make sure the mask is big enough. If you get one too small than it's uncomfortable.

[Ladyhawk]

3. Yes! I've undergone two.

A pulse ox test had shown I stopped breathing some 70 times during the night and a full sleep study was ordered. I was sure the results of the first test were spurious because I never entered all the stages of sleep. They stuck electrodes all over my body and put me in an uncomfortable bed while they watched on camera. It was just too weird. One of the electrodes kept malfunctioning and just as I got to sleep, someone came in and readjusted it. This happened several times. I never entered a deep sleep.

When the test results came back, the doctor who had studied them said nothing was wrong with me. I didn't read the report, but my good friend and counselor called bullshit because the doc was trying to say something about psychosomatic illnesses and insisted I was OK. Even my counselor could see I never entered REM sleep or any of the deeper stages, so the test results were bogus.

If this counselor hadn't stood up for me about a million times when things like this happened, I would probably be dead.

Another test was ordered and--surprise!--I have sleep apnea. I wear a CPAP at night to make sure I keep breathing.

I don't trust most doctors and clinics to do right by patients. Make sure you actually have a fairly "normal" night's sleep, at least by your standards, before you trust the results of the sleep study.

It's a damn shame patients have to fight for every bone the health care system throws at them. Every time I've had a health problem I had to scratch and fight and claw to get decent health care. I'm to the point where I expect lousy health care and take any steps necessary to balance the scales in my favor. I've mentioned non-existent lawyers, for example. That one worked pretty well. :) I wish I could get back the two years of my life I spent waiting for approval for MRIs...that sucked ass. :(