Last night was the first night that I ever spent at a hospital and honestly, I hope that it will be the last night. If you have never had a sleep study, then you would not know about this visit to a center where they monitor the oxygen level in your blood, your heart rate, brain activity, muscle movements, and video tape all of this. You would think that when you are have wires attaching you to all of these devices it becomes incredibility hard to sleep, but in fact, after a coupe of hours you can fall asleep. It turns out that most people who participate in sleep studies do not really like them, and now I understand why that is the case.
It turns out that I am perfectly fine when I sleep on my stomach or on my side, but when I sleep on my back I occasionally stopped breathing. This type of behavior is associated with sleep apnea, which is not a fatal condition, and fortunately will not cause any permanent damage if I remember to sleep on my stomach. I guess that means no more sleeping in the comfort of a hammock on the beach. Now those of you who know my strange sleeping habits and would agree that is abnormal for me to go to bed at ten in evening. That is when the sleep study people thought that I should go to sleep and I promptly woke up five hours later and was ready to begin the day.
Around three in the morning, I was able to get home after stopping at McDonalds for a value meal and a caffeinated beverage. To participate in a sleep study you cannot have caffeinated beverages after noon the day of the study. With my recent addiction to Mountain Dew Livewire, this was not as much a problem as it was annoying. On the way home the police department, fire department, and other emergency response units had the highway blocked off around my house and were involved in some kind of activity. I asked what was going on, but was told how to detour to my parents house, which was on the exact opposite side of the area the police were interested in observing. Seriously, I witnessed over thirty vehicles participating in this activity at three in the morning.
I was up for several hours thinking about the day and all of the homework that I needed to get done this weekend, when suddenly a couple of hours passed and I was back to sleep again. The phone was ringing and my father had brought lunch home. Now I am always a fan of snacks, but I was surprised to realize that I had slept for almost twelve hours in the last fifteen and was still al little tired. My initial reaction of the sleep study is to say that I am not surprised that most people do not enjoy participating. Most people would have a hard time with being connected to that many devices and sleeping in a hospital room, which has some low level lights that do not turn off, and is full of small noises throughout the night.
The technician that had the ominous responsibility of observing my sleeping habits was a very interesting individual who was an independent thinker, NASCAR fan, and generally well traveled person. We probably got along because of the number of conspiracy theories we agreed about, but I can honestly say that I respect anyone that can sit in front of a computer screen all night and watch vital signs, people sleeping, and still pay enough attention to take notes about the entire process. That is a job that my attention deficit disorder would defiantly preclude me from holding any time in the near future. I hope that the report of what they found will be interesting. For me to be able to read the report, I will have to request a copy from the doctor, because of the strange information filtering practices of modern medicine, it seems that consultants only want to send information about you to doctors who then do not really have the time to sit down and explain the entire situation.
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I have just returned from the Cardiologist and he referred me to a Pulmonologist to hear more about the 60 episodes of apnea I had during my sleep study. At the Cardiologist’s office, the nurse and M.D. are aware that that was one lousy test. After now looking at a few websites, I understand that I was “seeing” flashes of light through the night and it was annoying to have a light above the bed on low all night. The wires for the equipment attached to my head were wrapped around my ears (or behind them actually) and I could not lie on either side, allowing me only my back to sleep, which was not my favorite position to sleep. On top of all of this, I am an RN and am insulted by such a seemly lously test!!!
Char
I cannot agree with you more, sleep studies are strange. Thanks for sharing your story!
I cannot agree with you more, sleep studies are strange. Thanks for sharing your story!
I just had a sleep study last night. It wasn’t bad at all. Yes, it’s difficult being wired up; but, the tech taped the wires together in such a way that they really weren’t particularly bothersome.
Unlike some who have commented, I believe it is VERY important to diagnose and treat obstructive sleep apnea(OSA). In fact, an RN in critical care, I have seen a number of patients whose strokes were probably precipitated by OSA.
So, when I started being awakened by severe, pounding headaches, I was concerned. I have been told I snore, sometimes loudly, and I never feel that I get a refreshing night’s sleep.
When I worked the night shift for years, I used all types of caffiene to keep me going. I still need a LOT of coffee to get me through the morning and sometimes more to get through the afternoon. By early evening, all I can think of is SLEEP.
I am very anxious to get the results of my study and start any treatment I may need. In the 2 weeks it will take to get the results, I just pray I don’t have any of the serious problems that can occur due to OSA.
I hope you find the answers you are seeking from the sleep study. Some people do better with sleep studies than others.