Worst night of my life!

Oh my God! That sleep study business.....I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. First of all, who the hell can sleep with tubes coming out your nose, Vaseline in your hair, and ten thousand wires that you get all tangled in. I hadn't had anything to drink in four hours before the test and I had to call for help three times to pee. It was like camping when you know that you only have to go a little bit, but if you don't bite the bullet and get out of the tent, you'll never sleep. It creeped me out that they were watching too. I mean, from another room they could see my eyes blink? Creepy. How zoomed was that camera? Anyway...I only slept for like an hour and a half, which made for a great day today. My fifth graders felt bad for me. It also means I have to go back again. I actually told the lady that I would consider being fat forever if I wouldn't have to spend another night there. On a positive note, I did get most of my tests finished yesterday. I have two left on Thursday, the stress test and the cardiolyte test. They can't be too bad!

I am so sorry to hear that!!  Keep the faith!

Yes, it does stink!

I did sleep and found out that I have apnea!  Had to go again and sleep not only with the wires on but a mask - that hurt like hell!  Now I am supposed to get a machine for home and sleep with it... havn't done it yet!  They say I need to bring it to the hospital with me when I have the surgery...and then I hear that once one looses the weight - the apnea decreases....

If they give me the machine, it will collect dust. I refuse to sleep with something on my face.

When I talked to Dr. Roye  in the beginning - he had the results of my sleep study.  I told him that I was freaked out by the thought of wearing a mask because I'm so claustrophobic.  He told me that if he were me, he'd be more freaked out at the thought of not using it becuase my apnea was so severe.  That pretty much convinced me to give it a shot.

I changed doctors, went to a nurse practitioner in Dr. Millman's office - she told me I didn't need a face mask - which I had been told I needed because I'm a mouth breather.  The nurse practitioner (Lauren) told me that if I got the problem with my nasal passages worked out I would have not trouble with the nose canulars.  I started using flonase - then went for my second sleep study.  Worked wonders!!!!  The canulars are really not so bad - I've been using the bi-pap for about 6 months now and I have to admit - I feel soooooooooo much better.  I never realized that I was so tired from the apnea - thought it was just from keeping up with work and the kids activities - some days are non stop.

Anyway - I guess my long winded advice is to give it a shot.  It's not so bad as it was during the sleep study.  After about a week you find you get used to it.   One doctor actually said, if you can only go 3 or 4 hours with it, that's better than none at all. I hope you give it a try - hopefully you will feel so much better too :) Pam

The sleep study is difficult, but its for a good reason. I had a hard time falling asleep as well with all the wires and the camera, but in the end I did and its a step toward the ultimate goal. As for the camera, they could tell the blinking because of the pads that were placed next to your eyes, it could read blinking as well as movement, not because the camera was focused in that closely.  I'm so sorry you had a bad night, but try to think of it as just 1 night for a lifetime of health. 

Hi,

I to had the same sort of trouble that you had with the only exception is that I left at about 2:00 in the morning because I didnt fall asleep at all the first study. I fet the same thing all the wires and the main problem I had was the knowlege that they were watching me. I did get tech to give me a tour of their lab to see what they monitor which helped quite a bit. The techs also suggested I go to my PCP and get something to help me fall asleep which I did, I was able to complete the test and find out I have  severe OSA. I cant tell you how much better I am sleeping with the cpap machine, There  are many different types of masks you can use I have tried 3 different types and have found that the nasal prongs work best for me. Good luck  Marc     

Hi Marc!

Thanks for some interesting info.  I seen my sleep results yesterday and what a difference the machine made!  I have to pick up my machine next Friday and I didn't like that mask - it hurt my cheeks!  I am going to try the prongs since you say they work best - I really don't like anything on my face!

Hey congradulations on the loss so far... I just finished ALL my testing and I put in a call to Dr Pohl's office - he has to review my records and then they will make an appointment for my office visit and hopefully I will have a date soon! I need to have it done before 12/31/07 - that is when my insurance authorization expires!  I want to get in before Thanksgiving or right after!

Take care,