Sleep Study Completed

Well, I've worked harder to sleep than I did last night, but I don't remember when that was. The conclusion from the study is probably going to be couched in terms that read, " blah blah blah... consistent with sleep apnea". Why, you ask? Well, because: 1) I sleep on a hard mattress. This was a soft, soft foamish cushion with a plastic covering and an egg-crate foam top with a crinkly plastic covering over that. 2) They wire you up so much that you can't turn, even if you *COULD* turn on a mattress that awful. 3) My head was LOWER than my feet in spite of pillows, wedges, etc., and I am used to sleeping on an incline (because of the apnea) and so I couldn't get to sleep at all!!! The tech said that I had "interruptions" oftener than every 10 seconds and never hit REM sleep until 3:00 in the morning when they strapped the CPAP mask to my face. Sleep came much more easily, and I was able to sleep deeply enough that when they had the pressure in appropriately low, they were able to record obstruction. I am SO exhausted I could bleed! I wish I wasn't so fearful of CIGNA's rejection of my request. It is SO hard to keep setting aside the fears... such hard work. Aaargh! It's 8:20 am. I'm going to go to bed! Patti in Tucson

Aww, poor Patti!! Well, on the UPSIDE, (two things) they made it so miserable that sleep apnea SHOULD have been in your favor enough to have been documented, and two, NOW you can go home and comfortably SLEEP for real. (Hopefully not through your weekend now!) This will DEF. help in your fight against Cigna. Just remember, every little bit helps against these idiots. I really do feel that bigger and better things will be coming in the way of relief for people that have Cigna. When I called to follow up on the complaint that I filed against them, (and will continue to do, if I ever get past all the appeals) and the gal verified "against Cigna, right?" and I said "Yah, what a surprise, huh", and they gal responded "NOT HARDLY"..well, that tells me that there are A LOT of very disastified people that have simply had enough. Sorry if I offend anyone, but I think the time is nearing that the proverbial sh*t ha**** hit the fan with Cigna. (I SURE HOPE SO)

Patty, I can empathize with you entirely, during that test I felt like the creature from the Black Lagoon....I didn't want sleep apnea, does anyone. The research I've done shows there are all kinds of long-term health problems from untreated sleep apnea, heart disease is one of them. Your organs simply do not get enough oxygen at a rest state...this is an over simplified explanation. The thing to remember is, you've taken a positive step to improve your health and quality of life, the test is just a small bump in the road. I'm sure there will be many. When I had my sleep test, I was mortified to wear that mask, I made my husband swear that if I died, he would remove it before he called whoever he had to to come take me away.....now I have a different perspective, I sleep and it is a rich/rewarding sleep that rejuvenates me to fight yet another bump in the road. Now I laugh at myself, but I didn't at the time. Your in my thoughts....

Once you get the Cpap...... you'll feel so rested and great that the bad night you had at the sleep study will feel soooo worth it. =)