Sleep study for sleep apnea

I have an anxiety disorder and I'm super anxious about the sleep study I have to do. Can anyone who has had it let me know what they do? Do I bring pyjamas? Does someone come in and wake you up? Where do they place the electrodes? Is it hard to fall asleep there? My brain is filled with questions

Hi!!

I also have severe anxiety disorder and know how you are feeling. You bring your own pyjamas anything really that you like. Even bring your own pillows if you want. From what I can remember the electrodes are put on your head, and pulse points such as ankles, wrists etc. It is certainly not the most comfortable night you will have, but it is only one night. They will wake you in the morning, and possibly through the night. They are super good with you as they know how people feel. But try to remember it is only one night and one more step in your journey.

You can do this!!!!

I found it quite difficult to get to sleep but I'm sure part of that was that I was anxious to get enough sleep for the testing, I needn't have worried they can do it with just a few hours. You bring your pjs. I have done it through two different centres and neither allowed you to bring pillows/blankets etc as to control for people bringing in bed bugs so that was actually somewhat reassuring. I always check every bed for bugs lol. They place electrodes all over, for me it was chest, collarbones, legs, back of head, forehead, under nose and mouth, pretty much everywhere and it's not comfortable for sleeping but it means they are getting the best data. They do come in and wake you up, you call out in the night if you need to use the washroom and they will come unhook you from all the wires, the room is monitored audio wise. It's not fun but necessary. Wait lists can be long in some cities, if it is for your area ask for a referral to a different city that can do it faster so it doesn't delay anything with your progress at your centre. Good luck.

Do you know if you still have to do the sleep study if you are on CPAP or BiPAP? I'd love to skip this step since I am being treated for apnea and I do not sleep well in the lab. (first time was an hour and a half and second time was an hour)

No, as long as you're using your machine you're fine and shouldn't need another test. They just want you to do the test because you need to bring your machine with you to surgery if it is needed.

You have to have had a sleep study within the last two years, otherwise they make you do one. It sucks ... I felt like I barely slept at mine two weeks ago.

You can call if you're pillow particular, I was allowed to bring my own when I had my second test, they want you to sleep on your back so I need a couple of pillows so I could breath in that position. If you have pajamas that are short bottoms that would be good as they put the electrodes on your legs then tape them in place I wore yoga capris and had trouble getting the tape marks off. If you wake up and think you need to pee, call right away, as they could be in another room unhooking someone else and you might have to wait a few minutes. Usually they hook you up by 9 pm and then want lights out by 10, hard if you go to bed later, I took a book. Anytime after about 4:30 if you wake up they'll unhook you and let you go as they'll have enough data by then.

If at all possible book for a night where you don't have to go to work the next day, as you won't sleep well. Most facilities have showers so you can shower wash your hair before you leave to go to work. (goo in your hair from the electrodes).

Its not really that bad, just they usually make you get retested once you have your machine (if you need one), and commonly every few years after that.

I'm hoping that once I lose enough weight my Sleep Apnea will go away.

I had my sleep study done. Its nothing scary but I am not going to lie its not the most comfortable thing to have done.

I was allowed to bring my own pillow. And I wore a loose T-shirt and loose yoga pants.

I got there and the tech hooked me all up all over my head/face/collarbone area, hands, legs. I have very long hair so the amount of sticky gel they had to use to keep all the electrodes in my hair was brutal. Lucky for me I had mine on a Friday night so I just went home on Saturday morning and jumped in the shower.

I am a very light sleeper and I don't sleep well in new situations or away from my husband (I have anxiety as well), so I had the worst sleep ever! I found it really noisy and disruptive but lucky its only for one night.

They do recommend you take all your regular meds as you normally would so if you are on an anti anxiety med take that. But they don't want you taking anything like a sleeping pill as it will skew the results.

Here is a pic of more or less what it looks like, although I had way more electrodes than this guy. Best of luck, you can do this for one night, if I can get through it you can too!

I was not permitted my own pjs nor was I allowed to bring my own pillow. In fact they were very adamant about that.

It was uncomfortable and I did not get much sleep.

Thankfully it was just a one night deal. :)

I had mine done in December (in the Oakville hospital, arranged my my GP, not the bariatric clinic) and I was allowed to bring and wear whatever I wanted to. Brought my own jammies, brought my comfy pillow and blanket and even my portable fan for white noise (I can't sleep without my fan!). I had my own private room with washroom in there and I felt pretty comfortable with the setting. They even let you bring drinks and snacks if you want them (in the lab I went to anyway). It is not at all obvious that you are being observed during the night - it feels very private. They hook you up to a lot of wires and it wasn't crazy uncomfortable, but it was pretty annoying when you tried to move around and I didn't get very much sleep at all - mostly because I knew i was "supposed" to sleep and couldn't shut my head off, and also because I felt the wires were tangled because i tossed an turned a lot. The technicians do come and wake you up in the morning (about 5 or 6 am), but by that time I was welcoming it because i was just awake and staring at the wall waiting for time to go by. They put electrodes on your shins, in your hair, on your head, chest - and they put two belts on you - one above your chest and the other at your waist. Those help them measure your breathing and the above your chest one (kind of at your armpits) was prolly the most annoying. If you do have apnea and they notice you stopping breathing they will come in and wake you up and make you wear a CPAP. It didn't happen to me, but it did to a couple other people who were taking the study the same night I was. We were all chatting afterward while we waited in the lobby for our rides home so we compared notes. Those people also said they slept like babies - so it's really an individual thing on how you will react. Good luck to you!