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Permalink Reply by Glen England on August 1, 2009 at 12:51am

Susan, try taking melatonin. It is available at Walmart or Walgreens or a similar store in the vitamin section. Melatonin is a natural supplement that your body produces at night. Taking 3mg to 6mg will give your body a boost of this supplement. I take mine about 30 mins before bed. It will help you fall alseep and stay asleep. Some people find that it can make your dreams more vivid. I have had this experience on occasion. I think it will really help you. Look it up on google. As far as I have found, it is comletely safe.

As far as CPAP goes, it has completely changed my life. I used to get up in the morning dying for the time it would be to return to bed. I could go to bed at 10pm and sleep until 10am and feel like I had only been alseep for a couple of hours.

My sleep study was a split study. They woke me up in the middle of the night and put a mask on me, so I only had to do the study once. If I remember right, I was stopping breathing 50 or more times an hour, so it's no wonder that I didn't feel like I had slept.


I also didn't have much trouble adjusting to the machine. My favorite part of wearing the mask is that now I can completely cover my head in bed and still breathe!!

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Permalink Reply by D. W. Conn on August 1, 2009 at 7:15am

I have been performing sleep studies and nPAP studies for over 25 years. I can tell you there is nothing to worry about. It can be a little bit of fun. You may ask your technologist all those questions about sleep dreaming etc.. When one arrives at a sleep study be prepared to fill out a medical questionnaire as well as sleep questionnaire. You may even be asked to fill out a form called the Beck Inventory (this relates to depression) and an Epworth sleepiness scale. These will help the technologist and MD,DO, NP, NMD with your diagnosis.
Bring your favorite pillow and even a stuffed animal if it helps. Some labs will even allow your spouse to stay with you. Be sure and bring all night time medications you will need and of course a list of all current medications. If you are having a problem with nasal allergies or cold symptoms alert your healthcare provider and reschedule your study for a time when you have clear sinus and feel better.
The technologist will measure your head and place red or blue marks to points where electrodes will be placed. You will have about 14 on your head and face and then wires for on your chest to watch your heart. Bands around chest and abdomen, legs to measure for restless legs or nocturnal myclonus All the wires and leads connect to a box with a strap. Being able to carry the head box allows ease at going to the bathroom. If you need CPAP or BiPAP the technologist will fit you for a mask. You may feel a bit Closter phobic for a moment or two but this will pass. The body knows how to drown and suffocate but doesn’t know how to react to more air. It simply gets confused for a few moments. The technologist should allow you to hold the mask up to your face and allow you to get use to it before he/she hooks up all the wires... Your test will run 6.5 to 10 hours depending on time needed to complete a full nights testing. If you do have to wear the mask you may have something called REM rebound. Its your bodies way of catching up of the de-cluttering of the brain. Some patients report nightmares the first few nights from REM rebound. This is normal and nothing to worry about.
Hope this helps.
I do have a website where you may ask those important questions about the first few weeks of CPAP. I will check with blog owner if he can post the web url.
D.W.Conn RPSGT

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Permalink Reply by J. Medina-Bairan, MD, FCCP, FACP on August 1, 2009 at 10:28am

You can be relax for the test, nothing to worry, some wires in your head and body, but no pain at all. If you are taking sleeping pills, you should bring them with you, but check with your doctor first. Be sure to be seen by a sleep specialist and get your study done in a lab accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Sleep apnea can fragment your sleep, but you may have insomnia as well, that can give you all the same symptoms. The cpap is the best treatment for sleep apnea, but many times is difficult to get use to it, so, a trial with sleeping pills initially could help you to get use to the machine.Try to avoid oral devices, they are expensive, they do not work that well, only in mild cases, and usually after they are ordered an made for you, they are not followed by a real sleep study to verify if the took care of your problem.I wish you the best. Check the web page of the National Sleep Foundation.

Jose

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Permalink Reply by Glen England on August 1, 2009 at 11:43pm

I would have to agree with everyone who said the sleep study is nothing to worry about. I have a friend who refuses to acknowledge his apnea because he does not want to do a sleep study because he does not want anyone watching him sleep.

In my sleep lab, they had a night view camera and microphone in the room so they could see and hear if I needed help.

CPAP therapy is so amazing, you will wonder how you ever lived without it. The first two nights, I took the whole mask off without any memory of doing so, but, only on those first two.

My wife tells me that my whole body used to jump and jerk and I would kick like crazy, BEFORE using the CPAP machine. Now, all that has stopped. The worst thing I have to worry about now is my mask making farting sounds! :)

I am so glad I found out why I was always so tired and why I wanted to sleep all day and all night. Life is so much better now, and I have many fewer days that I wake with a headache. Before CPAP, I used to wake with a bad headache almost every morning.
.

Good luck.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Lyons on August 2, 2009 at 7:38am

The actual sleep study is a very simple process. It is just all the anxiety leading up to and following, the majority of which is the fought of the medical community.

In so far as your friend who doesn't want to be watched while sleeping, just ask him if he prefers being watched while stretched out in his casket. Sleep Apnea can and will kill.


Glen England said:

I would have to agree with everyone who said the sleep study is nothing to worry about. I have a friend who refuses to acknowledge his apnea because he does not want to do a sleep study because he does not want anyone watching him sleep.

In my sleep lab, they had a night view camera and microphone in the room so they could see and hear if I needed help.

CPAP therapy is so amazing, you will wonder how you ever lived without it. The first two nights, I took the whole mask off without any memory of doing so, but, only on those first two.

My wife tells me that my whole body used to jump and jerk and I would kick like crazy, BEFORE using the CPAP machine. Now, all that has stopped. The worst thing I have to worry about now is my mask making farting sounds! :)

I am so glad I found out why I was always so tired and why I wanted to sleep all day and all night. Life is so much better now, and I have many fewer days that I wake with a headache. Before CPAP, I used to wake with a bad headache almost every morning.
.

Good luck.

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Permalink Reply by suzanne mary schmidt on August 2, 2009 at 8:27pm

Hi claire,
my name is Suzanne, I live in North Carolina. I just had my second sleepstudy this past Friday,my last one was in 2006! I also have high blood pressure. In addition to that i have sleep apena, narcolespy,anemia,ADD and i am waiting to find out weather i have lupus! Beleive me i do understand how fustrated you are.I had to take two other tests before they woud allow for me to take the final test to determine weather i have lupus or not. I cry all the time and i am so so tired. If you do have sleep apena please wear your mask and have your regular checkups, i did not because at that time we had terrible insurance and i just ran out of energy to fight them,they would not help me so i have never had my macheine checked! It is so important that you do. I have a great doctor now and i am not going to be stupid this time.Hang in there and have faith! It is hard ,try and deal with one day at a time.I know you are probably feeling alone and that know one understands but i truely do! just do not give up and havr faith!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Permalink Reply by suzanne mary schmidt on August 2, 2009 at 8:29pm

suzanne mary schmidt said:

Hi claire,
my name is Suzanne, I live in North Carolina. I just had my second sleepstudy this past Friday,my last one was in 2006! I also have high blood pressure. In addition to that i have sleep apena, narcolespy,anemia,ADD and i am waiting to find out weather i have lupus! Beleive me i do understand how fustrated you are.I had to take two other tests before they woud allow for me to take the final test to determine weather i have lupus or not. I cry all the time and i am so so tired. If you do have sleep apena please wear your mask and have your regular checkups, i did not because at that time we had terrible insurance and i just ran out of energy to fight them,they would not help me so i have never had my macheine checked! It is so important that you do. I have a great doctor now and i am not going to be stupid this time.Hang in there and have faith! It is hard ,try and deal with one day at a time.I know you are probably feeling alone and that know one understands but i truely do! just do not give up and havr faith!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Permalink Reply by pottercb on August 2, 2009 at 10:17pm

Thanks so much for all the sharing. I feel much better that I am not alone and I have a place to talk and get questions answered. Yes its very hard to understand why my doctor did not listen before, when I keep telling them how tired I was, How much of a headache I have in the morning some times ( I believe that lack of oxygen). I guess between the cancer doctor ( who has not said I have cancer-yet), the pulmonary doctor ( still waiting for appointment), the knee surgeon ( can't have surgery till I find out what wrong with my oxygen levels to my organs) and my regular doctor, something good is bound to come out of all this. Me, better-!!!!. I will keep positive thoughts ahead with all these test and keep you all posted, Thanks again

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Permalink Reply by Michael Sopp on August 5, 2009 at 10:14pm

Well first let me say i hope this person gets the help they need. Having suffered thru multiple health issues in the past few years that were all related in some fashion, i can empathize...

But i have to admit i kind of have a cross to bear here. I posted a similar cry for help not that long ago, and instead of getting the type of support this person is getting, i got my hand slapped and told i should grow up.

I am not that impressed. I have my own cry for help too, but apparently that doesn't matter?

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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on August 6, 2009 at 3:52am

Michael, as far as I can see you have never posted here before. At least under this name. Start a discussion, ask your questions and we will try to answer them.

Michael Sopp said:

Well first let me say i hope this person gets the help they need. Having suffered thru multiple health issues in the past few years that were all related in some fashion, i can empathize...

But i have to admit i kind of have a cross to bear here. I posted a similar cry for help not that long ago, and instead of getting the type of support this person is getting, i got my hand slapped and told i should grow up.

I am not that impressed. I have my own cry for help too, but apparently that doesn't matter?

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