Has anyone ever done a sleep clinic thing?

[Yeoman Randi]

The husband and i are so afraid he isn't going to snore the night he spends at the sleep clinic!

His appt is one night this week so i'll let you all know how it goes in a couple of days. Thanks for the input!

 

[Crusher Disciple]

The husband and i are so afraid he isn't going to snore the night he spends at the sleep clinic!

His appt is one night this week so i'll let you all know how it goes in a couple of days. Thanks for the input!

Aw, c'mon- have more faith in his snoring abilities.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

Having been through the sleep study (twice) and currently wearing a CPAP (and loving it!), I can talk from experience.

The sleep study sucks. If he's lucky, your husband will get 2-3 hours of sleep that night. That's okay though. I was told that the doctors could pull enough relevant data from as little as 1 1/2 hours of sleep.

All in all, there will be about 30 different wires attached to your husband. Most are stuck to the head (for the EEG) but there are others including a heart monitor, a pulse-ox probe (on the finger) and wires on the arms and legs to detect muscle movement. He will also probably be wearing a nasal cannula.

Once your through all that, the CPAP is relatively simple. You put it on at night, take it off in the morning and hand wash the mask and humidifier and few times a week. Everyone else has already said it so I'll just echo their sentiments. I never thought I would ever sleep as well as I do now. It's just a matter finding a mask that your husband finds comfortable.

The thing to remember is that in order for your insurance company to cover the CPAP, they need to know your using it. My CPAP has a flash memory card in it and after my first 60 days, the home health care agency just took the card and downloaded the usage logs. My insurance company required 60 nights of continuous use for a minimum of 6 hours a night with a minimum of 95% compliance.

Good luck to your husband and keep us posted. Also, remind your husband that he's not alone, there are alot of us out there!

Yeah I had another one about a year ago. They want you to sleep by midnight and I generally find it impossible to sleep before 4 so I took 20mg of Ambien. I had one of those nights where I didn't realize I was sleeping so I was paranoid that they wouldn't get a proper reading, but they said they got a great reading so it obviously worked. They might also wake you up and try out a sleep mask on you so they know what pressure to set it at.

 

[Yeoman Randi]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

The husband spent last night at the sleep clinic. He just called to tell me that he barely got any sleep thanks to all the things they had him wired up to. They also had one of those nasal oxygen tubes on him (although they never needed to give him oxygen) in case he did have apnea. Which, as it turns out, he does not have. So my guess is that C-Pap thing isn't what he needs.

So, i asked him the most important question...did you snore? He said that he asked the tech this morning if he did...and the tech's reply was..."Well, let's just say your wife is right!". So apparently he snored good and loud, although he says he barely slept.

He was told his doctor would have the results ready for him in a week to ten days. Here's hoping there is some remedy that will be a quick fix (im hoping for that mouth guard thingie) otherwise it will be off the the spare bedroom for me.

Will let you know what the final results are when we hear. Cos i know you are all waiting breathlessly.......

 

[KimMH]

Not apnea? That's good but now you have to wait and find out what it IS! Good luck hunney!

 

[Crusher Disciple]

In the meantime, get a large roll of duct tape....

 

[RevDMV]

Being a nerd I was into all the equipment, but yes, sleep study is an oxymoron.

Glad it's not apnea, considering how long this has been going if it was he might have some health risks at this point.

Good luck with the next doctor's appointment I hope he some good solutions ready for you two.

 

[Bloodwhiner]

I wonder (and will need to check on it for my wife) if a pair of noise-cancelling headphones would help at all?

Some googling brought up positive reviews of the idea, especially with sound isolating earbuds. Also found this: http://www.snoreraser.com (a truly horrendous website, but there is a chance it might work)

 

[Yeoman Randi]

Aw, thanks you guys! You're all so awesome.

Bloodwhiner, i haven't checked that website yet but thanks, i'll take a look. I'm hoping the doc will get back to us soon. BTW, the husband took a picture of himself in the bathroom mirror at the sleep clinic. OMG! I knew there as going to be some wires and such....but he was seriously hooked up! I don't know how anyone gets any sleep during one of these things.

And yes, it is good to know that he doesn't have apnea.

 

[Sparky]

I'm in kind of the same situation. I snore like a freight train. I usually wake up tired and I run through the motions through the day. I am overweight so I'm sure that correcting that will correct the snoring. My wife is now sleeping in a seperate room because I snore so loud.

Can these sleep studies be done at home or do I have to go to a special clinic?

 

[Bloodwhiner]

They are done at a clinic because of the monitoring gear. There have be a couple dozen wires attached to you. You could choke yourself by rolling over.

 

[TheSeeker]

I barely got any sleep when I went to the clinic and pretty much had the same results as your husband. I snore but I don't have apnea and I didn't get any recommendations on how to solve the problem.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

I'm in kind of the same situation. I snore like a freight train. I usually wake up tired and I run through the motions through the day. I am overweight so I'm sure that correcting that will correct the snoring. My wife is now sleeping in a seperate room because I snore so loud.

Can these sleep studies be done at home or do I have to go to a special clinic?

The first one I ever did was at home, but that was eight years ago so I don't know if they still do that. They gave me a home monitoring device and told me how to hook it up myself. I did have to do it twice though because the first time it didn't read properly. The second one I did I think was more elaborate in the amount of equipment used though. If you go to a sleep clinic and are afraid you won't be able to fall asleep it is okay to take sleeping pills if you need to.

 

[Yeoman Randi]

Sorry to raise another zombie thread, but we finally got the results today regarding the husband's sleep study.

He does not have apnea. He has no obstructions or anything that the specialist can point a finger at that is cause for his horrendous snoring.

He has two choices: a C-Pap which he really doesn't need. The C-Pap will keep his airways forced open so he shouldn't snore or

He can get the mouth appliance. The C-Pap is covered by insurance. The mouth appliance isn't and it costs $2000!!!!

AND....if he should chose to go the C-Pap route, he will need to spend another night at the sleep clinic because the dumbfuck who gave him the test did NOT wire him up for one particular test!

When my husband delivered the news to me his exact words were: "IM GOING TO HAVE TO FUCKING TAKE THAT GOD DAMN TEST AGAIN!!!!!"

I told him forget it. We know he doesn't NEED the c-pap and sleeping with it will probably be more of an annoyance to him than a help. And there's no way in hell we will pay $2000 for a mouth appliance.

So it looks like i will be moving to anothe bedroom after all. At the very least on Friday and Saturday nights. The logistics for sleeping upstairs during the week are iffy due to his work hours, my daughter's school hours and the dogs. I guess I'll get through the weeknights as i have for 30 years. I'll be honest, I'm so tired and so frustrated and a little bit pissy that i am on the verge of tears. FUCK!

 

[KimMH]

I'm sorry to hear that. Well, I'm glad it's not apnea or an obstruction - but I'm sorry someone screwed up the test. Grrr!

It's crazy insurance won't pay for the nouth appliance. It seems they'd be cheaper than a C-pap machine - I don't actually know though.

 

[Yeoman Randi]

^ Well, i guess it's because in his case the snoring in itself is not a health concern--but if the doctor said he needed the C-pap the insurance company would have to pay for it.

What the insurance company doesn't know that his snoring is a great health concern. Either i will go insane from lack of sleep or i will end his life.

 

[KimMH]

Come over to my house if you have trouble sleeping. We'll pop corn, drink hot cocoa and watch StarTrek! We can call your hubs in the middle of the night and ask him if the refrigerator is running!

 

[Bloodwhiner]

It may be time to try http://www.snoreraser.com for $30. It's a cheap gamble.

I'm getting my wife a pair of noise canceling headphones to help her get through my snoring. If they don't work for my snoring, we'll still have them for when we fly overseas.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

Well I am still glad it isn't Apnea. Have you ever tried earplugs? They have the disposable foam rubber kinds that are pretty good. I used to wear them when I lived in a really noisy area and had to sleep days. Or you can get the plastic kind like construction workers use.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

I think you either mis-heard the technician or the technician mis-spoke. You always have to have two test if you are getting the C-Pap machine. The second one will be with the C-pap machine. They do adjustments to the machine to get the proper negative pressure to keep the mouth close, so you don't snore.