Bad experience with sleep study - need to vent

[Sue40 0]

One of the doctors that is part of the LB program I am going through asked me if I ever snore. Ah, yes? I have allergies (and a cat who sleeps on my head), a partially deviated septum and adnoids, of course I snore a little! I always have, when I was a kid, when I was thin, etc. She immediately said I need to be evaluated for sleep apnea. There is a HUGE stretch between a little snoring (which doesn't even disturb DH) and sleep apnea. But this woman is a bull dog and there is no convincing her, so I play along. They schedule the sleep study (wonder how much this is costing my insurance, and what it will cost me?) and they send me a letter beforehand telling me most people sleep fine and many "sleep better than they do at home". Riigghhtt.

So I get there and the room STINKS like perfumy laundry detergent. Have they ever heard of ALLERGIES? I had a burning throat and headache within 5 minutes. They turn off the stink machine on the wall for me. The room is roasting hot (I sleep with the room at 57 usually). And then they proceed to glue these things all over my legs, back, upper chest, head (glue in my hair), neck and face. I'm supposed to sleep with this on? It gets better. They want to stick 2 things up my nose. I can't stop sniffling and scratching at my nose. I finally fell asleep at 1:00 am, but they had to keep coming in the room because I kept taking the thing out of my nose. It was like sleeping with plastic straws shoved up there. I woke up (enough to remember) at least 4 times. At 6:00 they woke me up to go home. My face was so puffy I could barely see from my right eye (allergies, likely) and my face was puffy and bright red. I also had a raging headache from sleeping on a rubber wrapped mattress with rubber wrapped pillows. Then I couldn't find my car in the parking garage.

I am so POed I could scream. It's now 18 hours later and my face still feels weird (puffy and dry). The tech said if they saw any evidence of apnea they would wake me and give me a mask, which they never did, so I assume no signs of apnea. Aside from a little snoring, I have no apnea symptoms.

Thanks for letting me vent. I am getting really aggravated with this program. I've been jumping through hoops with them and I've had it up to "here"!

Oh, so what did I do today? I didn't stick to my diet, that's for sure! I was too cranky and upset to deal with just cottage cheese and grapes.

[brandyII 9]

I had the sleep study ordered because the oxygen level was low in my blood. I didn't know anything about sleep studies then. I knew ahead of time that I wouldn't be able to sleep "on command" especially as you know you're completely wired and attached to the bed and then they wake you if you do fall asleep if something becomes disconnected or if they want to test you sleeping on your back. The camera on me didn't bother me for some reason.

I did end up having a lot of "apneas" and now have been sleeping with a CPAP machine since last August. They don't want you to die while your medicated and recovering from surgery so I suppose they're trying to do you a favor. I do sleep better and I don't snore so I'm happy because I was walking around in a daze during the day because I wasn't getting a good quality of sleep. But I know what you mean, the hardest part was washing the glue out of my hair. I was lucky and my husband picked me up because I swear I would have fallen asleep behind the wheel if I had driven myself home. brandyII

[Laura_MD 5]

BrandyII,

I am so sorry that you are having a tough time. Some docs are like that, I am sure that half of it is for your safety and the other half is for the safety of their bank accounts, but it is what we must do to get where we are going. Try to think of all the unpleasantnesses that you are avoiding by losing the weight, and remember, this too shall pass (now would be good).

Keep you eye on the prize, the band will change your life in so many wonderful ways. I can roll around on the ground and run around the playground with my 19 month old grandson now. I couldn't do that 16 months ago when I weighed nearly 300 pounds! And I can look forward to watching him grow up and being a part of that rather than waiting to die from some obesity related disease. I already had a stroke at age 40, just before my grandson was born.

I know that this is frustrating and tiresome, but trust me, it IS worth it!

Good luck to you!

Laura

[amsderb 1]

Been there, done that too...Only because I did not sleep much and they never put the cpap on me I had to go 3 weeks later (that is how long it took them to get back to me) again for 1 more night. I am mild apnea...I now have a machine...it was my choice to try it??? I am not doing to well but keep trying...

The bad part was I never hit REM sleep which is when most apneas occur...so...

Hang in There!!! It makes for a good story???

[amsderb 1]

Congrats Laura MD!!!

[plain 12]

Sorry you had a bad experience, Sue. I work in a sleep lab, and it sounds like the one you went to was pretty crappy. Unfortunately, sleep labs are largely unregulated (only a handful of states require a license to work in a sleep lab. There exists a loophole where an unethical lab can literally hire a wino off the street, spend 1 night training him on where to place the electrodes, and set him loose on patients). The industry is trying to rectify, but it goes very slowly.

FYI, some of the very worst OSA patients that I've had in the lad were the "buck o' five" types (very thin).....and snoring is usually very indicative of partial airway collapse. So....your rant I know......but it sounds to me like the doc wasn't coming out of left field on this one.

[Billyb 0]

I'm a field relations manager for 10 sleep labs and I represent a leader in the field. Diagnosing and treating Sleep Apnea is CRITICAL to a persons health if you think you have it. There are several different screens that you can take to see if you really need the test. The Epworth and the Berlin are the most recognized. This should be a very good evaluation on your need to take a sleep test at a sleep lab or one of the portable sleep studies that you can do at home. Some are better than others but it should definately be evaluated by a sleep certified doctor and not just a regular doctor because of the detailed testing that it performs. You can see if they are a trained doctor and sleep speacialist at absm.com .Most Drs only get 2 hrs of training in sleep medicine even though we spend 30% of our lives sleeping acording to HARVARD Medical School .They test the Brain, Heart, Cardio etc so they test the Cardio Pulmonary, pulse etc.

THIS IS YOUR LIFE we are talking about and a sleep test is the most comprehensive test available and may be the very reason that you have weight issues. When you don't sleep you eat for more energy and then your to tired to excersice so it's a terrible domino effect.

You may not even need surgery if you diagnose and treat the sleep apnea.

Make sure you do the research and take care of YOURSELF no one else will.

[wannabhealthy 0]

I will have my lap band today. I am scheduled for 11am. Not the least bit nervous but more of a sense of relief that the day has finally arrrived. I really appreciate all the information that was available on this forum and will continue to be a part of this unique community. Good luck and prayers to all those who have received the band and those who are in the "process"

J.:thumbs_up:

[DaisyMay 1]

Sue, I had a VERY similar experience. My doctor requires a sleep study for all patients regardless of whether you have any symptoms of apnea. I snore a little off and on but it doesn't disturb my husband and he has never noticed me not breathing or gasping for air or anything like that. I feel pretty rested in the morning, etc. Anyway, I had my sleep study last Monday and it was very uncomfortable. Very similar to your description - how in the world are you supposed to sleep like that? I had been told my doctor would not operate if there were any sleep abnormalities picked up by the sleep study. I got my results yesterday and they were completely normal. I was worried that because I had spent half the night at the sleep lab lying awake and the other half in fitful, frustrated sleep that the results might not be good. But they were fine. I'm taking the good news to the surgeon today and that's my last hurdle to clear - other than his requirement that I lose 10% of my body weight pre-surgery. I have another 13 pounds to go on that. Good luck - I hope your results are good!

[Sue40 0]

Maybe I didn't put this in my original post. After they scheduled my study I learned from others in the program that they have EVERYONE do a sleep study. So her thinking I had apnea was BS, they order it on everyone. Which she should have just told me, I don't appreciate being misled. My quality of sleep is fine. I'm not tired during the day. I do sometimes have trouble falling asleep, but that is a stress thing (lost my 6 figure job and can't look for another one until I no longer have 2-3 doctor's appointments every week, huge mortgage, etc.).

The technician was a nice guy, I don't blame him. I just don't like my skin and hair being messed with. And the room was horrible, as I wrote (I felt like I was in a $30 hotel). I now have red skin rashes (and a few bruises) where the electrodes were. No matter how much I schrub with alcohol I can't get the glue off my skin.

I know I'm being a little bit of a princess about this, but I've really had it with the hoops they are making me jump through. I have had fifteen appointments already (plus the sleep study) and have yet to meet with the surgeon. This is costing me a damn fortune between copays, parking and gasoline.

[mermaidmom 0]

Hey Sue! That totally sucks you had such a bad experience. the sleep study I had about a year back was horrible as well, though the lab was clean and comfortable. I did not sleep well though and I have heard more often than not that people are requested back for another to get more accurate results? Annoying.

Hopefully they get your results quickly and it does not hold things up too much and hopefully Dr R is satisfied with the findings. I really was lucky to get out of the study alltogether. But like I said, I just think I was in the right place at the right time.

The thing that seems positive is that regardless of apneas, they will still do the surgery here, just keep you overnight. It seems from these responses that some places will not touch you if you show sleep irregularities.

Keep your head up! I feel bad for you that you are not having a good experience with their program. I feel your pain with the constant trips to the city and parking.gas etc. They do not seem to recognize it is difficult for people unless you make it clear for them for some reason. Let me know how you make out!

:thumbs_up:

[fireatak 0]

I went thru all that also. Been on cpap since June. The best sleep I get and if I go away for a night and not take it, I can tell the difference. It's all part of the adventure of medicine.

I sleep better, feel better and starting to look better and that was the plan all along.

Doing it all for me!

You can do it too!

[brandyII 9]

Those of you who actually have sleep apnea and have questions about it there is a wonderful forum, although not as wonder as this one and not as well organized called www.cpaptalk.com CPAP and Sleep Apnea Discussion Forum and it helped me with my issues with my cpap machine and my daughters probs with hers, thanks and good luck to all, brandyII

[Sue40 0]

Thanks everyone. I met with the psychologist today and he made me feel better. In the 7 weeks I've been doing the program I have checked off everything on their HUGE to do list. I still have more weight to lose according to their "guidelines", but he said that they will probably present me to be scheduled for surgery at the next weekly meeting. I meet with the surgeon Thursday and need to plead my case with her.

I am crossing my fingers that they don't make me redo the sleep study. The technician said it was good that I eventually "settled down", so I hope that means they got what they need!

[brandyII 9]

Sue40, good luck. It's weird how some surgeons make you jump through hoops and others don't expect anything! There should be some consistency somewhere! brandyII