New here!

gtbadkitty · July 10, 2009

Hello everyone! I am in the beginning stages of this whole process and have come here often to help me through the process and to find answers to questions I have. I had the consultation with the surgeon about 2 weeks ago and am just waiting for the insurance approval to come through to schedule all of the other appointments needed. I have a question about the sleep study though... What exactly is done? What can I expect? Why is it needed?

Thanks!

gtbadkitty

elgrad · July 10, 2009

Good Morning and welcome!

The reason for the sleep study is to determine if you might have sleep apnea, a condition in which you may actually stop breathing during the night for a brief period, causing some hardship for your heart, higher blood pressure and other issues. Folks who are overweight are prone to this problem. This is considered a co-morbidity ( or additional issue ) with some insurance companies and it is definitely a health issue that you would want to know about. The sleep study is usually done in a sleep lab or clinic. You simply go there in the evening, get hooked up to some wires which are then hooked up to machines that monitor your heart rate, breathing patterns, sleep patterns, etc. Then, you are asked to go to sleep! It is not painful, but can be a bit uncomfortable, with the wires and things being stuck to your face and head. Sometime in the early morning, you will be woken up and basically you go home to await the results. I have had a couple of studies done, as I have sleep apnea and currently sleep with a CPAP machine to aid in my breathing. It is one of those things that I hope to get rid of as I lose weight after I am banded.

Hope this answered your question. Keep in touch with us here and good luck!

Elgrad

gtbadkitty · July 10, 2009

Thank you Elgrad! That answers my question! I kind of thought that's what it was going to be, but I wasn't sure. I have a hard enough time falling asleep at home, hopefully I can sleep at the clinic!

gtbadkitty

SpecialK · July 10, 2009

When I had my first sleep study session, it was a little weird thinking they were watching me try to sleep and I told them it was hard to fall asleep and they offered me a dose of Lunesta sleeping medicine and that helped relax me. So if you really don't think you can sleep without some help, ask.