Hi all, I have talked with a few of you about you or someone you love getting a sleep study, I thought I’d tell you what to expect if you’re getting it done.  More than likely you will get a questionnaire from the sleep lab in the mail prior to your sleep study.  When filling out the form be as specific as you can as every question helps us (the Tech doing you’re study and the Sleep Doctor to find out what recommendations to make.)  Usually they will ask things like:  Why are you having a sleep study?  This question isn’t because your doctor didn’t tell us, but doctors usually aren’t very specific, and your doctor may have a different reason in mind then your complaint for instance your doctor may say you need a sleep study for snoring and possible sleep apnea, you on the other hand may want the sleep study because you’re falling asleep at work.  For men the questionnaire may ask “Do you experience erectile dysfunction?”  This is because ED can be caused by certain sleep disorders.  So even if the question seems irrelevant try to answer them anyway.

     You will probably be asked to arrive at the sleep lab at 8pm, don’t worry we don’t expect that you will be going to sleep at 8pm.  When you arrive at the lab the Tech will greet you, take your paperwork, look it over, explain what will be done, and let you know what time the study will end.  If you take medications before bed especially medications to help you sleep, it is best to tell the Tech how and when you typically take the medication and let them tell you when it would be best for you to take your medication.  For example, say you typically take Ambien, or maybe your doctor prescribed Ambien for you to take the night of the study, the tech will not want you to take Ambien until you are all wired up and ready to get into bed.  Ambien works very quickly, if you took it when you arrived at the lab, you may not be able to stay awake while the tech is preparing you for bed.  If you take medication for PLM, and were told to take it 30 min before bed, we may do some prep and then have you take it.  Plus we document what time you actually take the medication, in case we see the timing of your meds need to be adjusted.  They will show you your room, most rooms for sleep studies now have Queen Size beds and look very much like a hotel room.  Some labs even offer special beds; like in our lab we have queen size Sleep Number beds in our rooms, for patient comfort.  They will show you the bathroom, probably take a photo (It lets the physician see body type and neck structure which is sometimes an indicator of Apnea) you will probably be asked to change into bed clothes, while the tech reads your paperwork and enters your info into the computer.

     The tech will return when you’re ready and probably have you sit in a chair while he or she applies electrodes.  (If you are not comfortable with a person of another gender doing your study, you should call the lab in advance and ask about it, most labs have four or more beds which means two or more techs monitoring so typically you are not alone with one tech anyway.)  Appling the electrodes takes about 45 minutes, the tech will measure your head to place electrodes precisely over the areas of the brain required for identifying the stages of sleep.  (I will do another topic about what is monitored later.)  During this time most techs will talk with you, about whatever, kind of like a hairdresser. :0) They will also talk to you about sleep disorders being looked for, things that are suspected, they may ask you questions to be sure they understand your concerns, and they should answer any or all of your questions.  All of this will need to happen before the study in most cases so they don’t give away any conditions they saw during the night which can be construed as them giving you a diagnosis, something we can lose our jobs for.

     Once you are all hooked up, they will let you use the restroom (this is a very easy thing to do, so don’t panic) and then help you get into bed and make sure you are comfortable.  They will have you do some little exercises called Biocals (blinking your eyes, moving your feet, etc,) just to be sure all signals are recording properly.  They will tell you how to reach them if you need something, usually just call out, they come in unplug one thing and you’re up and on your way, very easy, I had one poor guy who got up 17 times to use the restroom.  It really is not a problem.  Most people have little problems sleeping despite the wires, we are really good at bundling them where they will not be in your way.  We can get a multitude of information from even very light sleep, and we really only need 2 hours of sleep to qualify as an adequate study, so if you go, don’t stress, even if you don’t think you slept, you probably did more than you thought.  Just relax and let us take care of the rest.  In the morning we wake you up, remove the wires, there is typically a post night questionnaire so we can hear how you think you slept compared to normal, and you’re on your way.  It’s probably the easiest test you’ll ever do as we do all the work, not like a stress test. :0)

     Most labs cannot even if they are located in a hospital give you a sleeping pill.  Talk with your doctor prior to the study if you think you need one.  Keep in mind though that if you are hoping to have your doctor notified of how poorly you sleep, or of the terrible time you have falling asleep, taking a sleeping pill will alter your normal night’s sleep.  If you do need to ask your doctor for a sleeping pill, it is best to ask for Ambien, as it has a short half life (so you can drive in the morning) it works very quickly, and it will not change your sleep architecture, or the pattern of your stages of sleep.  OTC medications like Benadryl have a very long half life, and can change how you sleep, and are not recommended unless you take it every night for allergies or something.  Medications like Ametriptyline, or Trazadone are not good choices due to the long half life, and they will cause you not to have REM sleep until later in the night, or maybe not at all, this can affect and be the difference between having your study done in one night, and having to come back for a second night.  If you are already on these medicines don’t stop taking them, as that would cause changes too, it is best to discuss any questions you have about your medications with your doctor prior to the sleep study.  

     I will do another blog in the near future about what we can see when we do a sleep study, if there are any other topics you’d like to see me do, just ask!  Sleep Well!

Michele