So Monday night I went in for my sleep study. It was not the most pleasant of experiences nor was it the hell that I know some have endured.
First there was the rush to get the hospital with the sleep lab. I got off work at five and I need to eat and get to the hospital by six-thirty. They were clear that I needed to eat first and get there by six-thirty. That meant I wolfed down a burger and nothing more for my dinner.
My sweetie-wife dropped me off at just after six and I checked in. Then I waited. Finally the tech showed up and I was taken up to the sleep lab. Since I was first — I could have had a much more relaxed meal — I got my pick of rooms and beds. There was a short dvd video explaining the process and then I was left to my own devices until it was time to get wired.
Sadly while I had brought my laptop I had not brought my powercord. I got some writing done but not as much as I had hoped. I spent most of my evening watching the History Channel and it had a sad lack of history to it. (Mostly it was the show American Pickers.)
Near ten the tech came in and wired me up. Electrodes everywhere until I looked like a hi-fi nut’s nightmare. Unlike other sleep studies I have been told about, I was allowed to sleep anyway I wanted. I sleep on my stomach and I thrash, it’s what I do.
It was rough falling asleep with the wires on my face but I did and slept in my regular fashion. (Lots of periods whereI wake up.)
The worst part was the next morning when I showered and there was no shampoo. The electrodes in my hair had used goop and that goop remained in my hair most of the day. (At lunch I went for a haircut and shampoo and that fixed that.)
Now it’s just waiting for my doctor to call and set up the follow-up appointment.
I do need a CPAP machine, but there are machine and masks for people who sleep on their stomachs and who thrash. (Such as myself.) I suspect that I’ll end up with nose pillow type masks and chin straps to keep my mouth closed.
Your experience was better than mine, but they did not make me come in that early (How weird!! Who sleeps at 6:30 PM?) It sounds like they did not use a heart monitor for you, which was the bit that made sleeping on the tummy (My preferred way to start out) impossible. They used the same hair goo and it took A LOT of washing to get it out. I lost much hair with that. I also had an allergic reaction to the “hypoallergenic” goop that they used to hold on almost all the sensors, which meant that they itched the whole time which made sleep almost impossible. The worst thing was the breathing monitor which tickled/itched inside my nose the whole time- again, almost impossible to sleep. (Did you know the tickle sensation travels along pain nerves? Never again will I tickle another person!!) I hope you don’t need a CPAP, because I understand back sleeping becomes imperative. I wish they would go back to doing that operation where they just shave off some of the obstructive tissue. I think that would ultimately be less invasive for most people. I am glad you experience was better than mine. I wanted to claw my face off and I was in pain for around a week. (When I don’t get good sleep, I get hip pain.) Good luck and let us know the results!