Sleep study

[bunsen_h]

I had a sleep study last night, the latest step in the ongoing investigation of "find all the things independently wrong".  I'm extremely tired today.  What they tell you before the study and the way things really are are somewhat different.

"You can sleep in any position you want as long as it doesn't involve your face being downwards into the pillow or mattress."  The multiple electrodes, contacts, and sensors on your face make that impossible.

"You can move around into different positions during the night but you have to wake up enough to not get tangled up in the the wires and tubes."

"You can bring a bottle of water to drink but you have to get it between the contacts above and below your mouth."  There are a lot of contacts; these measure teeth-grinding, and breathing through nose and mouth.

They did tell me in advance that they'd wake me up and send me home a little after 6 a.m.  Knowing it in advance didn't help much.
 

Comments

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

That doesn't sound like any fun. I hope they find something out that helps out, what with all the trouble that they just put you through.

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

Ick! That doesn't sound conducive to a good night's rest.

[bunsen-h.livejournal.com]

I've always been dubious about the sleep studies, as they're currently conducted. The "noise" of the process appears to drown the "signal" of the problem, except in extreme cases. The obvious-in-advance result of the study is that under the conditions of the tests, my main sleep problem is that I've got a bunch of stuff attached to my face, head, and body, with a secondary problem being the unfamiliar environment. Sleep apnea would be a bonus. A known problem is the dry-mouth caused by medications and dry house air, with allergic congestion (dust and cat dander) helping to trigger it... and dry air and allergens probably were not part of the study environment. The test conditions don't realistically model the real situation.