Can anyone explain to me what happens during a sleep study. My blood oxygen levels are low and my HCO3 level is high. My O2 saturation level is low. I snore very loud according to my other half. He can't sleep. Lol. So my doctor ordered sleep study for sleep apnea and has me seeing a pulmonary doctor. So we'll see.

Well the doctor put tubes down you're nose..and if i recall correctly..u inhale a few look in the ears...while you are hooked up to a machine...the end !!!..easy peasy!!

Edited August 19, 201411 yr by Pepper123

They glue electrodes on your head and face-- there's a lot of them. You get a mask to put over the lower half of your face, then you go to sleep. When you wake up, they take them out and you leave.

Both test are quite easy.. what @@Beagle put to slp...i did both and was wide awake....now the EDG i was knocked out...

Oh ok. So they don't tell u anything, i have to wait and see doctor to tell me if i have it or not?

Yes, you should find out at a followup appointment. The doctor should give you a report. Assuming you do have sleep apnea, that report will go with your paperwork package when it is submitted for approval.

Thank u all,

Sorry after test and this is what i did....an outside company rented me a CPAP machine i slept with this contraction for a night and return it to the company...they studied my sleep pattern and gave the result to my doctor...i have mild sleep apena...i do snore according to my niece and son.. lol

@@Pepper123, I've never heard of having it done the way you did. To be honest, I wonder how accurate it is. Every time I had a sleep study, it was with a sleep specialist with a lot of electrodes and analysis.

Yeah, that is unusual to be awake for a "sleep study."

No matter the results of your sleep study, it shouldn't slow down your approval process. They'll rank the degree of your sleep apnea, and if it high (above 5 or 6 I believe), you may end up with a CPAP machine, but not a surgery delay.

Oh ok. Thanks for the info.

When I had my sleep study, I had to do 2 of them. The first time I was scheduled, they "glued" electrodes all over my head, had a little piece taped under my nose, and some electrodes on my chest. No mask. This checked for the sleep apnea.

Once it was determined I had sleep apnea, I then had to do another sleep study with a mask to check for proper CPAP pressure. Again with all the electrodes.

I was told to sleep on my back to get the best results from the test.

Some sleep studies do a half and half where they check for the sleep apnea and if it's noticed, they put you on the mask halfway through. Depends on doctor and facility.

Doesn't hurt, even taking the electrodes off is painless. The "glue" they attach the electrodes with shampoos out very easily.

Just think of it as getting a (I was going to say free, but nothing's free nowadays) head massage.

There will be a camera in the room where they monitor you and if you have to get up to go to the restroom, you just contact them (may have a button to push or in my case there was an open intercom to the booth where I just had to say what I needed and they'd show up) so they can unplug the wires and plug you back in when you get back in bed. I remember I needed some air circulation and while laying in bed, I just said could I get the fan turned on, and this hand came through the door and turned the fan on.

I could get used to that treatment. :-)

Edited August 20, 201411 yr by brians34

This may sound like a stupid question, but why do you have to have this done before surgery? If it's to find a co-morbidity, I already have plenty of those. If it's because of increased anesthesia risk, why don't they have you do it before gall bladder and hernia surgeries?

My doctor said I might not have to do one if I lose enough weight pre-op, but I really think I have it (even wake myself up snoring) and I believe I had it back when I was the weight he wanted me to get down to.

My bmi is at 39.8 i have no other co morbidies. My blood oxygen levels and oxygen saturation levels weren't within normal range. Two were low and one was high. I have to see a pulmonary doctor as well. My levels was the level u would find in a smoker and i haven't smoked a day in my life.

@@docbree, it's not a matter so much if you have it, but more about how severe the sleep apnea is. The surgeon is only responsible for his work, and that has nothing to do with your anesthesia.

People with severe, obstructive sleep apnea are at higher risks for complications, and although it may not delay your surgery, it provides the anesthesia team with the best information to manage your care. People who are already diagnosed with sleep apnea usually have to get clearance to have surgery from their pulmonologist; it's liability protection for your doctors and in your best interest as well.

I have sleep apnea and didn't have to get cleared by a pulmonary doctor. They are having you do one because after being under general anesthesia, you have higher risks of having complications or issues immediately after surgery. My hospital requires that we bring our CPAP to the hospital and we have to use it after surgery while we are in the hospital.

Like others have said - you should have electrodes hooked up, a pulse ox placed on your finger to monitor your oxygen and electrodes on your chest to monitor your heart rate and rhythm. You spend the night in the facility and they monitor all of your vital signs, your REM sleep, etc and determine if you have sleep apnea. As said above, some facilities will hook you up to the CPAP during the nigh, others will have you come back in and will set you up with a CPAP machine with either the nasal pillows or full face mask. You spend the night again and they adjust the settings and determine what setting you should be on to control your symptoms.