I went in for my study Thursday night. Thought I would chronicle my experience for those of you thinking about this.
The sleep center is part of my doctor’s office, and I arrived there just before 10pm. The sleep tech took me back, got my vitals and then escorted me back. The room itself was very comfortable, complete with an adjustable bed, flat panel DirectTV and a well appointed private bathroom. There was also an infrared camera mounted high up on the wall (kinky,) a voice activated intercom system, the clinical monitoring device & associated electrodes (seen on the bed in the picture below,) and a CPAP machine tucked away in the nightstand.
Once I got settled in and changed into my sleeping clothes (you can’t sleep nude…. so what's the purpose of the camera?) the tech returned to hook me up. The monitoring device itself looks like this:
The diagram on the device gives you an idea of all the electrodes and where they are placed. I don’t know how many were attached to my scalp—a lot--but there were also electrodes on my calf muscles, an EKG heart monitor, one on my throat, two on my chin, one next to each eye, and a nasal canula with a breathing sensor. I also had elastic bands around my chest and stomach. All of the electrode leads were pulled out of the way and collected up behind me, so they weren’t as obtrusive as I expected. Once I was hooked up, the tech made me get right into bed so she could test the equipment. I didn’t have a chance to take any pictures. Lucky me. Or lucky you.
The night before my study I stayed up later than normal and I was restricted from drinking caffeine after noon on Thursday, so I ended up being much more tired than normal. Fell asleep pretty quickly and only woke up once in the night. I had to sleep on my back or side, but wasn’t nearly as restricted in my movements as I thought I’d be. The head & face sensors felt a little awkward but not painful. I felt like Pinhead. I was also concerned about the room being too quiet or too hot (we have a floor fan in our bedroom that runs constantly for white noise & air circulation,) but it was very comfortable. Was also surprised when the tech called in to the room at 6:30 to wake me up—I normally get up at 5:30. I felt better than I expected when I awoke.
This was supposed to be a split-night study, meaning that if the tech witnessed apnea episodes, she would come in and hook me up to the CPAP and continue to monitor me. She didn’t do that, and wouldn’t tell me why, but did say that she saw some things on my study which “the doctor will discuss” with me. Whatever that means, probably that they’ll want to bring me back in for a second full night with the CPAP. Or perhaps the apnea she saw wasn't severe enough for CPAP. We’ll see.
I also found this short video that does a better in demonstrating what goes on in sleep studies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZTzrVGSOvw
In my former professional life, I set up a number of sleep centers as hospital businesses. I knew what to expect as a patient, but I was still anxious to undergo the study. Turns out it really wasn’t that bad. Maybe my experience will help take away some of your concerns.