Chronic Monday: Sleep Study Last Night
I got the idea to take pics of my sleep study from this pictorial description of a study at Stanford U. Sleep Disorders Clinic, on the talkaboutsleep.com website. Here is the link where they describe what all goes into a sleep study: View A Sleep Study. Please refer there for more nitty gritty details.
So, here's my View of a Sleep Study, taken at the Tift Regional Medical Center Sleep Center in Tifton, GA.
This is the main desk where I guess they watch all the feedback from the gizmos they had me hooked up to.
The bed!
The room.
The bathroom was small but nice. It seemed to be for my own private use. I never saw any trace of anyone else being in there; matter of fact I never once saw either of the other two patients who were also having studies done last night.
Mom by the nice TV. I watched Part I of Tin Man, the new Wizard of Oz movie on the SciFi channel. They even let me watch when I got in bed. LVN Dennis put the TV on a timer; I was asleep before the TV shut off.
I've read a lot about controversy over whether sleep clinics will allow a person to take their sleep meds the night of the study. Well, this one does. LVN Dennis explained it to me but I'm sure I can't do his explanation justice. Something like if you have a problem you're going to have it even though you take your meds, whether you know it or not. But if you don't sleep for a good 6 to 8 hours so they can do a good observation, they won't even be able to see the problem because - YOU DIDN'T SLEEP! I was actually quite worried about this on the day of the test. Actually, I was a basket case. Mom drove me to the test so I could take half of an anti-anxiety pill that afternoon, and I took maximum meds that night.
My room had a palm tree decor throughout. Very nice.
The clock on the wall that doesn't work (LVN Dennis assured me that yes, that is significant) and the camera. They filmed me sleeping all night.
Me in the palm tree upholstered chair.
All the wires and stuff after LVN Dennis took them off of me in the morning.
A close up of the control box that the wires all plugged into.
LVN Dennis took my picture while I was all hooked up. This is not me. This girl from the Talk About Sleep page is quite cute. I was not. This is just to show you what you might look like.
The building as I left about 6 a.m. LVN Dennis woke me up at 5:30. He let me sleep an extra half hour because I was "sleeping good."
I hope to get the results of the study next week.
12/27/12 Update: Sleep Study results
Wow! I had always wondered what it was like to go to a sleep center. I'm such a bad sleeper that I wonder if they would figure out what was wrong with me if I went. Was it hard to sleep with all those thingies on you?? And man, that clock that didn't work would have driven me crazy and given me major insomnia. I'm obsessive about needing to be able to see a clock at night. Often, I wake up and look at the clock and fall right back to sleep. But when I'm in a room that doesn't have a clock or the clock is on the far side of my husband where I can't see it, I wake up in the night and lay there for ages and ages because I'm dying to know what time it is and how much longer I have for sleep.
ReplyDeleteWell, I take meds to sleep and I have for almost 20 years now. Even though I was really nervous about the sleep study for just the reasons you mention, I thought it was high time I had one. And then I slept fine and the thingees didn't bother me much at all. But like I said, I took plenty of meds to make sure I would sleep enough for them to have something to study. I mostly have to sleep on my back because of neck/shoulder pain that's going on right now. I did turn on my side once and it all went with me. Nurse Dennis had said that if any of the things came off he would come in and re-attach it. That was kind of weird, him being a male nurse and all but I was very comfortable with him and he obviously knew what he was doing and was very appropriate. I think the heart monitor on my finger bothered me the most.
ReplyDeleteAbout the clock, they were so laid back it would probably have been fine if I had taken a little clock in there with me. I've read so much crapola about sleep hygiene and how you're not supposed to do anything in your bed but sleep and have s*x that I was nervous about that... I read in bed and I have ever since I can remember. There was a lamp and I could have read, but Tin Man was fine.
Wow, that's really neat! Thanks for posting that, I always wondered what sleep studies were all about.
ReplyDeleteI've thought about trying one because I'm always tired and I don't think I sleep right. Besides, the only time I really dream is when I take short naps and they're never good dreams either.
Anyway, thanks for that really informative post!
You're very welcome, and we should be sleeping!!!
ReplyDelete