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My Sleep Study Results Are In!

Over that past few months I haven't been getting good sleep, and my wife has noticed that I do stop breathing once in a while. So I decided to give myself a sleep study. I underwent a formal overnight sleep study many years ago just to see what it's like, and at that time, the results were unremarkable. This time, I wanted to try one of the new home sleep tests. 

The sleep test was from Sleep Solutions and it's a clamshell laptop-like device with leads that connect to your finger, chest and a nasal cannula, like what you see in patients that receive oxygen in the hospital. The instructions are straight forward, and if there's any problem such as a lead falling off, the computer will tell you. The test is performed for three nights, and the device is mailed back via pre-paid shipping. 

About a week later, I finally got my results. Not too surprisingly, I don't have obstructive sleep apnea. However, I did have about 2 apneas or hypopneas every hour. Looking at individual apneas, some were as long as 40 seconds! Once, my oxygen level even dropped to 88%. There are also some mild snoring. 

One of the downsides of this particular test is that it doesn't show sleep stages, sleep position, or RERAs (short obstructions and arousals that don't meet the criteria for apnea or hypopnea).

I'm the last person you'd think has obstructive sleep apnea (my BMI is 20). This just goes to show that everyone, no matter what your size, shape or build, is susceptible to breathing problems. 

In retrospect, now that I'm sleeping better, my nose has been less stuffy that it has been over the past few months. This only confirms how having a stuffy nose can worsen your sleep quality.

Armed with this information, I'm committed to my current regimen of regular exercise, healthy eating, and good sleep practices. 

Understanding Your Sleep Study Report

Sleep Apnea Denial

Here’s a common situation that I see almost every day: A middle-aged, overweight man who snores, has high blood pressure, depression and low energy levels that comes in for a throat and sinus infection, not responding to oral antibiotics. He’s found not to have an infection at all, but inflammation of his throat and sinuses from laryngopharyngeal reflux disease, most likely due to his underlying possible sleep apnea. His problems are taken care of with conservative treatment, but when I mention the possibility of obstructive sleep apnea, he refuses or politely declines  to undergo a sleep study. Some agree to undergo the test, but delay and procrastinate, saying that they’re too busy.

 

When this situation happens, there are two possible explanations: The more common type of patient is one that truly believes that his or her sinus infection is causing all the symptoms. No matter how much I explain the importance of undergoing a sleep study (including the fact that his father died of a heart attack at age 45), this patient refuses to take this explanation seriously. Eventually, months or years later, they usually come around, but only after the condition worsens.

 

The other type of patient is one that’s already done all the research, and knows about sleep apnea. Usually, they’ll have a family or friend with known sleep apnea and has seen one of the treatment options. This person refuses to even undergo a sleep study, since all the available treatment options are not too appealing. If you don’t have a diagnosis, then there’s nothing to worry about. Except that their other chronic medical conditions continue, causing the person to repeatedly go back to their doctors for their general ailments or seeing a number of specialists for various other conditions. These patients are more difficult to convince, and usually, they’ll find and accept every other medical diagnosis (hypothyroidism, anemia, chronic fatigue syndrome, migraines, sinusitis, etc.) before being convinced of the fact that they have a sleep-breathing disorder that’s at the root of many of their medical ailments.

 

If you’re the type of person that I’ve just described, what will it take for me to convince you to take your sleep-breathing condition more seriously? Please enter your answer in the comments box below.

Dr. Park’s Sleep Study

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