Last night I finally went for my sleep study test. I am going to describe in detail what it was like (for me) in case anyone else wants to know what it's really like. (Consider this a warning that this story won't be interesting to everyone). I am sure the tests/experience vary for person to person and from place to place but here is my experience:
6:30 PM
I was asked to arrive at 6:30 PM. I was a little shocked and worried about this because -- what the heck were they going to do to me between 6:30 and bed time? I usually eat dinner around 7PM or so my boyfriend ended up taking me to subway where I got 6" sub (meatball marinara) and a bag of chips (classic baked lays) to take with me for later. The chips turned out to be a very good idea. My boyfriend wasn't hungry so he sipped an iced tea while watching me eat. He dropped me off at the clinic and we arrived at 6:20. I stalled for about 5 minutes and went in at 6:25. I went up to the second floor and hit the little doorbell-like button. I was greeted by a very friendly woman not much older than myself who had pretty blond hair and appeared to weigh no more than 100 pounds. She was a technician and her name was Kerry. She took me back to my room and got me situated. She told me to just hang out and get comfortable. So I laid down on the queen sized bed and turned on the television. At this point I already felt nearly all of my fears disappear. They just lifted off my shoulders and dissipated upwards into the air. What I was so worried about to begin with, I have no idea. I immediately sent a message to my poor boyfriend who drove off as I was nearly in tears.
I did have a minor panic attack when it took me somewhere around five minutes to figure out how to use the remote control, but I did eventually win my little battle with technology.
7:30 PM
Kerry popped back, asked how I was doing, and told me to get into my sleeping attire. "I'll be back in a little bit and we can hang out while I get you all hooked up!" she said.
7:50 PM
Kerry came back again and started getting me all hooked up. We watched Seinfeld and I learned her life story. Not her entire life story, but we talked for an hour and I learned a lot. Yes, it took an hour to get all the electrodes and gadgets attached. Nothing was painful but it was a long process. I didn't could but there were maybe 10 or 12 electrodes attached to my scalp, and 4 or 5 attached to my face. It wasn't the same simple process that I've experienced before with an EKG where they just slap a couple of circular things on you and that was it. Each electrode had to placed in a certain spot (a measuring strip was used to determine the right spots). And each of the little electrodes needed to be filled with some sort of fluid and some sort of cap put on it. She also put 2 patches on each leg which were attached to two wires which ran up underneath my clothes all the way up to my shoulder. She also attached a "snore microphone" on my throat which didn't record sound, but just measured vibrations caused by snoring. There was a belt put around my abdomen and a belt around my chest to measure breathing and sleeping position.
I want to share a short little anecdote that Kerry told me while we sat preparing all the electrodes. Seinfeld was on the t.v. and I asked her if she ever watched. She said she did and then mentioned a patient that once asked her to take his picture posing on the bed as George posed in that one episode. You know -- like this. It went on for several minutes. He wanted an all-out photo shoot, not just a quick snapshot. She added that he was not attractive. And one of the strangest individuals she had ever met. I could not fathom doing something like this at a study like this. To each their own, I guess!
9:00 PM
I took a couple of pictures of myself on my phone all hooked up and sent them to my boyfriend. Also mentioned how incredibly nice and comforting the tech was. She had a wonderful personality, and was great at her job.
America's Most Wanted on t.v. Probably not the best choice just before sleeping...
10:00 PM
It was time to finish the last of the hook-ups and try to sleep. She added an airflow sensor (like those oxygen tube thingies with the 2 little prongs that go up your nose, but it measured air flow and temperature changes rather than shoot oxygen into your nose). She added something called an oximeter probe that looked like a think band-aid over the pointer finger to measure oxygen levels in the blood. There was some sort of red light glowing underneath the beige colored bandage and when the lights went out all I could think of was "E.T. phone home!" She attached everything I was attached to into the wall and I was now stuck. If I had to go to the bathroom I had to call out to be unhooked. I was told I could bring any medications I used for sleep and so I took an Ambien. She asked what time I usually woke up to determine wake-up time. I sort of chuckled. She said the latest they woke people up was 6 AM, so I said that would be fine.
10:30 PM
Kerry went to the other room and tested the intercom system. She also had me do a bunch of things to confirm that all the equipment was working properly. She had me do things like lift each leg, cough, take a deep breath, blink five times, move my eyes to the left, to the right, etc. I turned out the lights and texted my boyfriend Goodnight. I tried to sleep. I could feel my heart racing (for really no reason other than the pressure to sleep, I guess) and was worried that it didn't bode well for sleeping.
11:00-ish PM
Sleep! After some tossing and turning and getting used to all the equipment I fell asleep. I woke up once in the middle of the night. I'm not sure what time, but I fell right back to sleep.
6:30 AM
Kerry came in and woke me up. Surprisingly, I had no trouble waking up. Normally no matter how hard I try I cannot get out of bed before 8 AM. She unhooked everything and put what seemed like bottles of grease in my hair to detach all the electrodes. It didn't hurt, but was pretty gross. It only took about 15 minutes. I wasn't planning on showering before I left but my hair was SO disgusting I had no choice. I asked Kerry if she had any information she could give me about what happened during the night. Disappointingly, she said there were a few things but she didn't really see anything significant. She said I didn't really snore and that my legs didn't appear to have any unusual muscle movement and my oxygen levels were good at around 90%. Or maybe she said above 90%? It was early. I'm not sure.
7:00 AM
I called my boyfriend about 7:00 AM to come pick me up. I went to the lounge area and had a plain bagel with cream cheese and a small bottle of apple juice.
7:20 AM
My boyfriend arrived and I breathed a sigh of relief as I got into his car. It was over. I actually slept. I survived (not a surprise, really, but for some reason seems notable).
So it appears I still may not have any answers as to why I am feeling so crappy all the time. But at least I have ruled out a handful of additional possible causes. It is going to be a long 9 days waiting until my official follow-up appointment with the doctor himself on the 8th.
If you actually made it to the end of this post, kudos to you!
This was interesting! I hope you get some answers, though.
And that Costanza photo? Ewwww.
I remember all the electrodes and what I remember most was the stick tape they used. They were everywhere on me. Being a hairy guy it was a pain to get it all out the next morning.
Hope you get a good result!
Figures, doesn't it. You finally get a test for answers and you sleep like a baby. For me, that figures. Hey but nice writing. I thought it was interesting. Did you take pics of the room and the tech so you can scrapbook it? lol
Sure was interesting to read about how it all went. But now you've made me realize it's after midnight here. I wish I could get more done while I'm sleeping. :)
This was interesting! It's a wonder anyone can sleep after all that prep. My heart went out to you about the panic attack. I've had them. Not in years, but I remember them like it was yesterday.
Ewww about the guy who wanted his picture taken. Reminds me of my best friend who's a massage therapist. While still in school, she had to work on "freebie" people for credit. You can imagine the stuff she got asked to do. Yeah. That stuff.
I hope your waiting time goes by quickly and you can get to the bottom of your sleep issue. {crosses fingers}
Hey, I made it all the way through!
A friend sent me the link to your post, because I recently did a sleep study and blogged about it, tho your account was much more comprehensive. That Seinfeld story is hilarious. The only good tidbit I got from my technician (and mine was SUPER nice, too---must be a requirement) when I begged for scandalous stories about other patients was that one gentleman "fondled himself." Otherwise, my experience was pretty similar to yours, including the mysterious anxiety that disappeared as soon as I got there.
@Candice. Yes, ewwwww. Poor lovely tech girl. As always, thanks for your support!
@Majimo. Now I feel bad for you. I didn't really thinking about the hairy guy issue. The only problem spot for me what the scalp and she used so much grease it didn't really hurt. Well worth that bit of pain for you though, right?
@Heidi. Yes, it definitely does figure. That is just my luck, and apparently yours, too! No, I didn't tech pics of the tech of the room. I only got a couple of snaps of myself on my cell phone.
@Laura. I am glad you found it an interesting read! I was a bit afraid I would bore people to death with it. Yes, we'd all be much more productive if we could get things done while sleeping. If only we didn't require sleep!
@Kathy. Yes, I was scared to death that I would not be able to sleep. Seriously, if I can't sleep in my own bed wire-free and with a lot less pressure how on earth would I sleep with all that "stuff". It's much easier than you could imagine. Wasn't that uncomfortable even though it looked ridiculous!
@JD. I am glad your friend found it interesting and particularly interesting enough to forward on! I am actually pretty excited to hear I was not the only one with a similar anxiety experience. Our experiences sound VERY similar. It is funny you mentioned the temperature. My room was freezing when I first got in there!