Hi all - I'm so glad I found this site.  I've been reading information since my sleep study in late August, and now I have a copy of my results.  I'm scheduled for a follow-up titration study on September 30.

I have to say, I'm dreading it.  I felt like I got little sleep at the first one, although they said I slept almost 6 hours.  I felt like I was "hungover" for 2 days afterward.  Plus, I normally sleep in on Saturday mornings to "catchup" and they woke me at 5 AM!!  I ended up sleeping on my back most of the time, and some on my right side.  I'm wondering how accurate my results really are, as I never sleep on my back at home.  I couldn't lay on my left side, because the wires wouldn't allow it.  On my right side, I had trouble getting comfortable.  I had 52 hypopneas in 212.6 minutes on my back, versus 13 in 131.4 minutes on my side.

I am tired all the time, wake often with headaches.  I don't really snore, but I understand many women don't have that symptom.  My doc says to lose weight - which I have been working at diligently with NO success after my initial few months.  I lost 32 pounds in 6 months, and 0 in the last 6 months, despite exercising 4 -5 times/week.  So, I have some of the symptoms and I would love to feel rested for a change - just not looking forward to the cure.

I would love any advice on how to discuss with my doctor, what questions to ask, etc. to ensure we come up with the right treatment plan vs. automatically spending money on CPAP.

Here's some notes from the study:
   OSA was scored in this record.  (RDI = 11.3)
   OSA was more prominent and dramatic in REM state (REM RDI = 34.8)
   Some of these events resulted in arousals.  (Respiratory Arousals Index = 6.6)
                                                                  (REM Respiratory Arousals Index = 14.5)

Respiratory Summary:
  Apneas + Hypopneas:  Total 65, Index 11.3
  Respiratory Events (non-REM):  Total 34, Index 7.0
  Respiratory Events (REM):   Total 31, Index 34.8

Respiratory Arousals:
  Total Sleep Time:  38, Index 6.6
  Non-REM:             25, Index 5.2
  REM:                    13, Index 14.6

No PLM activity (finally figured out this was my leg movement!)

Lights Out 10:01 pm
Lights On 5:01 am

Time in Bed: 420.7 minutes
Total Sleep Time: 344.0 minutes
Sleep Efficiency:  81.8%

Sleep Onset:  11.6 minutes  (but felt like hours!)
REM Onset:  216.5 minutes
REM periods: 2
Awakenings after sleep onset:  55

Stage Distribution:
  WASO:  65.2 (WHAT IS THIS????)
  Stage 1:  15.0
  Stage 2:  253.5
  SWS:  22.0   (Is this the same as stages 3 & 4????)
  REM:  53.5

Latency from sleep onset:
  Stage 1:  0 min
  Stage 2:  2 min
  SWS:      51 min
  REM:      216.5 min


Central, Obstructive, Mixed Apneas:  0
Hypopneas:  65; 31 in REM, 34 in non-REM
Mean duration 23.8 seconds, longest 46.9 seconds

  What exactly is a Hypopnea?  I've found all kinds of information on the others, which I'm not having - so is this another type of sleep apnea?  HELP!

Arousals:

Respiratory - Total 38, Non-REM 25, REM 13
Snore - 0
Spontaneous - 459 total for index of 80.1; 429 non-REM for index of 88.6; REM 30 for index of 33.6

  (What's the difference between respiratory & spontaneous?  Another part of the report said awakenings 55 - what do all these mean?)

Pulse results:
                           Wake                  non-REM                    REM                   TST                      TIB
Max Pulse (bpm)    109.0                  109.0                        109.0                  109.0                   109.0
Mean Pulse             91.6                    86.2                           93.3                  87.3                     88.0
Min Pulse                77.0                    68.0                           80.0                  68.0                     68.0

Oxygen Desaturation:
Total Sleep Time:                45, index of 7.8
Wake (after sleep onset)       0
Non-REM:                            25, index of 5.2
REM:                                   20, index of 22.4

I know the oxygen stuff is important, but I'm still struggling with what it really means.

The report was written by a sleep doctor, but it's my internal medicine doctor that is sending me for the study and diagnosing sleep apnea/titration study.  She's a good doctor, but not a sleep expert.  Should I schedule a meeting with the actual sleep doctor?  

Thanks for your help!