Hello all. . .

I went for a study Sunday night, given that when I was much younger I had one and was told I had mild central apnea.  Both my Dad and my Grandfather (mum's side) are on CPAP for OSA.

Anywho. . . study was as expected, the usual, but actually quite comfy and professional.  My tech said she'd split me and had prepped a hybrid mask for that portion of the night.  Study was scheduled from 10p -6a

After I got into bed, I could NOT sleep.  One of the chest bands slipped just after I'd hit REM the first time, and I was up for two more hours.

She never did split me.

My question is this:  I'm pretty much a dead on candidate for pretty major CSA, all the usual symptoms, Cheyne-Stokes even when awake, but the no-split thing kinda has me worried - we were hoping that CPAP would solve all my varied problems.  I have no results and won't for a few weeks, when I see my PCP.  So, is it likely I didn't get split becasue I was awake so much, or because there were no events?  How much actual sleep-time do they need to determine if you need a split?

I know you guys aren't techs or docs, that's fine - I'm just looking for guesses anyway :)

ladytetsu wrote:

So, is it likely I didn't get split becasue I was awake so much, or because there were no events?  How much actual sleep-time do they need to determine if you need a split?

I believe you didn't get a split because your doctor didn't prescribe one.  When I went in for my first visit, I asked if I would be split (thanks to this forum) and was told "Let me check.....no, your doctor only prescribed a study" leading me to believe that the prescribing doctor must specify a split study on the prescription.

Hello ladytetsu, and welcome to the forum,

My doc prescribed a split-night study, but the techs did not come in to try the mask, so it happens. Nonetheless, a couple of weeks later I got the diagnosis of severe sleep apnea.

I believe that there can be several possible reasons that the treatment was not started during the second half of the night, including Barry's suggestion that one was not correctly prescribed. But wait to get the actual results for your case. How will you get the results? Do you have a follow-up appt scheduled?

Please note that, if you do get a confirmed diagnosis, there are treatments for all the possibilities that you mentioned (OSA, CSA, and Cheynes-Stokes).

Guest MJ

Did you get AT LEAST 2 hours sleep out of 6 hours bedtime? Even so, if by the time you got 2 hours of sleep in, if there isn't enough time left in the night to get 2 hours of titration, there is no value to doing the titration, thus no split-night. There are criteria that have to be met before insurances will pay for a split-night study regardless of whether the doctor ordered a split-night or not. And conversely, as I understand it, even if a split night is NOT ordered, if your OSA is severe enough the sleep tech HAS to come in and put you on CPAP for your safety and THEIR liability.


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