Okay, for the last 8 years I have suffered from horrible fatigue and about 8 months ago my insurance finally did a sleep study. However, to save money, they only send a person home with an oximeter to see if you have any apnea events (based on O2 levels). I did. I have an APAP machine and have used it religiously for the last 7.5 months. I feel better in the morning (headaches are gone), but I still have excessive fatigue. They redid this study 2 months ago with me using my machine and it showed I was no longer having any apnea events

I've gone back to the doctor several times and am having a MSLT done in a month, but I still feel like this won't give all of the necessary info. Based on my research, a MSLT will only tell how quickly I fall asleep (so long as it's within 20 min). Is that all it will show me? SHouldn't they be trying to figure out if there is something interefering with my ability to get REM sleep?

Anyone have any ideas? I'm desparate!

Sarah

Hi Sarah,

I'm not all that familiar with the home sleep study.  But it seems to me odd they don't do the full polysommography in an overnight sleep study.  I know the MSLT is a test for narcolepsy.  I believe that includes some polysommography but I don't know if it includes enough to also determine apneas.  Can you describe how specifically they determined no apneas from the home study with the auto?  Sorry, I'm not very familiar.

An overnight sleep study will also give sleep architecture.  I just don't know what to tell you.  First of all, it was irresponsible for them to just conclude apnea with only an oximeter test.  Just because there's a drop in oxygen does not in an of itself definitively determine if you have sleep apnea.  Some people might not register much of a drop in oxygen levels and still have sleep apnea, and vice versa.  If possible, I suggest pushing the doc to order the full overnight polysommography sleep study and then the MSLT.  But again, I don't know enough about the home sleep study or the MSLT test to know if both are still necessary.  It just seems like they did things backwards.  From my reading, like you, it looks like the narcolepsy test is not set up with enough time to test for apneas.  

Here are a couple of links on the subject:
Click here for link to sleepeducation.com article
Click here for link to Ohio State University article


Linda

thanks linda interesting reading

Allegedly, they can tell that I was apnea "events" b/c my O2 levels kept dropping below 90% then rebounding back up (which corresponded to an increased heart rate). This happened 116 times in 6 hours. Other than that, I don't know why they did an at home study. When the study was "redone" (me using my machine) my O2 levels never dropped. Therefore, then claimed I am okay so long as I use the machine.

However, I am still sleepy, so they want to test for narcolepsy. I just wonder if there is something they are missing...seems like a bog jump to go from sleep apnea to narcolepsy, without ruling out all the stuff in between.

Sarah