Thursday, November 10, 2011

Ten Reasons Why You Won't Sleep During a "Sleep Study"

My room for the night at the Stoneridge Sleep Center

1. It's not your own bed.
2.  The straps that monitor your chest and abdomen feel like they are constricting your rib cage.
3.  The tape holding sensors on your face itches.
4.  The paste holding sensors on your scalp (in your hair) is sticky and itches.
5.  The tubes up your nose to monitor breathing and snoring are pokey and uncomfortable.
6.  If you try to roll over you have to take a bunch of wires with you and inevitably you get tangled in them.
7.  If you lay on either side (yes, I'm a side sleeper) all the wires and tubes poke into your head and face.
8.  You can hear the patient in the next room snoring.  Loudly. Seriously, if I had to sleep with that guy, I would smother him.
9.  You can hear the technicians talking down the hall. And doors closing. And other unidentified strange noises.
10.  You know there is a camera on you monitoring your every move.  Which is just creepy.

I felt like I barely slept at all although the technician tells me I did. I think I dreamed about being awake!  There is apparently no explanation for why I wake up dozens of times a night.

Today I am grateful to know that I do not have sleep apnea or breathing issues and, contrary to what my husband will tell you, I barely snore at all!

Check here for more of Shimelle's Ten on the Tenth!

9 comments:

Unknown said...

I was going to mention how hard it is to sleep/the noises/the sensors, but I didn't want to stress you out more. It's over... you have answers (maybe not what you wanted to hear - The Answer)... but good to know. And... my husband DOES snore like that and there have been some close calls... :)

Sian said...

Okay, this must be the most intriguing "ten" I'm going to see this month! It sounds fascinating

quiltingfool said...

Glad to hear you have none of those bad things at least. Don't know if heredity has anything to do with it, but I wake up a zillion times a night. Frequently I will fall asleep quickly, then wake up about an hour later and can't get back to sleep for hours. Happened just last night. It's been many years since I slept a night through. Maybe it's just your pattern. And I couldn't imagine how anyone could sleep with all that stuff going on!

Amy said...

I have always wondered just how much sleep you would get in that situation, obviously not all that much! Good luck with finding the answers by the way, inconclusive tests can be frustrating!

Melissa said...

Oh Cheri, it certainly doesn't sound like a fun experience, and then no answers - UGH!

MonicaB said...

At least it's over but I always wonderful how helpful those studies are because it's hard to sleep. My husband had one done, he snores like thunder, and they didn't find anything which was a huge shock to me.

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

Haha - I LOL'd at #8.

I always wondered about those sleep studies and how they could get an accurate reading of someone who isn't sleeping in their own bed/environment. Anyway, I'm glad you survived it and glad to hear the results. It made for a pretty cool list of 10! ;o)

Cheryl said...

That sounds DREADFUL, but I'm glad it resulted in good news for you!

Rebekah said...

The outcome was good, but sorry for all the issues the test involves. Glad you don't apnea or breathing issues...