Is there a home test for sleep apnea? Testing in a clinic?

I am participating in a research study for Covid. One of the tests I qualified for was a home sleep study. It indicated a possibility of sleep apnea. I took the report to my doctor who referred me to pulmonology for a sleep study at the hospital. I just had that done last week. The home sleep study is not able to monitor brain waves.

My dr referred me fir a study but my insurance will only pay for the home test so I'm guessing if that shows anything then my insurance will pay for the clinic study. I do my home test the 25th.

Unfortunately, the home tests are incomplete, and you probably understand. They don't measure brain activity, but they also don't measure RERA and undesirable limb movements. RERA is 'respiration effort related arousals'. You may have little sleep apnea, but that may be because you're semi-awake much of the night having just twitched, turned over, coughed, or just let your chin sag toward your chest because of choice of pillow and lying supine. This tens to pinch the airway which increases resistance. A home test might pick that up, but the CPAP machine almost certainly will, and so will a full polysomnography in a lab over night.

I would like to know if 66 episodes per hour is really bad. Last night I turned up the humidity to 5. Would that cause more problems? What would happen if I just stopped? I am getting really frustrated 😠

Sometimes I sleep for 6 hours without waking so I assume I'm in a position that doesn't contribute to the sleep apnea. Some nights I wake after 3 hours of sleep and I assume then that my airway was obstructed some what and my body woke me up. I've never woke gasping for air though. Sometimes I wear my cpap for 4 hours before I go to sleep. I think if someone can sleep 5 or 6 hours without waking, that is good. I know I get deep sleep because I dream and you can only dream in REM sleep. What is the frustration from?

There's nothing to it. I was nervous too. You are there with several other people. Everyone has own room. They give you something to help you sleep if you need it. The hook up the thi gs to your head and it takes about 15 to 20 minutes. You don't even feel them really. It's kinda like the things they put on ekg I say. The machines are very quiet. The TV is programmed to go off at 10:00 so just watch TV until you fall asleep. If I had to use restroom during night, just tap on the table. There is someone watching you throughout the test. They wake people up at either 4 or 5. I woke up about 3:45 to go to restroom so she went ahead and took the things off me and I went home. I brought my fan from home and puzzle books to do. We had to be there 30 minutes before the test. I was there at 7:30. You don't sleep with cpap the first test. The second test, they hook you up the same way only this time you're on the cpap so they can see how many episodes you have with it on. I had 2 obstructive and 1 central episode with it. It's really not that bad. Like sleeping in a hotel. You can have a snack if you want.

Any count in AHI greater than 30 is 'severe'. Your count, if it can be accepted as veridical (verifiably true), is exceedingly high. You need to consult a respirologist or an RT and have them look at a printout of your machine's 'back story' about the past two or three weeks.

You may be chin-tucking, often a result of sleeping on your back. It wouldn't be more than a few dollars to purchase a soft foam cervical collar, widely available, and try one around your neck at night. If your AHI drops markedly, you'll know that the collar is preventing you from closing off your airway that way.

It takes forever for me to fall asleep with my mask on! Should I stay up later? I am taking melatonin for sleep.

Thanks

Hoo booy....
Coupla suggestions: The novelty of the CPAP is still affecting you, or it's actually impeding your sleep. I can't help you with your fit or your settings...you'll have to figure those out, but your supplying RT can help. As for the novelty, we often suggest that you simply read at night with the mask on. In bed, or just wear the mask and hose in the living room...the point is to get used to having it in place. As your mind unlearns dwelling on it, as you get calmer, its impact will fade and sleep will come more easily.

Melatonin is a double-edged sword, like most things we label as 'aids'. Your brain ought to, normally, make it in sufficient quantity to help you to sleep naturally. Taking it every night is, based on what I have read, not normally advised. You are better off taking it ever second night, or better yet, every third or fourth night...UNLESS...you have a prescription and it says differently. If you can stand a short anecdote, I had both a pre-screening angiogram and then later a catheter ablation last year. After both procedures, I had a lot of difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. I asked my GP for help, and he prescribed a very stingy supply of three 7.5 mg tablets of Zopiclone. My pharmacists quietly recommended that I break them in half because he knew about my sleep apnea. So, while the reduced dosage worked, I knew from experience not to take even half a pill on consecutive nights. Instead, I would take a 3 mg melatonin one night, tough it out for two, take the Zopiclone, tough it out again for two nights, and then take a melatonin. It took about three weeks before my mind let go of the whole bother about both procedures (neither was 'bad' or horrible, just a lot of bother and time away from home, a disrupted routine if you will..) at which my normal sleep was re-established.

So, familiarity with your equipment, belief in its efficacy, that it is helping you, and finding ways to calm yourself without relying heavily on medications and soporifics, is the way ahead. I'm not a health professional, and maybe our personalities are markedly different and you know that you need another course. But try not to rely too heavily on medicines unless they are prescribed.

I have MS and take melatonin. I had heard about it from a friend and thought it would help me sleep. I also have sleep apnea and last night unknown to me I took off my mask! Strange for me. No idea I had done this. Do you happen to know exactly what melatonin does to your brain.