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Sleep test and other things.
Mar. 22nd, 2011 10:55 amJust got home from the sleep test.
Unlike my original sleep test, this timr they wired me up. O boy did they wire me up.
Let's see, a contact on each calf (to see if I kicked my legs while asleep)
A couple of elastic belts, one around my stomach, one around my chest, to measure breathing.
A couple of pads on my collarbone for EKG
Around a dozen on my head for EEG.
Several on my face to measure jaw & eye movement.
Note that for *all* of these, the nurse had to apply a bit of pumice paste and "scrub" the area to ensure good contact. Plus one the scalp & face ones, she had to use big gobs of this contact paste stuff.
Then there was thise thing like an oxygen canula that went to my nostrils and in front of my mouth to measure my *actual* breathing (after all, with sleep apnea, the chest or abdomen can move without any air actually going in or out).
Oh yeah, the sensor for the pulse oximeter (blood oxygen level & pulse) was taped to my left index finger.
Most of the wires went to this box about the size of a thin paperback pook, that had a lnyard so you can wear it around your neck when you go to the bathroom, or before you go to bed.
It takes around 45 minutes to wire you up. Or so the nurse said, and I have no reason to doubt her.
Actually the nasal thing and a couple of the face pads don't go on until you are ready to lay down. But the rest are there and you get to wear the box around your neck while you sit and watch TV or read or whatever.
I think I finally got into bed around 10 pm. And read. And read. And read. And picked up the second book I'd brought. And read some more.
I'd stop and try to sleep every so often, but I wasn't sleepy.
Finally around 2-3 am, I did feel sleepy. Then the real fun began.
Remember, they want to geta baselinde *without* the CPAP before hooking you up.
Well, I'd start to fall asleep (though at first I din't realize it, start to stop breathing and pop back awake. But since I din't realize that was what was happening, it felt a lot like an anxiety attack.
It wasn't until the nurse came in to reattach a lead that'd come loose and mentioned that I seemed to be starting to go under and then "obstructiing and popping back out" that I was able to recognize that the start of sleep (say, the start of some drsam imagery" was there just before I'd find myself twitching or needing to take real deep breaths.
It went on like this for the rest of the test. So we never got to trying to use a CPAP and adjust the settings.
Around 7, they started to unhook me, and gave me a towel, washcloth and some bodywash/shampoo to clean the goop off with (yes, there was a shower in the bathroom).
On the way hoime, I stopped at Tri-met and (yay!) they accepted my SSI award letter just fine. And I had enough money to get a 14 day pass to cover the rest of this month (and a few days of next month) and a monthly pass fpr next month.
The few days of overlap are worth it to not have to worry about bus fare. Pity they won't "trade in" the unused 2-zone and All-zone bus tickets I have. But I can hold onto them for times when I haven't gotten my monthly pass yet.
Once I got home, I threw some stuff in the crock pot for dinner tonight and started writing this. Yeesh, that was an houir ago.
Probably going to crash out for a while with my CPAP so I can actually get some sleep.
ps. They'll almost cetrtainly schedule me for *another* sleep test because they couldn't get everything this time. Next time I shave the beard!
Unlike my original sleep test, this timr they wired me up. O boy did they wire me up.
Let's see, a contact on each calf (to see if I kicked my legs while asleep)
A couple of elastic belts, one around my stomach, one around my chest, to measure breathing.
A couple of pads on my collarbone for EKG
Around a dozen on my head for EEG.
Several on my face to measure jaw & eye movement.
Note that for *all* of these, the nurse had to apply a bit of pumice paste and "scrub" the area to ensure good contact. Plus one the scalp & face ones, she had to use big gobs of this contact paste stuff.
Then there was thise thing like an oxygen canula that went to my nostrils and in front of my mouth to measure my *actual* breathing (after all, with sleep apnea, the chest or abdomen can move without any air actually going in or out).
Oh yeah, the sensor for the pulse oximeter (blood oxygen level & pulse) was taped to my left index finger.
Most of the wires went to this box about the size of a thin paperback pook, that had a lnyard so you can wear it around your neck when you go to the bathroom, or before you go to bed.
It takes around 45 minutes to wire you up. Or so the nurse said, and I have no reason to doubt her.
Actually the nasal thing and a couple of the face pads don't go on until you are ready to lay down. But the rest are there and you get to wear the box around your neck while you sit and watch TV or read or whatever.
I think I finally got into bed around 10 pm. And read. And read. And read. And picked up the second book I'd brought. And read some more.
I'd stop and try to sleep every so often, but I wasn't sleepy.
Finally around 2-3 am, I did feel sleepy. Then the real fun began.
Remember, they want to geta baselinde *without* the CPAP before hooking you up.
Well, I'd start to fall asleep (though at first I din't realize it, start to stop breathing and pop back awake. But since I din't realize that was what was happening, it felt a lot like an anxiety attack.
It wasn't until the nurse came in to reattach a lead that'd come loose and mentioned that I seemed to be starting to go under and then "obstructiing and popping back out" that I was able to recognize that the start of sleep (say, the start of some drsam imagery" was there just before I'd find myself twitching or needing to take real deep breaths.
It went on like this for the rest of the test. So we never got to trying to use a CPAP and adjust the settings.
Around 7, they started to unhook me, and gave me a towel, washcloth and some bodywash/shampoo to clean the goop off with (yes, there was a shower in the bathroom).
On the way hoime, I stopped at Tri-met and (yay!) they accepted my SSI award letter just fine. And I had enough money to get a 14 day pass to cover the rest of this month (and a few days of next month) and a monthly pass fpr next month.
The few days of overlap are worth it to not have to worry about bus fare. Pity they won't "trade in" the unused 2-zone and All-zone bus tickets I have. But I can hold onto them for times when I haven't gotten my monthly pass yet.
Once I got home, I threw some stuff in the crock pot for dinner tonight and started writing this. Yeesh, that was an houir ago.
Probably going to crash out for a while with my CPAP so I can actually get some sleep.
ps. They'll almost cetrtainly schedule me for *another* sleep test because they couldn't get everything this time. Next time I shave the beard!
