Questions asked about your sleep study

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Added: Sat. Jan 17, 2009 2:49am
Posted in: Health

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There are many concerns my patients have when they come into my lab. Concerns about sleeping here, concerns about treatment of sleep disorders, and concerns about their health.  Some of these concerns just make me giggle once in a while so I thought I would share some insights that might relieve you if you are thinking of having a sleep study.

"Why am I being taped and what will you do with it?"  We video tape sleep studies so that we have a record of your sleep, your snores and if you have any unusual behavior such as sleep walking, sleep talking or acting out your dreasm (also known as REM behavior disorder0 we have a record for the doctor to see.  It is never seen by anyone outside the technicians who run and read the study and the physician.

"Do you see what I am dreaming?"  Now we do know when you are dreaming because we can see your eye movements but we do not know what you are dreaming about.  In many cases people do not even remember that they did dream during the study.

"What happens if I do not sleep during the study?"   I have had very few patients who have not fallen asleep during the night of the study.  Many times patients are in a very light sleep known as stage 1 sleep and are not even aware of it.  If for some reason you feel you could not sleep you can always ask your doctor for a sleep aide to bring with you.  Just remember if you are going to take a sleep aide please arrange for someone to drop you off and pick you up from the study.

"Why can't I have the television on during the night?"  Television advertisers are in the market to sell you products and they can not if you are asleep.  They have designed their late night commercials to not only increase the volume of the show but to flash light at you to wake you up.  We want to have a true good night's sleep so we ask that there be no distractions such as television during the study.

I hope this will help anyone considering coming in for a study to relax and feel more comfortable.  If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask them.  That is the best way for you to feel comfortable and get the sleep you need to be your best self.