At Home Sleep Apnea Tests

[gregfrey]

Hi everyone,

Brand new to the forum. It's nice to meet you all!

I believe I may have some level of sleep apnea. My wife says I snore loudly and that my breathing seems to stop then gasp. I must admit, I often feel tired all day long. So, I'd like to find out if I have sleep apnea, but I hate the idea of going to a sleep center to get tested. I see there are 'at home' devices. Does anyone have experience with these devices? Are they all useless? What's the general consensus? Any ideas or thoughts about how to proceed are most welcome. 

Thanks for your time, experience and expertise.

gregfrey

[nightgagger]

Going to the sleep center for a sleep study is usually the gold standard. There they can monitor your sleep with more measurements than are measurable at home. One being EEG.
Nevertheless, don't discount a take home study as well.

I've had both, but the full study, with electrodes all over my body was done at my house, in my bed. Sleep tech sat in the living room monitoring. This was well over twenty years ago, so it was mostly in it's infancy.

The most recent one I had was a take home machine which was simple to use and setup. Was it more accurate than the full blown sleep study? Maybe, maybe not, but I was diagnosed with severe apnea and was eligible to get a CPAP machine, which has pretty much made my issues with apnea go away.

[staceyburke]

One of the main problems with a full sleep study is covid in the hospital. I had one done in a hotel that they set up as a sleep lab.

If something like that is available that is what I would do. If not an at home test will tell you if you have sleep apnea. That is the good news. The bad it does not distinguish between centrals and obstructive apnea - just that you have apned and not the type.

The problem with that is centrals can NOT be treated with the normal Cpap machine. It takes a special - more expensive pap machine you might need to help with centrals.

Many (most) times you would be given a regular Cpap machine first and they will want to see if it will control your apnea and if not then they will prescribe a machine to treat both central and obstructive apned.

Which ever test you choose I would recommend you do it as soon as possible. Apnea effects your total health and putting off tests is not a good idea.

[NelsonM]

I did an at home test as a first time sleep patient; they verified I had severe obstructive sleep apnea and now I have a CPAP and my life is greatly improved. Like Stacey I strongly encourage you to do some sort of test as soon as you can.

The at home test was wholly sufficient for me. Very easy to set up; a small box strapped to your chest, a nasal cannula to measure breathing, and a pulse oximeter on the finger to measure blood oxygen. I got mine via a sleep clinic and it seemed very normal; they never even suggested doing a more complicated study. It's also possible to order one online (including disposable tests!) but that may be a little complicated to coordinate; it's definitely easier to go through your doctor and a referral to a sleep doctor.

A home test is now sufficient in the US to diagnose sleep apnea and insurers and Medicare will accept it. As someone said above the at home test can diagnose some kinds of sleep apnea but if you have something more complicated going on than basic obstructive sleep apnea you may need a more detailed test. If you want to research that in detail a useful keyword is "Type III sleep test" (what you get at home) vs a Type I or II with more sensors, typically done in a sleep clinic. For me a home test seems sufficient.

Good luck! For me getting treated has been life changing.

[Gideon]

There are 3 types of sleep tests.

Type 1. In Lab the hold standard
Type 2. At home or in lab. Unattended very similar to type 1 see SleepTest #1

Type 3. The common home test, a lot fewer channels than above.

[ArcherNeedsSleep]

If you're in the "just barely sleep apnea" range, then an at home sleep study might not qualify you for a machine.  The test can't tell when you're awake or when you're asleep, so it assumes the entire night was spent sleeping and therefore it lowballs your incidents per hour.  

I ended up just below the insurance-coverable threshold and was told that the only way to get an accurate accounting of my AHI was to pay for an in-lab study.  Since the copay for the in-lab was about the same as buying the machine outright, I opted to skip the in-lab option and just buy my own machine.

If you think you're going to test with a high AHI, then the at home version will probably get you the data you need for coverage.

[gregfrey]

Thanks everyone, very helpful!

I think I'll start with a home device and then, if need be work my way up to a sleep clinic. I totally understand 'the sooner the better' aspect of this, but I prefer to proceed slowly. 

For those who've tried home devices, can you recommend any starting points? Brands? Styles? Are the test kits that need a doc's approval better than the others? There seem to be a myriad of devices out there and I'm not sure where to begin, how to wrap my head around all the different ideas. 

Thanks again, you guys are amazing.

gregfrey

[Gideon]

To be clear the best home sleep test is a type 2 such as SleepTest #1 can provide. they can also provide a type 3.

[gregfrey]

Oops, sorry, missed that link the first go 'round.

Thanks, Gideon!

gregfrey

[79tarheel]

I now feel like it was a waste of money.  No one told me that after doing that home test, I would still be required to go into sleep lab for full study “to be fitted w mask and machine and determine settings”. So I did both, struggling, so after 2 months Dr wanted to have me in sleep lab for 3rd study to switch to bipap. I feel like it is all such a racket.  Had they told me I would still have to go in overnight after the home test, I would have skipped that.
In-home made sense to me at the time as allergist wanted done in my bed, in my environment, due to all my allergies.