Dr. Wants To Do A 24-Hour Test
Been using cpap for almost 3 months. Excellent numbers all around. AHI between 0 and 1 practically every night, yet virtually no improvement in my daytime fatigue.
Sleep doc scheduled me for a "24-hour test" where I come in 7pm and stay til 7pm next night. Says prob may be "narcolepsy".
I asked him if the overnight would show a new AHI. He said they will use the machine the whole time, so it will show only numbers while being treated. Not sure why.
RE: Dr. Wants To Do A 24-Hour Test
You should be able to ask the purpose of the test. One possibility is the multiple sleep latency test:
Multiple Sleep Latency Test, MSLT – A study performed during the day after a full diagnostic NPSG, this study is used to objectively determine a patient’s level of sleepiness after a night’s sleep. The MSLT is a series of five timed test, two hours apart, during which we look to see whether a patient falls asleep, how quickly, and to what stage of sleep the patient reaches. The MSLT is most commonly used to diagnose narcolepsy or some degree of excessive daytime sleepiness.
RE: Dr. Wants To Do A 24-Hour Test
(12-07-2016, 10:10 PM)harmon k Wrote: Been using cpap for almost 3 months. Excellent numbers all around. AHI between 0 and 1 practically every night, yet virtually no improvement in my daytime fatigue.
Sleep doc scheduled me for a "24-hour test" where I come in 7pm and stay til 7pm next night. Says prob may be "narcolepsy".
I asked him if the overnight would show a new AHI. He said they will use the machine the whole time, so it will show only numbers while being treated. Not sure why.
The test for narcolepsy is called an MSLT and it must be done after a night in the lab demonstrates that there are no obvious night time problems that explain your daytime symptoms: If any night time problems are found, the MSLT is typically canceled, and the night time problems then must be treated and brought under control before another MSLT might be scheduled.
So that's why the lab will have you use the machine the whole night: In order for an MSLT test on a person with OSA to be considered valid, the OSA must be under control the night before the MSLT part of the test is done. Hence the lab needs to be able to demonstrate that your current settings do control your apnea.
It is also possible that the night time part of your test may show a new night time problem that was masked by the untreated OSA on your previous test. On another board there is a poster with severe PLMD that did not show up until after her OSA was well controlled by CPAP: As long as her OSA was triggering arousals, she was not asleep long enough for the periodic limb movements to start. She only started feeling better (in terms of daytime symptoms) after both the OSA and the PLMD were under control. So the lab also needs to rule out things like that for the MSLT test for narcolepsy to be valid.
RE: Dr. Wants To Do A 24-Hour Test
Thanks so much, Sleeprider and Robysue. You guys are so informative and helpful! God bless
RE: Dr. Wants To Do A 24-Hour Test
BTW, when my doc took my card and downloaded it, does that show him basically everything (all the info) he needs to see to tailor my treatment?
RE: Dr. Wants To Do A 24-Hour Test
If you go to the link at the top of the forum, you can request the same software your doc uses to review your ResMed data (ResScan 537). It shows both summary and detail data for your sessions - much more than the online tool MyAir does.
The graphs and values will be very similar to what SleepyHead displays.
Note: I'm an epidemiologist, not a medical provider.
RE: Dr. Wants To Do A 24-Hour Test
(12-08-2016, 10:59 AM)harmon k Wrote: BTW, when my doc took my card and downloaded it, does that show him basically everything (all the info) he needs to see to tailor my treatment?
If the doctor's office downloads the
detailed data, he can see everything he needs to see to tailor your treatment.
But some doctor's offices only download the summary data or the compliance data.
Ask the doc if he downloaded the detailed data.
