05-13-2019, 12:02 AM
Sleep study results inconclusive
Hey all, I recently completed a sleep study and did not receive a clear diagnosis. I thought maybe crowd-sourcing the results might yield some insights, so I'd greatly appreciate any thoughts you all might have.
The context: I'm a 32-year-old male weighing about 180 lbs and I've become an increasingly troubled sleeper over the past 8-10 years. At first, I seemed to have issues staying asleep but would only remember waking up a couple times each night. At this point, I'm waking up (as far as I can tell) anywhere from 10-25 times per night for very short periods. I can usually fall back asleep, so it doesn't seem to be a classic case of insomnia. But I have all the symptoms of a sleep disorder: never feeling rested, low energy, fogginess, poor memory and concentration, etc.
Anyway, the study found a central apnea index of .9 per hour and REM apnea index of 4.3 per hour, for an overall AHI of 1.7 events per hour. Obviously, this isn't a clear case of OSA by most standards, and certainly nowhere near the number of events many of you have had to suffer through.
The more significant finding: I had an overall arousal index of 21 (as I understand it based on the doc's explanation, that means 21 "arousals" from a deeper stage of sleep to a lighter stage each hour). They recorded 5.4 "spontaneous arousals" per hour (which, I think, means awaking fully).
No snoring, and minimum oxygen value at 89% (mean saturation was 93.8% with no instances of dipping below 88%).
My doctor wasn't able to provide a clear-cut explanation for what's going on. She suggested my brain might be hyper vigilant about dips in oxygen and is simply pulling me out of sleep more often than it should. But because my REM apnea index exceeds 4.0, I still qualify for a CPAP through my insurance, and she asked me to try it for \~6 months to see if it helps. I've been using one for about a month but haven't adjusted yet and haven't gotten any significant sleep on it—not even enough to post data for.
Anyone else have a case like this? Thoughts or suggestions on treatment? I’m getting a second opinion this week but all roads have led nowhere so far.
The context: I'm a 32-year-old male weighing about 180 lbs and I've become an increasingly troubled sleeper over the past 8-10 years. At first, I seemed to have issues staying asleep but would only remember waking up a couple times each night. At this point, I'm waking up (as far as I can tell) anywhere from 10-25 times per night for very short periods. I can usually fall back asleep, so it doesn't seem to be a classic case of insomnia. But I have all the symptoms of a sleep disorder: never feeling rested, low energy, fogginess, poor memory and concentration, etc.
Anyway, the study found a central apnea index of .9 per hour and REM apnea index of 4.3 per hour, for an overall AHI of 1.7 events per hour. Obviously, this isn't a clear case of OSA by most standards, and certainly nowhere near the number of events many of you have had to suffer through.
The more significant finding: I had an overall arousal index of 21 (as I understand it based on the doc's explanation, that means 21 "arousals" from a deeper stage of sleep to a lighter stage each hour). They recorded 5.4 "spontaneous arousals" per hour (which, I think, means awaking fully).
No snoring, and minimum oxygen value at 89% (mean saturation was 93.8% with no instances of dipping below 88%).
My doctor wasn't able to provide a clear-cut explanation for what's going on. She suggested my brain might be hyper vigilant about dips in oxygen and is simply pulling me out of sleep more often than it should. But because my REM apnea index exceeds 4.0, I still qualify for a CPAP through my insurance, and she asked me to try it for \~6 months to see if it helps. I've been using one for about a month but haven't adjusted yet and haven't gotten any significant sleep on it—not even enough to post data for.
Anyone else have a case like this? Thoughts or suggestions on treatment? I’m getting a second opinion this week but all roads have led nowhere so far.
