last two months, I was off to hospital serdang for my sleeping study after 2 times of postponed it. Only God knows how i felt at that time.
i need to be there at 8pm. So, mr boyfriend sent me there. i need to regidter first at the emergency department and off to ward 6a. Seriously, when i was at the ward, i knew that i won't be sleeping. I'm just not used to that kind of condition.
i was lucky when they told me that i would be placed in 6d but i need to wait for the nurse in charge to come first. So sensitive of me. I cried when mr boyfriend left me alone there :(
ward 6d was awesome. Seriously. And it become more awesome when there's only me and the nurse as the other patient could not attend. We had some chit chat and i asked for the permission to get myself some dinner as i was veryyy hungryy. Actually i already had my dinner at 6pm but at 8.30 my stomach is on the roller coaster :P
i have to be sleeping at 10pm. So, by 9.30pm, the nurse started to put up all the wires on my body. There's a lot of wire. Like seriously, the whole body from head to toe was just full of wire. It took quite some time to put up the wires.
this is how i looked like
to be honest, i could not really sleep. Because the ward is above the emergency dept. So, i could hear sound of ambulance and etc. The nurse wake me up at 6.45 am. She finished her shift at 7am. Thus, i need to be in ward 6a if i want to stay on which i knew i won't. Mr. boyfriend picked me up at 7 am and sent me to doozed off at watip's room b4 heading home. :))
btw, just thinking of sharing what i go through actually as it's actually rare among peoplee :
Doctors call this study a polysomnogram. It charts your brain waves, heart beat, and breathing as you sleep. It also records your eye and leg movements as well as muscle tension. Sensors are placed on your head, face, chest and legs. They send tiny electrical signals to a computer.
The signals show when you are asleep and awake during the night. The brain-wave and eye-movement detectors show when you are in REM sleep. This stands for rapid eye movement sleep. This is a stage of sleep where your eyes twitch and your brain waves are very active. It is also the stage of sleep when you have most of your dreams.
The breathing monitors show the number of times you stop breathing. They can also detect low air flow and minor changes in oxygen level.
The leg sensors show both minor twitches and major movements that occur during the night.
A clip will also be placed on your finger to note changes in the level of oxygen in your blood. The clip monitors the color of your blood. As blood loses oxygen, it turns from red to blue.
Who gets it?
A polysomnogram is often used in the following cases:
To look for sleep-related breathing disorders, such as sleep apnea
To set the correct levels of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in patients with sleep related breathing disorders
To go along with a daytime nap study to see if someone has narcolepsy
To look for behaviors during sleep that can be violent or could be harmful to the patient or others
Your doctor will want to order a polysomnogram if he or she thinks you have any of these problems. You might also have a sleep study if you are already being treated for a sleep disorder but you are not getting better. The sleep study can help your doctor see why the treatment is not working.
What happens when I have it?
The doctors at the sleep center will go out of their way to make you feel relaxed. You will be asked to come to the center in the evening. Some time will be given for you to make yourself at home in the bedroom. No other patients will be in the room with you.
You will not feel any pain during the polysomnogram. The sensors are gently placed on your skin and connected to a computer. The wires are long enough to let you move around and turn over in bed. You will be asked to move your eyes, clench your teeth and move your legs. This will make sure that the sensors are working.
You are free to read or watch TV until your normal bedtime. Then the lights are turned out and it is time for you to try to fall asleep. A low-light video camera allows a technologist to see you from a nearby room. He or she will have to enter your room if a sensor comes loose. He or she will also have to detach the wires if you need to go to the bathroom during the night.
The polysomnogram is not a test that you can fail. Nearly everyone falls asleep during the study. Most people do not sleep as well as they do at home. This will not affect the results. In most cases, you do not need to sleep for a full eight hours to find the source of your problem.
In the morning you will test the sensors again, and then they will be removed. This will complete the study, and you will be free to go. You may be tired if you did not sleep well during the night. Otherwise, you can return to normal activities on the day after a sleep study.
credits to www.sleepeducation.com
