During a sleep study they put a lot of wires on your head, chest, and leg areas. They check your sleep patterns, your oxygen levels, jerking, etc...they usually have a private room that stays dark. You may have a radio, I think. I slept ok but they wake you up promptly once the test is complete. It will ultimately determine if you have sleep Apnea if you stop breathing for short periods of time or atleast need oxygen if your oxygen levels drop too low. My husband has sleep Apnea but I don't, however my oxygen levels drop too low so I have to sleep with an oxygen machine at night. My problem is because I have asthma and it was not detected until my 20's even though we had made several visits to ER as a child. It did a lot of damage to my lungs as a result. My lung function is below 80% which isn't good but better than it was. Hope all goes well.

Hope

Your inability is part of the test, sort of. With a limited amount of actual sleep time the sleep study will probably be 2 nights long. One night to measure the apnea, then they'll take some days to analyze the results. Then a second night to test different presure levels for the cpap machine.

If you are very worried you can ask your doc to prescribe a sleeping pill in advance (they probably won't have meds at the sleep center). The upside is that you'll sleep. The downside is that it doesn't measure your regular sleep state.

my heart seems to skip beats when I lay down sometimes on my left side, will they be able to test that as well?

Which Dr is ordering the test? A cardiologist could also prescribe a 24 to 72 hr halter monitor for you to wear. Not sure if sleep study would show that or not. You may ask about that one.

Hope

My regular primary doctor is sending me in for a sleep study because I asked for one. The lady that I called when I scheduled the appt mentioned a sleep neurologist to go over my results, so waiting for a refferal or her to schedule that for me? I am really not sure. I have a physical in about 2 weeks and I am going to talk to the doctor about my heart palpitations because it just makes me nervous. I had a eye ultrasound when I was in highschool about 10 years ago and nothing was physically wrong with it at that time.

I don't know about your specific sleep study. Mine recorded brainwaves (eeg), heartbeat, oxygen levels, sound (for talking or snoring), and leg movement. There was also a camera to record any sleepwalking, tossing and turning, etc. They screened for all sleep disorders.

I'd ask your doctor what it will test for. If she doesn't know, then call the sleep center that will do the testing. A sleep doctor will be interpreting the tests and probably be meeting with you afterwards.

When I had mine, it was in a private room which had a TV. As Hope mentioned, there are alot of wires attached to your head, chest and extremities which made it difficult for me as I am like the princess and the pea, anything touching me and I wiggle till I'm comfortable. At any rate, they told me to try to fall asleep on my back (impossible!) and woke me up several times to change position. At about 0400 they put the CPAP machine right on me. This made it even more difficult to sleep! I came home exhausted. I do have sleep apnea and they did give me a CPAP machine afterwards.
Although they are monitoring your heartrate, they are not looking for arrythmias so they will not report on this. The holter monitor is a better indicator. Have you had a 12 lead EKG? My primary does them right in his office for the physical. This basic test sometimes detects arrythmias and can be done before a holter. Some docs also give patients event bracelets that they can wear for a month and the patient presses the button when they feel their symptoms. If the symptoms don't come everyday, this is the choice test for you.
Glad your taking care of yourself and planning you doctor visit! Remember to write things down ahead of time if your list is long! Good luck! Nancy

I slept about 5 hours with all the equipment the first night. I woke up a few times. I brought my own blanket and pillow for some familiarity. My husband tucked me in and then drove home. The second night (about 3 weeks later) with the c-pap machine was worse. I only slept about 4 hours that night. Both times they let me go home very early, around 5 am. They only need to record a certain amount of data. It wasn't too bad.

I had to giggle to myself in remembering my sleep study. In the way beginning of my battle with PTC. My disease went undiagnosed for a year and the elevated pressure really messed the sleep center in my brain. So I had hypersomnia really bad. So the lady at the sleep center asked me after waking me up numerous times thru the night. "Can you wait until I leave the room before you fall asleep?" LOL. God bless. Amy

I had my sleep study last night. They cant give me results yet but they did not have to put me on a cpap machine, there protocol is stop breathing 20xs an hour to get hooked up. She did mention me not being able to fall asleep very easily. and I swear I was awake every few hours. I kept getting caught up in the wires