Fixing My Sleep!

I have had problems sleeping for as long as I can remember.  I actually think it started when I was in the Air Force, as it was those years that I first started noticing a general increase in my overall tiredness.  I never really thought much of it until Tess started complaining that I snored like a freight train, in any position I laid in.  I also apparently was a Kung Fu Fighter in my sleep.  This wasn't every night, but most nights.  She said this has been going on from day 1 of us getting together.  So I asked my doctor about it, and was referred to a sleep specialist.

Tuesday 8/9/11

When I got there, the doctor confirmed I have Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS), and most likely Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD) and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA ).  She said we definitely needed to do a sleep study.  When I told her I drive most of the day for a living, she went all "OMGOMGOMG SHIT BRIX OMG BRIX SHAT!" told me she was going to expidite me, and scheduled me for my study that same night.  She told me normally the whole process takes about a month, but because of my job they wanted to try and get everything done by the end of the week.

She also gave me a prescription for my RLS/PLMD, which I couldn't fill until Friday.  Yay for being broke.

They didn't have an open bed in Albuquerque that night, so I went to Santa Fe.  Big deal, I drive much farther than that most days anyway.

We decided to attempt a split night study, where they diagnose and attempt treatment in the same night, assuming I had the right amount of events.  The correct # of events to qualify for treatment was 20/hour, and this had to have happened by 2am.

Here I am getting ready for bed that night:

There was another patient there who was being treated that night, and he asked me if I wanted to see what a sleep study looked like from their end.  Of course I did, I'm curious.  There are 2 monitors for each patient, one that actually shows the patient, and another with all the graphs from the electrodes.  He showed me what each graph meant, and what they looked for, although of course I can't remember it exactly I had an idea.

So bed time.  I had a VERY hard time getting to sleep that night, and about 2am I had to get up to piss.  The sleep technician told me I had only had 4 or 5 events all night so far, but that I hadn't really gotten to sleep yet either.  That was also the cutoff time, so there would be no treatment that night, only more diagnostics.  Feeling bleak that my body just wasn't going to cooperate and let me sleep, I went back to bed to TRY and sleep.

Finally I did get to sleep, not good sleep, but sleep.

Weds 8/10/11

He came in and woke me up at about 5:45 and told me the good news (to me it WAS good news, I really wanted to know WTF was wrong with me) was that finally around 3:30am I got into a deep enough sleep I started to have events, and a lot of them.  He told me not to worry, the suspicions were proven and that I definitely was going to qualify for treatment.

He told me not to tell the doctor what follows, so SHHHH don't tell her!

Before I left the office he asked if I wanted to see my own study, which of course I did.  He showed me again what they looked for, and then went over the night with me.  I only entered REM sleep twice, for something like 5 minutes each time.  Also, shortly before I did enter REM the first time, the events began.  He showed me 2 different snips, of 2 minute blocks, both of which had 5 breathing related events.  He said it continued similarly the entire time I was actually asleep.  He also told me my legs had movement, but they were never enough to wake me up.

I was a total zombie all day, and I had to do a lot of driving.  Fun times.

I got a call around 1pm that they wanted to schedule me for my 2nd study, my treatment study, but the earliest they had a bed open was Fri 8/12/11 in Albuquerque.  I told them that's fine, but they also asked if I wanted to be placed on the cancellation list, which I did.

The rest of the day was uneventful.

Thurs 8/11/11

I got a call around 10am that they had a cancellation that night in Albuquerque, and asked if I wanted to take it?  I told them yes, I wanted to get it over with and start sleeping good again.  They rescheduled me for the study that night, and my follow-up for equipment and orientation the next day, Friday 8/12/11.

Before I went that night, I stopped at Wal-Mart and talked to a pharmacist to find a sleep aid.  He recommended one, which I bought.  That evening was pretty much the same, with the exception of them adding a CPAP mask to all the shit they hooked up to me.  I took my sleep aid, and went to bed.

The sleep aid must have worked, I knocked right out.  I woke up a couple of times, but overall got a pretty good nights sleep.

Fri 8/12/11

When the sleep technician (it was the same guy from Santa Fe) came to my room, I wasn't sure if it was time to get up, or if something had happened that required attention.  It was time to get up.  He said the OSA treatment worked very well, however I had a much worse night for PLMD.  He didn't let me look at anything that time, as in Albuquerque they have 6 beds instead of the 2 in Santa Fe, he's not the only tech in Abq like he is Santa Fe, and he didn't want to get in trouble.

I returned for my equipment and orientation, where they gave me the actual results of both studies, gave me my equipment, and showed me everything about it, right down to how to change the language of the display.

Results - Diagnostic Night - Tues 8/9/11

Average events of the course of the night: 23/hr
Considering how little sleep I actually got, that's pretty high I think.  They called it "Moderate."


In supine position (laying on my back): 44/hr - severe


During REM: 82/hr!! - can you go higher than severe?


Oxygen Saturation dropped to 75% at it's lowest (90% is normal).


PLMD events: 14/hr with 0 arousal's.


Snoring was loud and continuous.

Results - Treatment Night - Thurs 8/11/11

OSA was effectively treated with a CPAP of 6 cm water pressure.

Sleep continuity was improved.

Snoring was ELIMINATED

Oxygen Saturation dropped to 87% at it's lowest (90% is normal).  Much better.

PLMD events: 34/hr with 6 arousal's/hr

Final Thoughts

Total time from consultation to resolution:  4 days.

I am very happy with OmniSleep's professionalism, genuine concern, and Dr. Wells' sense of urgency for my situation.  I highly recommend them for anyone else that's having sleeping issues.  They may not take care of you as fast as they took care of me, but they are very nice and professional people.  They took the time to answer all of my questions, and didn't make me feel stupid for any of it.

The machine is very quiet, you can't even hear it.  Tess also said she couldn't hear my breathing in the mask either.  I'm sure there will be some nights that she can, but I doubt it will ever be that bad, and certainly nothing like my snoring was.

I am very excited to start seeing an improvement in my quality of life, blood pressure, and general happiness/mood as I get used to the equipment and medication.  I know Tess is looking forward to me not keeping her up or beating the shit out of her at night too!

As stupid as it might sound, I have high hopes of my therapy and medication improving every aspect of our lives.  Not just mine, but by extension the whole family!