That is one horrible experience and I can understand totally having had some
difficult sleep studies in the past.  I am sure that something will work out
for you!  Next time, if there ever is one, ask if they can do the sleep
study in your own home.  Did they say whether it was a CPAP or a BIPAP that
they were trying you out on?  One thing I know that will help is if they
start at a very low pressure and then ramp it up while you are asleep.  Hugs
and love!

Littlekat
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2004 9:45 AM
Subject: Sleep Study Number 2


It was no fun and I slept worse than the first time.  I spent most of the
night trying to learn how to breathe all over again and I don't even breathe
normally during the day, let alone at night with a mask over my nose.  I
cannot sleep on my back at all but they want you to try for as long as you
can.  Finally after two hours of being wide awake, I rolled over on my side,
dragging all the wires with me, and went to sleep.  At 2:15 in the morning,
she came in and awakened me and said I was breathing through my mouth so she
had to put a larger mask on me that would cover both my mouth and nose.
Wonderful.  I think I must have fallen asleep by 3 o'clock again and
awakened about 5:30 and shortly thereafter, they came in to get me up.  I
felt as if somebody had beaten me with a baseball bat.  I spent most of the
night awake and struggling trying to control my breathing and struggling to
keep the mask in place so no air would escape around the mask itself.  I
have no interest in going through that again.  If I end up with one at home,
I hope it is quieter, too.  This thing sounded like a small vacuum sweeper
running all night and of course it changed sounds every time I breathed in
and out.  They also taped me up with many more probes than the first time.
My jaw line was covered with probes taped down and my forehead, too.  They
also put three times the number of probes on my head in various places.
Something that made the night even worse for me was a pulled muscle in my
shoulder near the top of my spine.  It was in my lower neck, too.  I pulled
this muscle a couple of days ago and guess what position it hurt the most
in?  Yep.  On my back.  I honestly, during those first two to three hours,
called and asked the Lord to alert some of the echurch people to pray for me
because I was really struggling.  I do think if I had one at home, I could
situate everything to the point it worked best for me but having 10 miles of
wiring taped down from head to toe and trying to move around like that isn't
the most comfortable way to sleep.  I must have done better with the second
mask that covered my nose and mouth because she told me, while putting it on
me, she would return several times to adjust the mask to fit me better
throughout the rest of the night.  She never did return but I adjusted it
myself many times through the night.

Phil.