Sleep Study

[JesikaBeth]

I have a sleep study tomorrow night. Unsure as to what to expect.  I have chronic and horrible insomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness, and my partner is pretty sure I have sleep apnea.

 

Anyone have a sleep study before?

[greenbeanie]

I had a sleep study a few years ago. It takes a while for them to attach all the electrodes, and it's weird to know that someone's watching you the whole night (through monitors), but aside from the awkwardness it's not bad. The hardest thing for me was that I wasn't used to sleeping on my back, but rolling over gets the wires all tangled up, so it's kind of necessary. I felt sure beforehand that I'd never be able to fall asleep there, but I actually did. I slept for almost five hours, which was actually quite a bit longer than I was usually able to sleep at home. Go figure.

Don't be surprised if you get weird results. They told me I had almost no deep-wave sleep despite being asleep for those five hours, and they said that was really strange and they had no explanation except to insist that I must be drinking a lot of caffeine or alcohol. But at that time I hadn't had any caffeine for two days (and usually only had one cup of coffee in the early am and no other caffeine), and hadn't had any alcohol for weeks. It was distressing that they didn't believe me and insisted that I should be having more deep sleep unless I was "forgetting" how much coffee or alcohol I'd had! I also had many of the feel-like-you're-falling twitches, which I hadn't realized was so unusual. Apparently most people only have those a few times per year, while I was having those twitches a bunch of times per night. They found no explanation for that either. I basically left with them telling me that I was weird and they had no idea why, which wasn't exactly reassuring.

I don't know if you're currently gluten free or for how long, but my insomnia (which had been awful for 20 years) improved greatly within a few weeks of eliminating gluten. I'd been gluten-light for years before that, and still had the insomnia, but eliminating that last 5% made a huge difference for me. Magnesium supplements helped with the twitching too, and after over a year of supplements the twitching still comes back if I stop taking it for more than a couple days.

Good luck! I think they should be able to tell you right away if you have sleep apnea.

[JesikaBeth]

Thanks for sharing your experience with me. I have to be there tonight at 11:00pm. Yes, I am currently gluten free. I got diagnosed 5 days ago, and am 5 days gluten free.  I've had chronic insomnia since I was 15 years old (I am 34 now.) I take medication to help me sleep, prescribed by my psychiatrist, but even so my sleep is really awkward and touch and go a lot of the time. 

 

I'll definitely come back and update this thread after my sleep study. Thanks again

[GF Lover]

Make sure and find out if you should take the Seroquel tonight.

 

Good Luck,

 

Colleen

[bartfull]

No matter what they tell you after the study, if it were ME, I would wait to act on their advice until I had been gluten-free for a few months. I say that because I had terrible insomnia all my life. (A good night was five or six hours, but most nights I got three or four hours! Talk about bags under the eyes!!!)

 

Within three months of being gluten-free, I was sleeping like a baby. Three years later, I still sleep well. The only time I get insomnia now is when I go to a good music show and come home so inspired I stay up playing my guitar for half the night!

[Adalaide]

I agree that barring apnea, which you should definitely treat immediately, treating for anything else doesn't need to happen right away. Treating apnea is easy, my husband has it and it isn't as awful as rumors make it sound. Waiting to see if things get better gluten free is a good idea since it seems to help a lot of people. I'm a rare duck, 1.5 years and it hasn't helped a bit. I can't sleep for crap. Turns out they think it's probably because I can't get into deep sleep or stay asleep because I'm in so much constant pain that it disrupts my sleep. Without additional issues like that, you'll probably see your insomnia clear up at least some.

 

I did a sleep study, they told me to sleep however I was comfortable. I literally can not sleep on my back, and I roll in my sleep. It wasn't a problem since they use some sort of insane glue to stick that crap to you. You'll want to bring a hair tie with you if you have long hair to keep it out of the way and from being tangled in the wires. And in the morning when they give you the little wipes to help get the glue off at home, ask for a few extras and use them for your hair. Forget the rest of the glue on you, you can use alcohol on the rest of your body but omg getting that out of your hair is crazy hard! "It's water soluble" my ass. Anyway, don't feel like you have to sleep on your back or in any way you don't usually. And they told me to bring whatever I needed with me to be comfortable. If you need a stuffed animal, a favorite blanket, a certain pillow, anything like that they've probably seen it all. You'll probably find yourself bored too between being hooked up and lights out if you aren't tired, so bring a book, have games on your phone or have something else to do.

[JesikaBeth]

Well, VERY long story but I have to reschedule. Grrr....

[GF Lover]

That's a bummer.  You know, your sleep may improve with the new diet.  Mine didn't but, others did.

 

Colleen

[JesikaBeth]

Hoping so! But definitely want to get it done to address if I have sleep apnea. Oncologist seemed pretty admimant about that.

[GF Lover]

I hear ya.  If my Oncologist says says I need a test, I ask how soon can I get it...  By the way, if you want to get off the Seroquel, try Trazadone.  It's easier on the Liver without side effects.  Seroquel WILL make you feel drugged and tired through the day.  The hangover of it is rough.

 

Colleen

[SMRI]

I had an at home sleep study done a couple weeks ago and have sleep apnea.  I've been using a CPAP now for about 2 weeks and I'm sleeping more soundly, not waking up every couple hours like I was before.  I'm still tired during the day but I'm still not gluten-free yet because I have to have my follow-up appointments before they want me to stop totally.  I'm hoping the combination of the CPAP and going gluten free gives me some energy!
 

[JesikaBeth]

So, VERY long story I'm having to reschedule. Waiting for them to call me back... I'll keep updated

[BarryC]

Hi

I have sleep apnea, and have been on a CPAP machine for years. Its great, and the machines and masks are much better and more comfortable than the old days. Is sleep apnea a symptom of gluten intolerance? It will be a while before I can tell if my sleep has improved since I have just gone gluten free, but like most older guys I am a snorer so I will keep using the machine for my wife's sake!

[cyclinglady]

Snoring is one of my husband's first symptom to appear when he consumes gluten (irritability is up there for both us per our daughter). His chronic sinus infections and horrible snoring are a thing of the past, along with fatigue, body aches.......he was not formally diagnosed (bad advice from two doctors), but has been strictly Gluten free for 13 years. I was diagnosed last year and anemia was my main symptom.

Celiac Disease presents with so many symptoms!

[Adalaide]

I totally missed this before, but I completely agree with the trazodone. It is so awesome. I can sleep through the night and don't wake up feeling like I'm some sort of zombie. I hope they schedule you soon, nothing irritates me more than being told I need a test then it taking forever to schedule. My husband has been using his CPAP about two months now and he's finally comfortable enough with it to keep it on all night. If they end up telling you to use one, it may take time to get used to I guess, but he says he's feeling slightly better in the mornings. He certainly is less grumpy most mornings which I am ever so grateful for.