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Re: sleep study results--disappointing!

Posted by BostonBoy on April 18, 2002 at 15:54:25:

In Reply to: sleep study results--disappointing! posted by Joy on April 17, 2002 at 17:40:03:

There's quite a lot of "stuff" in your history - and as I read your message I wondered whether you have a medical adviser who is aware of the full picture. Yours may be a case in which it is a mistake to think only of each component as belonging in a different box and needing the attention of a different kind of practitioner.

As I see it, sleep problems of all kinds, high blood pressure, tachycardia and allergies make a kind of mix that needs expert oversight, even if individual specialists are delegated to treat things in their own field.

I suggest that you put much effort and care into deciding where to go for more advice, to ensure that it also has the lab resources for a full sleep study. I think that you should be sure to go to a sleep specialist at a major medical facility. If you can do it, head for a sleep lab that is managed by a neurology department. Pulmonary and ENT specialists tend - in my opinion - to make findings that favor the use of their own specialization skills, whereas neurologists seem to work on a broader landscape and to be readier to work with cardiologists. Don't go to a service lab that is running patients through their sleep mill on behalf of general practitioners who often know too little about sleep disorders and their long-term consequences.

I also wondered whether the doc who reported your sleep study used the word 'arousal' instead of 'awake' when he gave you the number of incidents as 73. Arousal means disturbance short of actual waking - but it greatly impairs the quality of sleep.

You did a good job of giving us a short picture of your situation. I'd like to suggest that you spend time assembling a more detailed chronology, and then stand back to see whether a picture forms when all the parts of the jigsaw are on the table. If there's no golden thread that stitches the pieces together, then perhaps a neurologist should anchor your medical treatment.

This is the personal opinion of a layman. It is not offered as medical advice.

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