Sleep study clinic vs. hospital? cpap vs mouth piece?

[Tap]

Dh snores horribly.  He is willing to do a sleep study and I will be scheduling it soon.  We live near a large city with sleep study clinics that will send the person home with portable equipment and then the patient returns the equipment the next day for evaluation of the data. 

 

DD6's sleep study was done through a hospital and she stayed overnight in a hotel room for the sleep study. I remember the tech telling me that 'at home' sleep studies measure almost all the same parameters, but since it uses fewer leads, and isn't under the direct surveillance of the tech, it may not record all the same data.  ie, if a lead falls off, there is no one to alert the patient and that data is not collected. 

 

The sleep study place can get dh in very soon and the results come back quick.  On the other hand it takes months to get the hospital appointment for eval, another couple months for test and then two weeks for results.  

 

Ds is going on a sailing trip in a  month and I am thinking that it would be nice for the other people if he wasn't snoring the entire time.  LOL  It isn't like they can get away from him on the boat.  

 

Taking a cpap machine may not be realistic on the boat either, so I am wondering about the mouth pieces that are advertised.  

 

(DDs apnea doesn't include snoring so that was never discussed.  She is having her tonsils removed this week but I doubt that that will be the route they take for dh. LOL)

 

Any experience or advice on these matters? 

 

 

[VeganCupcake]

I don't know anything about at-home testing, but my DH tried a mouthpiece before he had his sleep study, and the mouthpiece a) didn't really work all that well and b) was shifting and hurting his teeth. I don't think the mouthpiece is really as good a treatment as a CPAP.

 

You could power a CPAP with a large battery, like a car battery. I think DH has some kind of setup like that in storage, in case of an emergency (but we have never had to use it).

[Ravin]

I know a number of people with battery setups for their cpaps, used while camping. One fellow even has a solar rig to charge it.

[psychmom]

I did an at-home test and the results were negative, but then the in-clinic test was positive. My apnea isn't severe, though, so maybe the at-home just wasn't sensitive enough for me. The Cpap has changed my life, and I highly recommend it. I took it with me to England recently and used it with an adapter. If I were going somewhere without electric hook-ups, I would absolutely get a battery. It was a pain to get used to, but I was miserable before--always tired, achy, foggy-feeling. It's like a new lease on life! Btw, my dd just had a sleep study done, too, and we are waiting on the results. Good luck to your dh.

[tex-mex]

My DH says to do the sleep study overnight in a clinic setting... but don't expect the person to get much rest. :laugh:

 

He is now on a CPAP with a nasal pillow and has no regrets.

[gracesteacher]

It depends on the type of homestudy. Are they measuring sleep or just breathing and pulse and blood oxygen? Is it the full hook up just at home? If you can get a in lab test they are the gold standard if ran by an rpsgt.

As for a mouth piece check with various denists due to wide pricing gap and know to get one to work it will take time as they need to slowly move the jaw forward.

[Ellie]

Clinic, if he can do that right away. I'm sure the clinic and the hospital test the same stuff, KWIM?

 

I have no experience with the mouthpiece; I know that even though my sleep apnea was mild, I felt an immediate improvement when I began using the C-PAP.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

CPAP is the gold standard for treating sleep apnea. Cpaptalk.com has forums where there is a lot of useful info except for the advise to tape your mouth shut! I would try to find a way to travel with the CPAP if possible. We travel with ours all the time. CPAP has been life changing.

[Laurie4b]

We have private clinics and hospital clinics in our area. You might check around for a private clinic that will do the overnight stay.

Is the home study affordable enough that you could do that first while waiting for the more thorough one?

[kewb]

You should see what your insurance covers. Since dh does not have a heart condition our insurance would only approve the home study.