smeven54
05-24-2005, 03:32 PM
Hi, I'm new here. I was told this was a good place to find people in a similar situation. My fiance just got the results of his sleep study back. He was sent to one because back in Nov/Dec he was forgetting large portions of his day; for example he'd drive home from work but not remember working, the only reason he knew where he came from was because of his uniform. He was exhibiting behavior that was very abnormal for him. At the time his sleep patterns were erratic. A counselor (who was awful in my opinion) said there was no way it was caused by a sleep problem, that it was something else. His doctor refused to treat the depression the counselor diagnosed because he thought it was sleep related (fiance was also unconvinced he was depressed and has since stopped seeing the unprofessional counselor). He's been much better about his sleep hygiene and hasn't forgotten parts of his days since he started taking frequent naps and going to bed and waking up at about the same time every day.
Anyway...the results say it's definitely not sleep apnea. His average sleep onset time was 3 minutes. They noted a lot of leg movements so it seems like they want to test for period limb movement disorder. His REM sleep was also off. I don't remember the details, but it sounded like he had very little REM sleep, which would explain why he doesn't think he dreams. They are going to run further tests but didn't give a clue as to what for.
I don't know that I have a specific question here other than has anyone else had similar experiences?
Anyway...the results say it's definitely not sleep apnea. His average sleep onset time was 3 minutes. They noted a lot of leg movements so it seems like they want to test for period limb movement disorder. His REM sleep was also off. I don't remember the details, but it sounded like he had very little REM sleep, which would explain why he doesn't think he dreams. They are going to run further tests but didn't give a clue as to what for.
I don't know that I have a specific question here other than has anyone else had similar experiences?
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Nixona
05-25-2005, 01:31 PM
During a regular physical with my family doctor, I mentioned I was always very tired, and often awoke more tired than when I fell asleep, the best way I could describe it was that it was like my batteries weren't charging at night, always running on empty. I often had to nap just to make it through my day. The doctor knew both my mom and dad, and both were under treatment by a VERY good pulmonary & sleep specialist in our area for sleep apnea, so he didn't hesitate to refer me over and order a sleep study.
Yes, I was diagnosed with periodic limb movement my junior year of high school...coming up on 5 years ago. I don't have the study results in front of me, I want to say my sleep onset was about 45 minutes and the periodic limb movement disturbed my sleep something like 90 times during the test. Luckily, nothing significant in the apnea department.
The pulmonary doc put me on Temazepam (Restoril generic) after he went over the results with me in his office. He sees me once a year for a checkup. I have no adverse affects from the pills, and I feel refreshed and energetic every morning. No more naps either...well unless you count falling asleep in front of the TV during a Cubs game, but that's a whole other issue. :) He's spoken at the last couple appointments of weaning me off the meds in the future and doing another test to see if the PLM returns, but has flat out told me he's not in a hurry to do so as long as my sleep is good, health is good and I'm not having problems. I do not take any other medications and have no depression or anything else going on behind the scenes.
It looks like maybe the doctors are dragging their feet on this. Everything should be there in the study, unless they didn't monitor some aspect they should have, or possibly want to run a blood test to check for some kind of problem there (thyroid levels, testosterone levels, etc) Are you still with a family doc or is he seeing a specialist? You may find it beneficial to get a copy of the sleep study and make an appointment with another doctor for a second opinion, someone who isn't in the middle of everything...
Yes, I was diagnosed with periodic limb movement my junior year of high school...coming up on 5 years ago. I don't have the study results in front of me, I want to say my sleep onset was about 45 minutes and the periodic limb movement disturbed my sleep something like 90 times during the test. Luckily, nothing significant in the apnea department.
The pulmonary doc put me on Temazepam (Restoril generic) after he went over the results with me in his office. He sees me once a year for a checkup. I have no adverse affects from the pills, and I feel refreshed and energetic every morning. No more naps either...well unless you count falling asleep in front of the TV during a Cubs game, but that's a whole other issue. :) He's spoken at the last couple appointments of weaning me off the meds in the future and doing another test to see if the PLM returns, but has flat out told me he's not in a hurry to do so as long as my sleep is good, health is good and I'm not having problems. I do not take any other medications and have no depression or anything else going on behind the scenes.
It looks like maybe the doctors are dragging their feet on this. Everything should be there in the study, unless they didn't monitor some aspect they should have, or possibly want to run a blood test to check for some kind of problem there (thyroid levels, testosterone levels, etc) Are you still with a family doc or is he seeing a specialist? You may find it beneficial to get a copy of the sleep study and make an appointment with another doctor for a second opinion, someone who isn't in the middle of everything...
SadFreek
05-25-2005, 08:22 PM
isnt restiril (temapezam) addicting? Benzo drug?
Nixona
05-26-2005, 04:45 PM
Yep, it's a benzo