Sleep clinic

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I am at this sleep clinic for an overnight stay for my ongoing sleep issues I've been having. I think they couldn't have set up a worse environment to sleep in.

The entire clinic is lit up like the surface of the sun with bright flourescent lighting in the halls and the rooms (no lamps in the rooms or washrooms either). They have it really hot in here (23C/75F). The air is really dry (20% humidity) which is going to make me keep sipping at water or I will be coughing and choking on my mucous as I try and sleep. The electrical equipment also lets off this annoying high frequency sound that you would expect from a broken old television set. So much for avoiding bluelight haha.

Seriously I think this is a terrible setup to test an NT's sleep let alone an Aspie.

I was referred to a sleep center once to be monitored overnight. I have never encountered a stupider bunch of medical people than I did there (and I've encountered some really stupid medical people). It was a completely sleep-hostile environment and procedure, and after I was there for about 10 hours and had slept for maybe 1.5 hours, they sent me home. One of the medical employees said to me (I kid you not), "How come you couldn't sleep?"

I concluded the whole thing was a scam to skim money from assorted insurance companies.

Lol I was gonna wear longjohns to sleep but didn't know they were gonna put electrodes on my legs too. The tech was like " but I thought you had this done before". I'm like " Yes, and I told you 3 times now it was 7 years ago, I do not remember where the electrodes after 7 years!".

He was like "you go to bed at 1:30-2:00 am? That is going to be a problem". I'm like well I met with the sleep specialist physician 2 weeks before tonight and I gave her all the pertinent information, not my fault she ignored every last word I said both verbally and in writing. Not my fault you have piss poor planning and management.

At least before they had incandescent lamps and the lab was cool, not a dry sauna as bright as a football stadium.

Apparently one of the other patients beds had soiled sheets and they acted surprised that she didn't want to sleep in them.

I had to take sleeping pills to fall asleep at the sleep clinic. There was absolutely no way I was going to sleep without them.

I thought I had seen it all but nope! I go to use the washroom and as I go to wipe myself I find there is some device that causes the toilet paper to tear each square off one by one. So you have to wipe yourself with little squares of single ply toilet paper I guess in some ridiculous effort to save money? I go to flush and I kid you not, I had never seen a toilet use more water in my life. It flushed a niagara falls torrent of water for a good 45 seconds long, that was loud as hell too. If any patients had gone to sleep that would surely have woke them up.

Whoever designed this clinic needs to quit their job, go home, rethink their life and find another line of work because they suck at what they are doing now.

I'm not using any extra meds than what I am prescribed. I'm not gonna drug myself into a coma just so that they can tell me "my what an amazing sleeper you are" when I struggle to sleep every night. I'll just follow Dr Dumbass's orders lol.

"sleep-hostile environment" <-- my new favorite phrase.

Yeah I need to start keeping a list of all the stupid crap the doctors/nurses have said to me.


In December I had to have 3-day EEG (where they glue a bunch of electrodes to your scalp, forehead, and chest) and I barely got any sleep. How they expect people to sleep with that junk on their head is beyond me. When I had the 1 hour EEG a few years ago the tech (after applying the electrodes) told me to lay down and go to sleep for the next hour. I laughed at her and said "it takes me 2 hours to fall asleep on a normal night, and on a normal night I don't try to rest on a head that's sprouting wires!"

I did one once, it was ridiculous, between the electrodes and the environment, I don't know how they expect anyone to sleep "normally". I ended up taking a xanax/ambien combination chased with a martini, then ignored the hard sell for a CPAP machine on the follow up. I think the whole thing is a way to sell those machines, they bill your insurance a fortune for them, and everyone I've ever known who did one of the studies came home with one.

IF....

You really don't think you'll sleep, and the clinic won't get any useful data. Cancel. Especially, if you won't use any sleeping pills, if offered. Look around if you can find a place that is more conducive for your sleep.

Reason being your insurance will not pay for another initial study. If the clinic only gets 2 hour of data, that is what they'll report. They need 4 hrs to qualify for an actual diagnostic test. BUT the insurance will have to pay the whole visit even if you only sleep for one hour. So you have no data and a co pay.

I have severe sleep apnea and use a CPAP machine. It has been the best thing I've done in a long time. I've dropped 15 lbs and my blood pressure came down.

I wish I would have gotten tested earlier. I have central sleep apnea, and my damn body "forgets" to breathe. It is different from the obstructive sleep apnea.

This is coming from someone who was pissed off for having to be tested, and was furious I had to use this stupid machine. I get better sleep, no more muscle pain, and some other health benefits mentioned above.

So for me, it works.

I did a sleep study for sleep apnea and it was just as bad--very dry air, first it was hot, then it was cold, noisy, uncomfortable bed, lots of wires on my head, plus the uncomfortable idea that I was being observed by some 350 lb strange guy in the next room. I've got severe PTSD from childhood trauma, so that did not feel good at all. I got absolutely zero hours of sleep, and wound up getting the flu afterwards. I didn't sleep on the follow up where I wore the CPAP mask either. They went ahead and set up the machine for home use, and it felt like I was being smothered by the mask and weird air pressure. I panicked every time I put it on. I asked them to adjust it, and it felt the same. I gave up after several tries--I just don't have time in my life to go a whole night without sleep.

I considered a sleep clinic at one stage for my circadian / nocturnal issues, but decided against it partially for the exact reasons described above - they tape sensors to you, in some cases requiring a hull headdress of sensors, the environment is uncomfortable, LOUD, bright, disruptive and invasive. I failed to see how any useful data about your sleeping issues could be found at all. Plus I have to take two kinds of medication to sleep, so that would likely influence their results, and I can literally have NO sleep for DAYS unmedicated.
As if that wasn't convincing enough there was the price tag. They wanted over $1,000 for one night.
I imagine it would be much more accurate if they at least set you up with the sensors in your own normal sleep environment and sleep time, with instructions on how to apply the sensors, and interpreted that. You might be a bit disrupted with these things stuck on you but at least you'd be more likely to sleep in privacy and at the time you normally sleep than this ridiculous lab setup. It's like trying to get any sleep in hospital - impossible.

My partner has sleep apnea and uses a CPAP machine regularly. I had only minor apnea when I was tested and was told I could skip the CPAP as long as I sleep on my side (which I prefer anyway, and which is better for my orthopedic issues). I guess I'm lucky in that the sleep lab where I was tested is "friendlier" than you guys have described. Since I always sleep with TV on, they let me do that and it helped me get to sleep.

If you do have sleep apnea, a sleep study could save your life. Apnea can cause strokes, as well as many less serious outcomes that still influence your quality of life.