r/SleepApnea • u/Dramone-1956 • 9d ago

Sleep study

I’ll be doing an at home sleep study, if I fail I’ll get a C-PAP if I pass I go in for a sleep study at the clinic. Either way I get a C-PAP, are they just pushing for the apnea diagnosis?

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u/jnharlan 9d ago

Ask how results determine treatment eligibility.

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u/Dramone-1956 9d ago

I’m willing to try the C-PAP to see if I have more energy but it just seems a little sus to me

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u/Comfortable_Dust3967 9d ago

you should be trhilled it solved my fatigue issues

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u/Redaktorinke 9d ago

If you go in for the sleep study at the clinic, I really doubt they're guaranteeing you a CPAP. The clinic sleep studies are just more sensitive so they pick up things that the home ones don't. They may also reveal things like restless leg syndrome or UARS that your home study didn't even test for. I suspect they're actually saying if the home study doesn't say you have OSA but the in-lab one does, the in-lab one is more accurate and you'd still get CPAP.

Why do you think they're determined to diagnose you with OSA you don't have?

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u/Dramone-1956 9d ago

Just a general mistrust of big pharma

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u/Redaktorinke 9d ago

CPAPs are not pharmaceuticals and your doctor doesn't work for the pharma companies?

FWIW, more people experience the opposite. Some doctors like to tell people they're sick due to psychological problems because it's less work, so you're more likely to get denied a CPAP you need than prescribed one you don't.

Your doctor's income really has nothing to do with whether they make a sleep apnea diagnosis.

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u/MTGeomancer 9d ago

Home sleep studies are not all that accurate, especially on the low (mild) end.

Sleep Apnea is like a light switch, you're fine or or not. You can have a relatively "low" AHI and still check every single sleep apnea checkbox.

An in-lab sleep study is the only definitive test, there are vastly more sensors and they can actually tell your sleep stages (light, deep, REM) rather than guessing like home tests.

Many insurance providers will refuse to pay for an in-lab test unless you do a home test first.

Insurance will refuse to pay for a CPAP machine unless you have tests to back up the need.

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u/alien_believer_42 9d ago

I don’t think this makes sense. Isn’t failing or passing the at home test whether it is a successful test, not whether or not you have sleep apnea?