Sleep Study: The Irony of it All

[[th...]]

My psychiatrist referred me to do another polysomnogram since my cessation of benzos. I had taken one back in 2017, and she wanted to see if the benzos had masked any underlying sleep disorder. My sweet spot for sleep is about 7.5 hours/night. After stopping benzos, I was getting anywhere from 0-3.

 

During the latest sleep study, I got < 3 hours. And the doctor that analyzed the results stated that I didn't sleep enough to get any conclusive evidence either way! Oh, the irony.

 

On the upside: the doctor that looked at my results has worked with several people that had come off benzos, immediately looked up the Ashton Manual when I mentioned it to her, and was aware of (and was going to watch) the upcoming CNN program by Lisa Ling. That's progress, considering how many people on BB report that their doctors have no clue.

 

 

 

 

[[Th...]]

In my experience, sleep studies ( I had 2) almost exclusively look for sleep apnea and are mostly a waste of time and money for those in Benzo withdrawal induced insomnia? Although they do line the pockets of the service providers... The first one I had done while in WD and I didn't sleep long enough to determine anything except that I didn't have apnea.  The 2nd study was after I healed and the results showed that I still don't have apnea and slept a lot better...7.2 hours with "normal" sleep cycles and periods of deep sleep.

 

My advice for those in WD induced insomnia is to avoid sleep studies (waste of time and money IMO even if you have insurance) unless you had sleep issues prior to Benzos and even then they are almost always looking for apnea?

[[th...]]

In my experience, sleep studies ( I had 2) almost exclusively look for sleep apnea and are mostly a waste of time and money for those in Benzo withdrawal induced insomnia? Although they do line the pockets of the service providers... The first one I had done while in WD and I didn't sleep long enough to determine anything except that I didn't have apnea.  The 2nd study was after I healed and the results showed that I still don't have apnea and slept a lot better...7.2 hours with "normal" sleep cycles and periods of deep sleep.

 

My advice for those in WD induced insomnia is to avoid sleep studies (waste of time and money IMO even if you have insurance) unless you had sleep issues prior to Benzos and even then they are almost always looking for apnea?

 

Yes, exactly. This was my third and they are pretty much just trying to decide if you have apnea. At least this last doctor had some knowledge of BWD, that was sort of reassuring.