It becomes difficult to recognize a disorder such as sleep apnea. For patients who feel that they suffer from this disorder, it is advisable to keep a sleeping diary. This can be done by either taping the sounds which you make while sleeping or by involving your significant other in order to monitor as well as write down sleeping habits. When visiting a doctor, ensure that you bring this sleeping diary with you. This will be a big help to the doctor in determining your condition. In order to determine the patient’s condition, the doctor may even perform various before prescribing any treatments for sleep apnea. These tests would include an endoscopy of the nose and throat, besides a CT scan or even a thorough examination of the nose as well as mouth.
In case the doctor feels that the patient might be suffering from a sleeping disorder, before prescribing any treatments for sleep apnea, he or she may recommend an overnight sleep study in a sleep lab which will be under the observation of a trained health care provider. Here the patient may have to undergo a polysomnography. A polysomnograph will show a patient’s brain activity, heart rate, besides eye movement as well as respiratory activity during sleep. This is a test which will help to determine in case the patient does or does not suffer from sleep apnea. Not only this, it will also give hints regarding the most effective treatments for sleep apnea for that particular case.
The sleep apnea test is always carried out in a sleep lab during the night in order to get the most reliable results. Electrodes which are on the chest, scalp as well as eyelids will send off messages to the health care provider. These electrodes help to measure the time which it takes for the patient to fall asleep as well as the time taken to fall in REM sleep.