Diagnosing Sleep Apnea – Summerlin, NV
Confirming the Nature of Your Sleep Disorder
Medical History
At the beginning of your visit, you should describe, in as much detail as possible, all the signs and symptoms that you’ve noticed (including snoring, general sleepiness, insomnia, and problems concentrating). Dr. West will need to consider this information along with your medical history, which may include:
Physical Exam
Sleep Studies
If your medical history and physical examination give us reason to believe you may have sleep apnea, we’ll arrange for a sleep study to be performed. These tests can measure how many sleep apnea events you suffer from each night, and it can detect the level of activity in the muscles that are responsible for controlling your breathing. Blood oxygen levels, brain activity, and heart activity are also monitored throughout the night. These tests can confirm the presence of sleep apnea, and the results can tell us how severe it is, which will affect the course of treatment.
Ruling Out Other Health Issues
Sometimes it might be necessary to perform additional tests to rule out specific medical conditions that might be causing sleep apnea. This may include blood tests to check the levels of certain hormones; women may also need a pelvic ultrasound to check the ovaries.
We’ll also need to know about any opioids or other medications you’re using. Sometimes these medicines could either cause sleep apnea symptoms or affect your sleep in other ways. If you’ve been traveling recently, be sure to tell us if you ever went to altitudes greater than 6,000 feet; people that have been exposed to the low-oxygen environment at that height will sometimes notice the signs of sleep apnea for a few weeks.
Once all the necessary tests and examinations are complete, we can decide if oral appliance therapy or combined therapy are suitable options in your case.