Stephanie H., Austin, TX
Real Patient Review submitted through SleepSomatics online quality assurance system on February 23, 2016 10:54 AM:
I'll start off by saying that the technician who helped me with the demo and checking in/out the machine was great. He (sorry, I can't remember his name) was very experienced, very patient, and made it extremely easy to understand the use of the machine. That being said, I'm not thrilled with the actual process of using the machine. I understand and appreciate that this is probably one of the simplest and easiest machine to use for a home sleep test, but for me it was extremely uncomfortable and ended up with me not being able to sleep at all. The nasal cannula was not at all comfortable, especially since I'm a side-sleeper. Every time I laid my head down, it added pressure to the cannula and caused me discomfort and/or pain in my nose. It also is not fun having a nasal cannula when you have a stuffy and/or runny nose (which I had acquired the day before my appointment). Constantly having to remove the cannula in order to blow your nose is not only a pain, but also questionable as to how accurate my results might be. It would have been nice to have the option to reschedule the appointment for a time that my nose was not running due to allergies. The tubes/wires attached to the machine were also very bothersome as they were constantly getting in my way, being yanked, falling in my face, etc. In the end, I was not able to fall asleep (a very light sleep at that) until about 4:30am and unfortunately had to wake about 6am for work. I spent several hours over the night trying to decide whether to just remove the machine so I could actually get a few hours of sleep, but at the same time knowing that I had already spent hundreds of dollars to use this machine and taking it off meant there would be absolutely no chance of getting any results. Honestly, had I understood better what the machine looked like and what was required, I never would have signed up for this sleep test OR I at least would have taken a day off of work, so that I would be able to sleep in as late as I needed (or at least try to) in order to get better results. I wish I had been provided more details on the machine BEFORE I was asked to pay and schedule the appointment. Once I arrived at my scheduled appointment and realized using this machine might be an issue for me, it was too late for me to back out because the fee had already been paid. I have not received my results yet, but I'm already a little upset because I know that whatever results the doctor provides (if any) will not in any way correspond to my actual sleep habits or the actual sleep issues that I've been having.
SleepSomatics Response:
Our clinical staff is sorry to hear you did not have a positive experience with your home sleep test device. Our staff will be contacting you to make arrangements for a repeat of the test at no charge with scheduling accommodations so you may use the device on a day off from work. We hope this will address your concerns and support you in re-testing. Thank you again for choosing SleepSomatics for your sleep testing needs.
