Fibro AND Stanford University's highest count EVER recorded of sleep apnea events during a study??

Holy cow!!

I was diagnosed with fibro eight years ago,and have had symptoms of over 20 years.. and as a 29 yr old woman, it's been rough.
Ive journeyed from dr to dr trying to find some sort of, ANY kind of relief from the never ending horrible pain and chronic fatigue. After about three months of my husband noticing my arms lifting directly into the air at night while i slept (which i've affectionately dubbed "going to Dracula") and sleepwalking to the point that i woke up in a different part of my house every night, I finally talked my primary care dr into referring me to a sleep study.

And this is where it gets interesting.

A normal person sleeping a 10 hr night is not supposed to have more than 50 apnea related events during that time. For those who arent familiar, apnea is sleep disturbances caused from ceasing to breath while sleeping.

My apnea count was 511. That's 49.1 for ever 60 minutes of sleeping!! I almost broke the night's quota in ONE HOUR!!

We are starting to piece things together.. no real night of sleep in several years would definitely cause fibro, or fibro symptoms.

Maybe it wouldnt hurt for you guys to try having a sleep study and see what happens. I would never have even known if it werent for my husband. Most people dont even know they have this. It may be worthwhile for fibro sufferers to try a sleep study just in case it can help

I don't know how you go about it in America, but I'm in Australia and I was referred to a sleep study unit by a general physician, when the results came back that I have apneas and hypopneas and was recommended to sleep with a mask and machine I was then referred to a thorasic specialist, as it is more thier field of specialty.
It would depend if your doctor has referring rights, to a sleep study unit or if a specialist doctor has to do it.

For me it was a 2 step process
1. the first sleep over I was hooked up to many leads and wires to measure brainwaves, limb movement and a mic to record snoring noises and blood oxygen level.
2. I slept over at the sleep unit and was hooked up to most of these leads again but this time with a mask. the outcome was to get the litres of air per hour that I need, they do this by the data being fed to the computer each time you stop breathing or breathing to shallow.

It wasn't the most comfortable experience BUT nowI have far better sleeps and sleeping with a mask on my face wasn't too bad to get used to.

Definatly investigate it if you think its possible you have it.

I agree with Squidwrath 100%, and am thinking of requesting a study of my own. (I suffer from restless legs syndrome at times.)

My husband had the sleep test done, and after less than two hours (and over 100 episodes of apnea) they woke him and fitted him with a mask right then and there.  The monitor was rattled and did not want him to continue the rest of the night struggling while she watched. He slept the rest of the night with the mask, monitored, and said he actually felt a difference the next day.  Within three days of being able to use the mask all night long (took some adjustment) he felt much much better.

He would recommend it to anyone who feels they are not getting adequate rest. He was very hesitant to attempt to sleep away from home while monitored, but it went fine.  I should mention that he does not have fibro, but he ended up in the ER  with "the worst headache of his life" from skyrocketing blood pressure from the lack of sleep.  His GP told him that he was lucky not to have died in his sleep prior to testing. The report was that bad.

And FYI - The entire thing was covered by our insurance, including the equipment.