Sleep Medicine

A good night’s sleep supports your overall health. If you notice any change in your sleep pattern that lasts more than a few nights, you want prompt attention to help you get back to sleeping well.

Expert Adult Sleep Care Close to Home

When you experience sleep disruptions, you can rely on OU Health’s adult sleep medicine specialists and board-certified physicians at the Sleep Lab at OU Health Edmond Medical Center to help you get the nighttime rest you need to make the most of your days.

Signs & Symptoms of Sleep Problems

Your body heals and reenergizes itself while you sleep. But if you often find yourself missing the restorative sleep your body needs each night, you’re unable to achieve good health and well-being. You may have a sleep disorder if you experience symptoms such as:

• Dozing off or feeling sleepy during the day
• Feeling uncomfortable or restless in your legs
• Having trouble staying awake while driving
• Snoring or other signs of sleep apnea
• Sweating while sleeping
• Tossing and turning
• Waking up with headaches
• Walking or driving in your sleep

A good night’s sleep can help protect you from several health conditions, including depression, diabetes, heart attack, obesity and stroke.

Comprehensive Sleep Studies & Treatment

Find out how you can achieve better sleep, beginning with a sleep study at OU Health’s Sleep Lab. Results can reveal whether you’re living with a common sleep disorder such as:

• Sleep apnea – Brief interruptions in breathing during sleep
• Dyssomnia – Periodic limb movements, restless legs syndrome
• Parasomnia – Sleepwalking, sleep terrors, nighttime eating disorder
• Narcolepsy – Overwhelming daytime sleepiness, even after nighttime sleep

The Sleep Lab can schedule your sleep study for any time of day, any day of the week, to accommodate your natural schedule and circadian rhythms.

What to Expect at a Sleep Study

At OU Health, you’ll work with sleep medicine experts, the board-certified sleep physicians who get to the root of your problem, while you sleep in one of the Sleep Lab’s spacious, comfortable, hotel-like rooms. Throughout the study, your sleep technician monitors your progress with video cameras and wired sensors. The Sleep Lab also uses the most advanced sleep evaluation technology available for speed, flexibility, accuracy and reliability in sleep study recording.

Guidelines and Forms for Your Appointment

Check the following resources to learn more about good sleep hygiene and the forms to fill out and bring to your appointment.

• Adult Sleep Intake Questionnaire (pdf)
• Sleep Chart – English (pdf)
• Sleep Chart – Español (pdf)
• Tips for Good Sleep Hygiene – English (pdf)
• Tips for Good Sleep Hygiene – Español (pdf)

Sleep Apnea

More than 20 million Americans experience sleep apnea, a common sleep disorder more often found in men. Serious and potentially life-threatening, sleep apnea happens in any age group and gender.

Types of Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea, characterized by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep, takes three forms:

• Obstructive sleep apnea – Air can’t flow in or out of the nose or mouth even while attempts to breathe continue
• Central sleep apnea – Incorrect signals from the brain prevent the breathing muscles from starting to work; less common than obstructive sleep apnea
• Complex sleep apnea – Mix of symptoms from both central and obstructive sleep apnea

Symptoms of Sleep Apnea

Similar to signs of other sleep disturbances, symptoms of sleep apnea include:

• Awakening with headaches
• Being overweight
• Difficulty staying asleep
• Experiencing trouble staying awake while driving
• Falling asleep while watching TV
• Feeling sleepy or tired during the day
• Feeling uncomfortable in the legs
• Having high blood pressure
• Not feeling rested after sleep
• Sleeping at inappropriate times
• Snoring
• Stopping breathing while asleep
• Sweating excessively while sleeping
• Tossing and turning
• Trouble falling asleep

If you experience any time of sleep disturbance or sleep apnea, talk with your doctor and ask for a referral to the sleep medicine experts at OU Health to get a diagnostic sleep study and a comprehensive treatment plan that fits your particular situation.

Your Expert Sleep Medicine Team

Whether you experience sleep apnea, daytime sleepiness or another barrier to getting a good night’s rest, you can trust OU Health’s multidisciplinary team, who also train the next generation of sleep medicine specialists, to work with you toward solutions designed to treat your individual sleep problem. Your sleep therapy care team may include:

• Adult or pediatric ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists
• Adult or pediatric pulmonologists
• Behavioral psychologists
• Board-certified sleep physicians
• Neurologists
• Respiratory therapists
• Sleep technologists
• Urologists