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wellsleep-equipmentTrouble with getting a good nights sleep? Difficulty breathing at night or excessive sleepiness during the day can seriously take the shine off life.

If you have started to forget what a good night's sleep feels like and miss not sleeping well, the WellSleep Centre can help.

The WellSleep Centre has a range of overnight sleep studies, designed to learn more about your sleep and reasons for not sleeping well.

Sleep breathing disorders

Obstructive sleep apnoea

A sleep disorder caused by the blocking of the upper airway.

Central sleep apnoea

A sleep disorder in which the effort to breathe is diminished or absent.

Nocturnal hypoventilation

A sleep disorder caused by the brain's breathing control centre not sending out enough nerve impulses to the breathing muscles, resulting in shallow breathing, or for breathing to stop.

Other causes of excessive daytime sleepiness

Periodic limb movements during sleep (PLMS)

The repetitive cramping or jerking of the legs during sleep.

Narcolepsy

A sleep disorder that causes excessive sleepiness and frequent daytime sleep attacks.

Parasomnias

These are sleep disorders that involve abnormal or unnatural movements and behaviour which include sleep walking, night terrors, teeth grinding or restless legs and periodic limb movements.

Types of sleep studies at the WellSleep Centre

The WellSleep Centre offers a number of different types of overnight sleep studies:

  • Inpatient (when patients visit the laboratory)
  • Home sleep studies
  • Lab setup studies where patients then go home to sleep

Where do home-based treatments take place?

We perform home studies in the Wellington City / Porirua / Hutt Valley area (as far as the start of Upper Hutt, and north to Paremata / Whitby).

Patients living outside this area can have a portable / home sleep study done by staying at a motel, or a friend or family's residence within the accepted area.

How is the CPAP treatment initiated?

If you wish to undergo Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy for obstructive sleep apnoea, we initiate treatment in the following manner:

  1. You undergo a study to diagnose whether you have obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).
  2. If we diagnose you as having OSA, we will offer you a chance to trial CPAP.
  3. In this case we determine CPAP pressure setting either during an overnight stay or at home using a auto-PAP device.
  4. Once we determine CPAP pressure, you may undergo a four-week home trial with technical support and review.

What types of inpatient sleep studies are available?

There are three types of inpatient studies (where patients visit the WellSleep Centre at Bowen Hospital):

  • Diagnostic only
  • A full-night CPAP study
  • A split study, which is a combined diagnostic and CPAP study


The cost of the full-night and split studies also include one month's home CPAP trial with technical support and review.

If a split night study has been requested but we do not diagnose you with obstructive sleep apnoea, we will perform a diagnostic study only.

Learn more about the WellSleep Centre's overnight sleep studies

The WellSleep Centre has a variety of brochures available about our overnight sleep studies.

Polysomnography: What to expect from an overnight sleep study (PDF)

This brochure explains what happens during a sleep study, and the procedure involved. It also gives more information on polysomnography.

Please contact us at wellsleep@otago.ac.nz if you'd prefer a printed copy of the Polysomnography brochure.

You can also request brochures on obstructive sleep apnoea and CPAPtherapy from the WellSleep Centre. We distribute these brochures to physicians, patients, and family members of those starting CPAP therapy.

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