For the sleep test you will be wired all over--chest, head, upper lip, finger (O2 sensor), legs, and probably more. I had a thick bundle of wires running down my pajama leg. Because of all the wiring, you will probably leave the sleep test feeling as though you did not sleep much at all, but you will have slept enough. Is your test a split session--4 hours looking for apnea and 4 hours on a cpap if apnea is present, or do you have 8 hours in study and then another session if apnea is present?

You can have apnea and wake up feeling rested. Only the most severe cases would cause you to be exhausted all the time. A friend swears he doesn't feel any different after going on cpap, but his family swears he's much easier to live with. I didn't have the test until I could no longer stay awake, so I felt better after 4 hours on cpap. After a couple weeks I felt wonderful. I did learn in my reading that apnea has a direct and sometimes dangerous effect on the heart.

Do yourself a favor and research cpap machines before your test. You want some information about the different brands and models before a doctor writes you a prescription for one. I would recommend insisting on a heated humidifier unit. Everything I read before I got my cpap suggested that the unheated humidifiers were ineffective. Of course, the doctor wrote a prescription for an unheated one, and I had to make a few phone calls to get him to change it.

Google apnea and cpap, and you will find hundreds of sites. There are a few forums and many on-line cpap merchants. If your doctor prescribes a cpap, your insurance my connect you with a local medical equipment supplier that carries just one brand, and probably just one model of that brand. As far as I can tell, the differences among machines involve how quiet they are and how humidifiers connect to them. Most offer a ramp setting that starts you off with a lower pressure and gradually increases it to your prescribed level. Some have integrated humidifers, and some use free-standing units. I use a Respironics machine with an integrated humidifier.

The most difficult thing about using a cpap is getting used to the mask and the air pressure. The sleep lab should have different kinds of masks you can try. The air pressure is kind of like the wind you get if you stick your head out a car window at highway speeds. You will get used to it.

I also learned in my research that surgery is ineffective at treating apnea. It does work for very few people, but it recovery is supposed to be long and painful. It's just not a good option, especially considering that cpap is highly effective and has no known harmful effects.

When you travel you have to carry your cpap with you. The machine will come with a carry bag. You don't want to check it--you won't want to check it, anyway. I have had no problem taking mine through airport security. They have become relatively ubiquitous. Camping with a cpap is a little difficult because you either have to camp in a site with electricity, or you have to carry a deep cycle battery and the hardware to connect it to the machine. I've camped a couple time in sites with electricity.

Cpap was inadvertently invented in Australia by a group of researchers who were trying to see if apnea could be treated by using air pressure to strengthen the muscles around the airway. They devised air pumps and fashioned masks for their subjects. After a significantly long study, they concluded that the muscles could not be strengthened in this way, so they ended the study. Their subjects insisted that they be allowed to keep the air pumps because they were sleeping well with them. These early cpap machines were so noisy that users would keep them in closets and run the flexible air hose through the door or a wall. Machines today are whisper quiet.