If you are concerned that sleep problems are interfering with your daily functioning or health or that of someone you know, then you should schedule an appointment to discuss this with your doctor or local sleep specialist.

Your doctor may ask you several questions about your sleep habits, family history and lifestyle. Then, your doctor may perform a physical examination of your nose, mouth and throat. If your doctor suspects that you have a sleep disorder, then he/she may recommend a referral to a sleep specialist or for an overnight sleep study (polysomnogram) to be performed at a sleep lab or center approved to meet the standards of care set by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (www.aasmnet.org).

What to Expect
at the Sleep Clinic

Your first appointment at the Dallas Center for Sleep Disorders will occur during the day. You will be asked to fill out some paperwork regarding your background medical history. You will then meet with our sleep specialist, Dr. Raj Kakar, who is board-certified in Sleep Medicine. Sleep specialists can come from different backgrounds because sleep science is a multi-disciplinary field. Some specialists have background training in pulmonary, neurology, psychiatry, ENT, or internal medicine. Dr. Kakar will then spend time further reviewing your physical complaints, sleep and lifestyle habits, and medical history. He will then examine your nose, mouth and throat. Depending on the type of problem(s) found, an overnight sleep study, or polysomnogram, may be scheduled to glean further information. After the study is performed, you will follow-up with Dr. Kakar or your referring doctor to discuss the results at a second daytime appointment.

What to Expect During an
Overnight Stay at the Sleep Center

If you are scheduled for an overnight sleep study, you will be expected to arrive in the evening around 8 pm. Be sure to bring pajamas, toiletries and a change of clothes, since you will be spending the night and may need to go directly to work from the sleep center the next morning. For your convenience, we have on-site shower and bathroom facilities, including bath towels. However, we do not provide any food service, so it’s important that you have your evening meal before arriving to the sleep center. If you prefer, you can also bring some snacks or water if needed prior to going to bed. We have a 7-11 convenience store located next door.

You will be assigned to a comfortable room, which should remind you of a hotel room in some ways. You will be asked to change into your night clothes, and thereafter a sleep technician will apply monitors to your head, neck and extremities. The wires connect to our monitoring equipment. The application of the monitoring wires is painless. You can watch TV or relax during the set-up process, which may take about 45 minutes. After this is completed, you can relax by reading or watching TV until you are ready to go to bed. After you settle into bed, the lights will be turned off so you can comfortably drift off to sleep. While you are sleeping, the sleep technician will remain awake and monitor all of the information being collected. The data collected will include brain waves to determine which stage of sleep you are in, air flow from the mouth and nose, oxygen saturation levels, respiratory rate, heart rate, body position, eye movements, snoring sounds, leg movements, and breathing events.

Upon awakening the next morning, you will be gently disconnected from the wires so you can shower and get dressed for the day. After being disconnected at the completion of the study, you are free to leave at any time. Normally, patients are expected to stay for sleep monitoring until 6 am. If you prefer to sleep in longer, we can continue monitoring until 8 am. As mentioned, you will have an appointment several days later to visit with Dr. Kakar or your referring doctor to discuss the results of your sleep study.