adamisbored

I have the same credentials as OP, so I might can help here.

Yes, there are people who qualify as having "sleep apnea" who never actually stop breathing. Apnea is a complete cessation of breathing. This means there very little or no air movement. If a patient has a partial closure of the airway, say 20-80%, it still has a negative effect on the body, and it treated with CPAP the same way.

In sleep medicine, we use the term "stop breathing" as a catch all when explaining things overall about sleep apnea. I prefer the term "sleep disordered breathing".

It would be worth it to suggest your wife get tested as well. She might require a CPAP machine as well.

As a fellow sleep tech, I share your skepticism.

Melatonin is what the body naturally produces when it's time to go to sleep, or when you're in a dark room. These two things usually coincide. There are very few side effects from taking melatonin as a supplement to help you sleep. Most people who have negative effects usually complain about vivid, bad dreams, and morning headaches.

I take melatonin regularly to help me sleep and it usually helps. It's something you should always consult a physician about, but it's not habit forming and safe to take.

Fellow RPSGT here! I'm of the mindset that the 2:1 ratio is what the AASM wants. They originally said 3:1 was against their rules, and was poor patient care, but in emergency situations (i.e. tech has to leave suddenly) it can be done. So, they agreed in certain circumstances to allow it. Where you get in trouble is if you're intentionally keeping the 3:1 ratio to keep techs low and patients high for maximum profit. That's what the AASM doesn't like.

Yay! Fellow RPSGT here! Good to see this represented.