Advice for looking into Apnea treatment - help please!

How would you advise someone who hasnt yet done anything about their apnea to pursue treatment?

A nurse showed a friend while I was sleeping on my monitor how I had apnea. Since, Ive on a few occasions had the scary experience of waking up heart pounding, out of breath but as I sat deep breathing it quickly came under control.

I have horrible short term memory issues which I suspect are connected and have systems in my life to compensate for.

Looking into this, I'd like to know what to expect, to watch out for and what the begining process is like. Im not sure what type of doctor to pursue or if I should first pursue a study, or approach my insurance.

HELP!

i WOULD SUGGEST LOOKING UP SLEEP APNEA AND LEARNING AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. Sorry for caps.

I would look up faq here and elsewhere.

Then I would come back and ask specific questions.

Lots to learn.

You need to see a pulmonologist. A doctor that deals with the lungs primarily. If you have insurance be sure to see a doctor that is contracted with you insurance and get a referal if needed.

I would go farther than just saying find a pulmonologist. I have seen multiple pulmonologists for asthma and as far as I could tell, they were not knowledgeable about Apnea or interested in it. I would find a doc who is board certified in sleep medicine and primarily does that. I had a sleep study 7 years ago ordered by an internist that was messed up by an incompetent sleep study tech. My internist is a good guy, but in retrospect, he didn't know the right questions to ask.

Recently, I found a pulmonologist who is converting his whole practice to sleep medicine only. He is great! He re-read my old study and concluded I should have been on CPAP all those years, but both the tech and internist didn't know what they were doing. He ordered a new study just to be sure and put me on CPAP right away. If I call him, he will actually get on the phone and talk to me and give me good advice for my sleep problems. Also, refers a lot to my DME and so they really jump through hoops for his patients. That's what ya need!