Several years ago I started having a strange problem.  In the middle of the night I would wake up feeling paralyzed, like my whole body was asleep, including my lungs.  Each time I would barely wiggle my way out of the paralysis feeling I had narrowly escaped death.  It is terrifying and it happens fairly regularly.   My girlfriend has also complained about my kicking/tossing/turning, and that sometimes I wake up shaking and yelling.  I have also struggled with daytime fatigue, morning grogginess/irritability, feeling tired, and incessant yawning despite having slept many hours.

My girlfriend did some reading on sleep apnea and told me she was sure I had it.  "Nonsense," I thought,  "Sleep apnea is what old fat men have who can't drive because they fall asleep all the time.  I'm not an old fat guy...  I'm a young hip dude."  Then I read up on it and realized I had confused sleep apnea with narcolepsy and that my girlfriend was right.  Particularly pertinent in my case, aside from the aforementioned symptoms, was the fact that two of the most common causes of sleep apnea are small jaws and large tonsils.  My jaws are so small that I had to have eight adult teeth removed to make space in my mouth, and my tonsils are so big that I was recently disqualified for a healthy volunteer study at the NIH involving MRI's of the mouth and throat.  So it seems obvious that to some degree I have sleep apnea.

The problem is that I have no health insurance.  I just graduated college and I'm (for lack of a better word) a starving artist.  I'm trying to save up for a ring to propose to my girlfriend and we're trying to save up for a house.  My piano man salary can not cover health insurance that would include sleep apnea treatment.  (The only insurance I would consider is catastrophe).

That said, I have been doing research myself on CPAP, BiPAP, and APAP.  I understand that these machines are recommended under doctor's supervision.  But I don't need to spend 8 years in medical school to use a machine that merely blows air.  How harmful could air be?  Still, I'm not stupid and I don't want to rush into anything.  It seems though that if I got an APAP there's no risk.  If it really does automatically adjust to your need, then what could go wrong?  If I'm actually just a hypochondriac, the machine wont be fooled and I'll just sleep with a mask and enjoy another placebo.  If I do have a destructive apnea, this machine could drastically improve my quality of life.  Considering health insurance is not an option, would anyone strongly object to my purchasing a used APAP somewhere and wingin' it?

And please, don't respond to this post telling me that I shouldn't be getting married if I can't afford health insurance or that I should get health insurance.

Thank you!

The Awake in America referral is great.  In addition, you might want to check with local "teaching hospitals" which may offer free or low cost sleep studies.  Also, local equipment suppliers or awake groups may have used equipment for donation.

Your post struck a note, and I remembered another self-treater.  You might want to check this out and her links.  http://www.apneasupport.org/viewtopic.php?t=1736

Apparently self-help can be done successfully.  Good luck!

Judy