this post was submitted on 25 Dec 2023
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If you can't afford a sleep study (outright, or at least want some evidence to bring to your primary care doc before asking for a referral), the next best thing that you can probably do is get ahold of a saturated O2 meter with a recording function (or phone app). Wear it overnight and record the data. If your levels drop much below about 92%, you should talk to your doctor about a sleep study ASAP. If you hover around 95%, that's pretty normal.
This all depends on the accuracy of the meter, though, and consumer-grade ones aren't amazing. Still, if you see a drop to like 82% right before you suddenly wake up in the middle of the night with a huge spike in pulse, yup, that's an apnea/hypopnea event.
I'm assuming if I keep waking up super tired with a soar throat that's another sign
Not to play doctor, but I had similar symptoms and finally diagnosed with UARS (https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/sleep/upper-airway-resistance-syndrome.html) in an in-clinic sleep study. Before, I had taken an in-home version and my sleep score is too low to be considered sleep apnea and qualify for a CPAP machine. UARS is basically a mini sleep apnea. I never got choked up enough to stop breathing, have a dip in my O2 or wake up in the middle of the night grasping for air. However, I have a lot of "resistance" to breathe such that I wake up with severe sore throat and less restful sleep (but I'm spared from brain damage, increased heart pressure etc. associated with real sleep apnea). The solution is the same, to use a CPAP machine.
Moral of the story is to do in-clinic sleep study to conclusively determine your problem.
Could just be air is too dry in your sleep area