I don't know if this apnea or a different sort of variation on it: Unlike the description of apnea I've read about, where people snore and don't realize they've stopped breathing, I wake up in the middle of the night startled because I can't get air in my lungs and make this very loud gasping noise as I try to breathe in. Often, when I get this startled feeling I'm able to control it somehow by just stopping my breathing momentarily so it just goes away. I've learned somehow to stop it from happening in my sleep. What it is I do I don't know. It seems like what causes it is the startled reaction. I get the feeling that I'm breathing out of sync and breathing to deeply all of a sudden, so I just stop and slow it down. On occasion, I will get out of bed, stand up and tehn when I try to breathe in again thinking I'm okay, I can't and I make this horrible gasping noise, but I can breathe through my nose without a problem. I also have noticed on occasion that I have acid from my stomach go up to my throat like when you're about to throw up, which makes me wonder whether the acid in my stomach irritates my throat to where perhaps it shuts down to prevent the stomach juices from going into my lungs. It's weird and just doesn't seem like your typical definition of apnea. Unlike other apnea cases I've read about, I don't sleep through it, it wakes me up in a state of panic because I can't breathe in. Makes me wonder whether I don't stop breathing several times during the night as the other cases of apnea I've read about. I'm so used to it that I don't even panic any more. I get up, walk around, breathe through my nose until it goes away and I just go back to sleep without a problem. It happens only very rarely. I'd say maybe 4 times a year. But it does concern me.
You should be concerned. It doesn’t matter how rarely you wake up in a panic. What happens in between while you sleep is a great concern.
I warmly recommend a visit to your doctor. Ask for a sleep apnea study, where you will be monitored during the night.
Any sleep problem can be a health risk, because you body will not get required oxygen and various serious conditions will follow. Some more deadly than the others!
Just a few to mention: Blood pressure rise, cardiovascular deceases and stroke.
If the condition was more researched, the medical profession would take more serious look at it and probably find that many other illnesses are caused by sleep apnea.
Personally I suspect that asthma, allergies and some skin conditions are also caused by apnea, but that is not the end of the list!
You may ask, what gives me authority to say what I just said?
“Experience, my friends”!
Experience that I would rather be without!
I have EXACTLY the same thing. Down to every single detail and wonderde what it was. There were no real replies here. Did you get any further in your research.
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wake up choking, but can breathe through nose. 
