Woke up chocking. Why?

I am 72 years old, about 20 lbs overweight.  Woke up really chocking to death. I just could not catch my breath.  I thought I was about to pass out.  I kept coughing & grasping for air.  After a horrible experince I was ok after abount five minutes. Went to see my doctor the next day, could not fine anything wrong with me.  He taught I might have sleep epnea.  I am going for testing next Monday.  Has any one out there had this kind of frighting experience due to Sleep Epnea?

[Steven Y Park, MD]

This is a very common experience in people with sleep apnea. In people over 60, 60% of men have sleep apnea. Unfortunately, many people who tell their doctors about this are told it's due to panic or anxiety attacks.

[Michellelandon]

Hello, I am scheduled to have a tonsillectomy,UP3, septoplasty, and inferior turbinate reduction done next week (May 25th). After doing some research I'm not finding many success with the UP3.
This is what i've found:
1.Drainage of secretions into the nose and a nasal quality to the voice.
2.Patients who have had the uvula removed will become unable to correctly speak French or any other language that has a uvular 'r' phoneme.
3.Nasal regurgitation
4.Choking easily
5. Re-growth of the soft palate
6.No change

I'm now pretty nervous about having the proceedure done and wanted to get your thoughts on this.

Thanks,
Michelle