Hi Tonmur!
Hope I can be of some help here.
First, let me say that my husband is in the Navy and all the testing and equipment was free so I don't know how much all this costs in the real world!
His worst symptom is that he stops breathing when he sleeps. It's almost like holding his breath for a few seconds. Aside from that he snores loudly (which makes his not breathing really stand out), tosses and jerks when he is asleep, is impossible to wake up even if he's only been in bed a few minutes, couldn't sleep a full night if he tried, and is tired all day. I think those are some of the typical symptoms, but there are more. There are also other sleep disorders out there that I know nothing about.
His regular doctor sent him to a sleep disorder clinic where they hooked him up to a machine and checked how often he stopped breathing, how often he went into REM sleep, and a bunch of other things. Then they woke him up and had him wear the CPAP (a small mask that forces air into the nose) and checked those things again. They measure the differences and if there is enough improvement they order you a CPAP. At least that's what they did for him. CPAP stands for Constant Positive Airway Pressure. (or something like that)
It worked wonderfully on him and he didn't have to go through any surgeries. But he will probably wear it for life. There are things that they can do if the CPAP doesn't work. His problem is his soft palate relaxes too much when he is asleep and blocks his airway. If the CPAP didn't work well they could have "tacked" his soft palate so that it wouldn't fall back so far. There is another guy who works with my husband who may get his sinus cavity scraped because of a blockage there. Boy, that does not sound pleasant at all!
So, the results are he sleeps much easier and doesn't stop breathing when he is wearing the mask. He also dreams now which he never did before (the REM thing). He still snores occasionally but it's usually when the mask slips. The machine also is very quiet and I get to sleep better too! The snoring never really bothered me but waiting for the next breath was awful.
I'm sure some of the folks here who have sleep disorders may be able to help more, but I hope I've helped some!
Kelly