I'm hoping that there may be either an AME or CFI that might weigh in on this post. I'm 48 and earned my PPL at age 18. I've taken about a 20 year hiatus from flying to raise my family and manage a career. Now that I have both in order, I think, I am ready to re-pursue my first love of aviation. Some of the many changes I've noticed as I've began this process of study has been on the medical side. About ten years ago I participated in a sleep study at my local hospital because I have sleep apnea. I do not use a CPAC machine. I do not seemed to be bothered by my apnea outside of my annoying snoring. Now, I've read about the FAA pressing regulation around sleep apnea and how it will be a significant factor in keeping a medical. I do understand that they have elected to hold off on the testing for apnea, but I'm concerned that since I had tested ten years ago and know that I have apneas that I might not be able to get my medical back. I have now learned about the Sport Pilots license and also learned that if I have never failed a medical I can downgrade and use a drivers license in lieu of the medical. But IF you fail a medical you cannot downgrade to the SPL, you are just grounded, I am not quite sure what to do. It seems like a crap shoot at getting my 3rd class medical and I am tempted to just downgrade now since as of TODAY, I've never failed a medical. Could some of you guys share your knowledge on this, please? Thanks!