So, I snore, I always have. Both my parents were world-class, and I’m en route to dominating the field. My lovely and talented wife Imp of the Perverse has to get to sleep ahead of me, or else she winds up waking me up so that she can get to sleep.
Incidentally, I can snore on my side, so a tennis ball in the pocket of a backwards shirt is not going to do it.
Give me some suggestions to ameliorate this problem, please. If this should go in another forum, that’s find, but I’m hoping for “proven methods” over “this worked for me”, although either is good.
I’ll bring it up with my MD asap. In general I sleep well and wake refreshed, and I don’t wake up with the snorting suffocating horrors, so I’m less inclined to suspect sleep apnea.
Unfortunately I don’t think there are any “proven methods” in the sense that they’re guaranteed to work for everyone 100% of the time. I had sinus surgery followed by a LAUP procedure a few years ago and I continued to snore (but on the bright side, it was extremely painful and I now have trouble pronouncing “R” sounds in French).
I began using one of these SomnoDent appliances about two weeks ago and there seems to be improvement, but it was expensive (around $2K, not covered by insurance) and it’s a bit uncomfortable to get used to.
CPAP is supposed to be effective, but you get to enjoy sleeping with scuba gear on your face and I’ve seen a few people on apnea forums complaining that even with the CPAP machine they still manage to snore.
Getting a CPAP machine cured my snoring completely. You’ll need to go for a sleep study, and then learn to sleep with a breathing mask strapped to your face, but it worked in my case.
Does your wife agree with that statement? It’s not unusual to not realize you are almost waking up, or that your breathing stops. If she can corroborate that, great. Otherwise, it’s worth having her watch you while you sleep..or getting a sleep study, where a paid professional who actually knows what to look for does that.
I can give you my two experiences with loud snorers and what “cured” or helped both of them and one story that helped me.
1: My father has snored all his life and quite honestly could be up for a championship title. He snored so badly that nobody could sleep with him in the same part of the house. If he fell asleep on the couch, you could forget watching TV unless you had a movie theater sound system. His snoring was so loud that he would get complaints from other guests in other rooms at hotels. He was diagnosed with sleep apnea a few ago and got a CPAP machine. He now sleeps 100% snore free. It has been amazing, my mother after 46 years of marriage can finally get a good nights sleep.
2: My beautiful wife snored like a wildabeast in heat, bless her heart. It was driving me out of my mind. I couldn’t sleep and considered going to bed in another room. I eventually started wearing earplugs to drown out the nose, but even those failed me. So, I spent most every night trying to get her to sleep on her side, not an easy task as she prefers her back. She had very bad allergies and a deviated septum that eventually forced her to go to an ENT. The doctor told her she needed surgery, which she had a few months ago. Thankfully it went well and has been a life changer. Her allergies are minor now (or I should say the symptoms are) and her snoring, while not eliminated has gotten so much better. The volume has decreased 95% and sometimes she is even snore free. My quality of sleep has been restored and she is no longer afraid to fall asleep on the couch if we have family out friends over.
3: Apparently I use to snore pretty heavy myself. I was, for the most part, unaware that I did. Two years ago my wife told me she would only marry me if I quit smoking. My love for her was greater than my twenty year pack a day habit, so I quit. Rarely snore now I am told. Not to mention I no longer smell like ass and I feel much better.
So, take these for what they are worth. I can tell you that the people in your life will be so much better of if you can get it under control. Good luck.
When this topic comes up, I always throw out http://www.snorban.com/. After my sleep study 6 years ago, my ENT suggested that, rather than going for the $800 and up mouth pieces, I should give the 31 buck version a try. I did and it has worked fine for me. It is a cheap mouthpiece with no breathing passage, but I’ve never had a problem breathing with it. Certainly worth a try before going on to the more expensive options.
Ha !! My Dearly Beloved™ Nicknamed it Darth. I have severe sleep apnea. Darth works. I was hoping that the Provent nasal plugs would work. For me, they do not…sadly.
I ended my nighttime window rattling with an anti-snoring mouthpiece. I started with one of the ones that you boil and then custom mold to your mouth, but it didn’t work as well for me as one of the one-size-fits-all models. You can find both types easily by searching on “snoring mouthpiece.”
Prices are about $20-40, but eBay has them for less. Even if it takes trying a couple, it’s cheaper than a CPAP machine, and easier to get used to.
(I satisfied myself that I don’t have sleep apnea by recording myself all night with my digital voice recorder. Incredibly loud snoring, but steady, even breathing all night. I also used the recorder to compare the effectiveness of the two mouthpieces. The custom one barely made a difference, the other reduced volume by 95% and also reduced the time spent snoring. My then fiancee, now wife, was very grateful.)
