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[psychdiva]

Mr. P says that I snore heavily most nights. It keeps him awake - and a tired Mr. P is a mighty snippy Mr. P - but jokes aside, I feel badly about disrupting his sleep and I've been feeling tired and "draggy" lately. I went to my internist, got lots of blood work done and also had a sleep study. Long story short: I don't have sleep apnea, I don't have a thyroid disorder, I do have allergies (seasonal and non-seasonal) but am taking meds for those, and I don't have any other conditions that would explain my fatigue except the likelihood that my own snoring is disrupting my sleep.

Per the sleep doc, there are several treatments for non-apneic snoring: jaw positioning devices fitted by a dentist, weight loss, sinus surgery, surgery on the soft palate +/or uvula. The dental device is fairly expensive and not covered by insurance. Weight loss is a great idea but it won't happen overnight, and in the meantime, Mr. P is looking desperate (he says earplus don't help much). The two surgical options seem quite unappealing.

Have you tried a snoring treatment? Did it help?


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[mirandaf]

Mr. F snores. I use foam earplugs. I take them on vacation, on camping trips, everywhere.

Once, when we were camping, his snoring woke up friends/fellow campers who were in a tent ~ 10 yards from ours. Snor-ing!

He claims that I snore. I'm sure he's wrong about this. ;)

Hope you guys find something that works for you both.

[zarathustra]

What about those Breathe Right strips and anti gargling stuff?  I think the Breathe Right strips help a little bit.  A neti pot might help the allergies a little bit.  White noise machine?

[dept_geek]

Rather than the expensive device, try a simple mouth/teeth guard. You can get them at the drugstore. Also, Breathe-Right strips with menthol help some (or a little Vicks Vapo-Run).  (Aside: get checked for diabetes. Usually _completely_ unrelated. But. One of my students had sleep apnea - had a bunch of the surgeries.. no change. Was treated for diabetes, caused a ripple effect with the weight issue, and then (finally!) the surgery helped) Look also in to some of those over the counter stop snore things.

Eventually you need to do *something* big. I got it treated correctly (I have one of the things your doc ruled out) and I am a new geek. Really. It made a huge difference. Amazing how much better everything is when you sleep thru the night.
 

[infopri]

When we first married, My Better Half had a nice gentle snore.  By the time we were Old Marrieds, the gentle snore had turned into a horrific snorting that could be heard clear across the house.  We were both exhausted all the time (him from the apnea itself, me from the noise every night).  After several years of my nagging, he finally underwent a sleep study, which confirmed my belief that he had sleep apnea.  (His blood oxygen when asleep was down to 75 percent, which we were told is cardiac-arrest territory; normal blood ox is in the high 90s.)  Now he uses a bipap machine, and it has saved both of us.  He rarely snores (and never snorts) any more, even when he takes an unplanned nap sans machine.  Dept_geek is right; we are new people.

Before things got really bad (i.e., when his snoring was still "normal"), he had some luck with the Breathe Right strips, but they couldn't help once the apnea set in.  After getting the diagnosis, we looked into surgical alternatives, but frankly the outcomes looked pretty crappy.  If you are considering surgery, please do a lot of research first!

You might also consider sleeping in a different position.  Snoring is worst when people sleep on their backs.  Can you manage to sleep on your stomach?  That might help a bit, anyway.  And do try the mouth/teeth guard and the Breathe Right strips.

Sadly, I know how difficult this situation is.  Good luck. 

[psychdiva]

In a strange kind of way, I was hoping that I had sleep apnea so I could get treated and become a different person. I've seen so many friends whose lives were transformed once their apnea was treated.

Unfortunately, Mr. P reports that I snore even when sleeping on my side. I'm running out right now for some Breathe-Right strips.

Sleepy PsychDiva

[expatinuk]

Separate bedrooms.

It works WONDERS!

And it's even better for the sex life... you get TWO beds to play in... plenty of time to cuddle before one of you does the slow drag back.

[infopri]

Separate bedrooms.

It works WONDERS!

And it's even better for the sex life... you get TWO beds to play in... plenty of time to cuddle before one of you does the slow drag back.

Some friends of ours have had separate bedrooms since before we met them some 30 years ago.  They thought it was so great that now they have separate homes, about two hours apart.  I'm not being snarky--their marriage is intact and apparently happy.  They seem to thrive on the separation and claim it makes being together that much better.

Me, I couldn't do it.  I'd go completely without sleep before I'd give up sharing a bed (or at least the room) with My Better Half.  There is a special intimacy (IMHO) that comes from sleeping together--that is, literally sleeping together.  But YMMV.

[expatinuk]

There is a special intimacy (IMHO) that comes from sleeping together--that is, literally sleeping together.  But

The problem is that those who do have sleep problems feel guilty when they think of separate bedrooms. I have NO difficulty in falling asleep. I have EXTREME difficulty in STAYING alseep. Hubby Bubba can't fall asleep for love or money. So he lies there tossing and turing (and farking SIGHING)... eventually he wakes me up... and *I* can't go back to sleep.

I used to drag myself down the hall to the other bed when he did that. Then I'd be tossing and turning. Now I'm already down the hall. It makes for a much nicer night's sleep... for both of us.

[anthroid]

SO snores pretty heavily some nights and I do too sometimes.  He does not seem apneaic--the snores are steady, in and out--just loud.  The same is true for me.  We've done a few things that make things better.
1.  We elevated the head of the bed by about 2 inches (we put the legs on bricks).  That helped a bit.
2.  Breathe-Right strips.  Wash your nose before affixing them--that seems to make a big difference.  And be sure to affix them correctly in the right place (see the package for details).
3.  Mucinex or other decongestant.
4.  Don't drink for an hour before going to bed.
5.  Don't smoke.
6.  Yes, losing weight is a good idea, as is being in relatively good shape.
7.  Have another bed to which you can escape!

Lately neither he nor I have been snoring much--allergy season is diminishing and neither one of us is as congested as we were this spring.  And I'm with Infopri.  I'd rather be in the bed with SO all things considered!

[pink_]

There is a special intimacy (IMHO) that comes from sleeping together--that is, literally sleeping together.  But

The problem is that those who do have sleep problems feel guilty when they think of separate bedrooms. I have NO difficulty in falling asleep. I have EXTREME difficulty in STAYING alseep. Hubby Bubba can't fall asleep for love or money. So he lies there tossing and turing (and farking SIGHING)... eventually he wakes me up... and *I* can't go back to sleep.

I used to drag myself down the hall to the other bed when he did that. Then I'd be tossing and turning. Now I'm already down the hall. It makes for a much nicer night's sleep... for both of us.

I'm really glad to hear that I'm not the only one in this situation.
My SO flops around like a fish out of water in his sleep.  He never wakes up, but he keeps me up all night, even if I've taken tylenol PM.

[psychdiva]

Separate bedrooms.

It works WONDERS!

Separate bedrooms would help Mr. P (though I'd miss him something fierce) but I'd still be disrupted by my own snoring.

Anthroid, does Mucinex contain stimulants like sudaphed does, or can you sleep after taking it?

[anthroid]

Separate bedrooms.

It works WONDERS!

Separate bedrooms would help Mr. P (though I'd miss him something fierce) but I'd still be disrupted by my own snoring.

Anthroid, does Mucinex contain stimulants like sudaphed does, or can you sleep after taking it?

No stimulants of which I am aware.  I sleep just dandy after taking it.  And I know what you mean about being awoken by your own snoring.  That happens to me occasionally during the week (SO and I see each other mainly on weekends) but if I take a Mucinex (or the Walgreen's generic equivalent) there is no problem.

Now if I could only get my cat to stop snoring.

[avatara]

My SO snores like a tuba-playing chainsaw. I've found the following to work over the years, in combination:

1. Breathe Right strips
2. Claritin
3. memory foam 'cervical' pillow
4. sewing marbles into the back of SO's pajama tops (go ahead, laugh, but snoring seems to worsen when lying flat on the back; marbles make the position uncomfortable, so SO rolls over!)

Good luck!

[pedanterast]

Mucinex is nothing but guafenisin, which is a mucous thinner.  No nasty stuff.  Note that if you buy just plain Robitussin, with no letters after it, that is just guafenisin in syrup form.  I prefer the pills, although I don't use them for snoring.  I use them when I have a head cold and I find that it decreases the period of time that the stuffy nose lingers on after all the feeling like crap has passed.

Afrin works for snoring too, but that is nasty stuff and you get dependent on it.  I have a sleep-over once a week and she snores so in that instance Afrin works okay since she is only using it once a week.  I snore too, but she says it doesn't bother her as she is a very heavy sleeper, of which I am extremely jealous.

In fact when we have gotten caught short of Afrin she has used a plain old saline nasal moisturizer and it works to some degree too.  Another snoring bed buddy a few years back tried the mouth guard and it helped the snoring but made her drool all over the bed.  Not that great of a trade-off, actually.