How do you sleep with SNORING spouses?

[Kteacher]

After 20+ years I have just gotten used to getting by on 3-4 hours of sleep

 

[minniesota]

Have him visit his dentist and get a dental appliance for snoring made. It's like a mouthguard that is fitted specifically for his mouth. It keeps the lower jaw forward and prevents the throat tissue from vibrating. Works for my snorer! Some other things that could help: lose weight, no snacking after dinner, don't get overly tired. Good luck!

 

[Towncrier]

DW has a mouth guard from the dentist. It doesn't help. We got special pillows that are specially designed to keep your air passages open. It doesn't help. She tried breathe-right strips. They didn't work.

I have three things that have worked:
1. Wait until about an hour after she falls asleep. She usually stops snoring after she's been sound asleep.
2. Earplugs.
3. The couch. Downstairs. Far away from the source.

I prefer method #1.

 

[jfulcer]

<i>Stepping on the snoring soapbox</i>

For all of those who have suffered many many MANY years of sleepless nights because their SO snores up a storm, do them a favor. Don't poke them. Don't push them and tell the to roll over. Don't knee them. You're not helping them at all.

<b>Tell them to get a Sleep Study done</b>

It's a <i>painless</i>, one night procedure where they go to a Sleep Clinic and are hooked up to a bunch of sensors that monitor you. All you have to do is sleep.

Snoring is generally an indication of Sleep Apnea, a potentionally <i>life threathening</i> illness that millions are undiagnosed for. Snoring is generally caused when the sleeper starts to relax and the muscles/tissues at the back of the throat relax enough to block your airway. Snoring is the sound of the air trying to get past this obstruction. Big deal right, bunch of tissues flapping around? <i>Buzz - WRONG!</i> This can cause the sleeper to actually stop breathing. Many time an hour. So your body 'wakes you up' - just enough to move those tissues and you get a breath. I was waking up over 60 times an HOUR. All through the night. I was never in REM sleep.

Did you ever wonder why your SO was sleepy all the time? Do they have a hard time concentrating at family gatherings? Will they fall asleep at the drop of a hat? Yes? And here's where another part of the life threatening parts come in - Does your SO have a hard time driving for any length of time? Drowsiness at the wheel is one of the major causes of automobile accidents.

So now I sleep with what is called a CPAP machine next to my bed. It's the size of a breadbox, quieter than a humidifier and allows me to sleep snore free throughout the night. It applies a constant air pressure through a mask I wear while I sleep. The benfits?

I am not sleepy for driving anymore.
My blood pressure went down.
I had more energy.

And the number 1 benefit? DW could sleep normally and wasn't grumpy in the morning cause I kept her up all night with my snoring.

So PLEASE, PLEASE get your snorer tested (or YOU if you snore). Insurance normally covers most if not all of the procedure and machine, and the payback is enormous!

<i>Stepping off the Snoring soapbox</i>

 

[Nutsy]

My DH is a shocking snorer as is our beloved pooch & I'm in the middle of the two, but I'm a heavy sleeper, so it's never really bothered me all that much.

Hope you find something so you can get some peace

 

[Kimickey]

This is the number one problem in our house. DH works nights and does not get into work until 7:30am Sunday - Thursday. Therefore he is not home during the week. BUT Friday and Saturday nights when he is home we have to sleep in seperate bedrooms because he snores very loudly. It's sad because I would prefer he slept in the bed with me, but I'm a very, very light sleeper and do not get any sleep if he's in the bed with me. I did as another poster did and taped him sleeping to prove how loud he is, now he's going to the Dr to see if there is a problem as to why he snores.

 

[janette]

Originally posted by jfulcer
<i>Stepping on the snoring soapbox</i>

For all of those who have suffered many many MANY years of sleepless nights because their SO snores up a storm, do them a favor. Don't poke them. Don't push them and tell the to roll over. Don't knee them. You're not helping them at all.

<b>Tell them to get a Sleep Study done</b>

I'm working on it. I'd told my DH to please ask the Dr about the snoring. He didn't but I reminded him again. Then he has the gall to ask "Is it really that bad?"

I think we've finally convinced him it is bad, maybe the kids joking about what it sounds like and the fact you can hear him from other rooms in the house even with the doors closed.

He did mention it to the Dr, nothing much more than that yet but he did ask if it was all the time or just part of the time or only when in certain positions. "All the time!"

Hopefully that sleep study will happen soon and I can get some sleep.

 

[parrothead365]

I usually just join in and harmonize

 

[catsrule]

Only when he has a cold.

 

[Planogirl]

DH had a sleep study done and the doctors concluded that he did not have sleep apnea. He also had surgery and his nose reset but none of this helped. He had the mouth device made but he bit it and bent it so it proved useless. It made no difference whether he was on his side or back and the breath strips don't do anything either.

DH's snoring has become progressively louder and I can even hear him right now all the way from the other side of the house. We finally had to give up and sleep separately since I'm a very light sleeper.

I hope that you solve this. Do try the sleep study because he might have a problem with apnea.

 

[tlgoblue]

Jumpin' on the Apnea bandwagon here!

Please just have him have a study done. DFIL (62 at the time)
suffered a massive stroke (the bleed, not blockage type) as a result of untreated OSA. He was a lifelong snorer as well as severly hypertensive. Now he is paralyzed on his left side, and our lives are forever changed. We had been trying to get him to have a study done, as DH has OSA, and it can be a genetic problem, (often compounded by excessive weight, alcohol consumption, and a host of other issues.)

DH uses a CPAP as well. I have to say, I hate it. As soon as it goes on, I feel like I lose a husband, if you take my meaning. But the good news is, he comes back to me every morning, he is not grumpy or just "wiped out" anymore, and I feel like I saved his life. After trying every one of the previous suggestions on DH, I began looking at him while he slept. (yes, I did contemplate the struggle he'd put up if I tried the pillow over the face solution! ) It was then I noticed he stopped breathing. After about 6 months of prodding, he finally went and he was having 8-10 episodes an hour! His BP would go through the roof! The Dr. even said he was surprised we didn't have marital problems, his case was so severe. (this was an actual question on the intake survey)

Anyway, he is a success story, while DFIL is a casualty. Don't let a silly study keep you from ruling out a potentially life threatening condition. Oh yea! Not every one who snores has Apnea, and not everyone who has Apnea has to us a Machine. Depending on the severity, some lose weight and that fixes it up nicely. Good luck to you. Until you get the study done. Ear plugs worked best for me. The soft spongy kind that expand once they're in the ear canal.

Tracy

 

[browneyes]

How do you sleep with SNORING spouses?

My foot accidentally kicks him.

 

[KristiKelly]

First, I try a nudge, then a kick, then both, then I go get in bed with my DD. I can't go to my DS bed because his hamster runs on her wheel all night.