<p>My husband’s snoring seems to get louder and louder as time goes on. I have been using ear plugs for years and that has been ok, but recently even WITH my ear plugs in I can’t get much sleep.</p>
<p>I know there are various mouthpieces and other ideas…just wondering if anyone has any success stories they’d like to share.</p>
<p>You should think of his snoring less as an irritant for you (although it understandably is) and more of a symptom of what could be a serious medical condition for your H.</p>
<p>The number one way if applicable (IMO) - if he’s overweight and his snoring increased with the weight gain he needs to lose the weight and the snoring may stop and he should do this quickly. Of course, losing weight isn’t always so easy.</p>
<p>I know a number of people who have sleep apnea (all except for one of them are overweight) and they use a CPAP machine - the mask that maintains a positive airflow.</p>
<p>There are also surgical procedures to attempt to address it by removing some tissue from the palate.</p>
<p>Unless he’s fairly certain that the excessive snoring is from weight gain and he loses the weight quickly, he should see a doctor and get tested at a sleep clinic for sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can be a sudden killer by obstructing the airways and can also cause damage to the blood vessels around the heart.</p>
<p>SLEEP STUDY!!!
Get your H’s primary to refer him. Google “sleep apnea” There are many reasons for snoring, none of them good. This can be dangerous, as in lifethreatening.
My sleep was hell until I finally forced DH to mention it to his primary. DH felt I was a light sleeping complainer and there was nothing wrong with him. He did not want to do the sleep study. Under pain of divorce he went. To make a long story short, they stopped the study shortly after it started and put him on CPAP.<br>
I won’t say it was easy for him to adjust. There was a screaming match where I told him they don’t give out CPAP machines to shut up wives and that he should go out and get more life insurance. He’s figured out a system that works for him (the nose plugs) and I get sleep. Finally.</p>
<p>My husband and I both had sleep studies. We both had sleep apnea and now have CPAP machines. It has taken a bit to get used to them, but we both sleep better. I got mine first, and my husband said that not only did I stop snoring, but I didn’t thrash about while I slept. I no longer wake up several times a night to go to the bathroom. My husband doesn’t snore anymore once he got his machine. There are several different types of masks that you can get. I have changed a couple of times to get one that I liked better. </p>
<p>Everyone we have talked to said that snoring is a sign of a problem. Of course, they are trying to push the studies and machines. However, it worked for us. We had to get a consult from our primary care doctor. The whole thing is no big deal. I highly recommend it.</p>
<p>Get him to lose weight. Easier said than done, I know. H was about 20lbs overweight. A few years ago he started to exercise, lost that 20lbs, and completely stopped storing and gasping in his sleep.</p>
<p>(Unfortunately, he recently gained the weight back and started snoring again. I’m trying to get him to get back to exercising. . .)</p>
<p>Sorry, I should have said this in the original post. </p>
<p>I’m sure it IS his weight combined with really bad sinus issues. He did do the sleep apnea test a few years ago and they said he was fine (of course THEY don’t have to sleep with him).</p>
<p>When someone is not getting proper sleep they are less than motivated to exercise to lose the weight. The sinus congestion can also be a matter of the body compensating for the air-gasp by producing more mucous each night. I had only limited success medicating a “sinus condition” until the sleep apnea diagnosis followed a sleep study. Within a week after beginning the CPAP, the sinus condition went away by itself because I began (with the CPAP help) to sleep with my mouth closed and not gasping at night. My docs told me this sometimes, not always, happens re: sinus following a new CPAP. It took a month before I felt the quality of sleep improvement in my life and my energy is much better. </p>
<p>Can your primary dr. determine whether he’s eligible for a repeat sleep apnea test now that it’s “a few years later” since the last one? The snoring, sinus and weight gain can also be a big package of symptoms of obstructive or compound sleep apnea, in other words. I wouldn’t be satisfied until there was a repeat apnea test. Also, technologies keep changing in that rapidly progressing field so that what might have been “ok” a few years back can be detected today. Or he could have worsened since then.</p>
<p>It is true it takes time to adjust to the machines, which is why many are not used after being prescribed and it gets touted as the “disease-du-jour” trend diagnosis. Disregard all of that and press for another sleep apnea study is my best thought on this. Insurance companies require return visits after the CPAP is diagnosed to ensure people are actually using them, which avoids wastefulness. It does take some adjustment as wise posters above indicate, so be patient if one is assigned and encourage him to learn to use it and not give up – if indeed he does have sleep apnea diagnosed, that is.</p>
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</p>
<p>Not for the regulars in the never-ending Parents Cafe Diet/Exercise/Health/Wellness Support Thread.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/838576-diet-exercise-health-wellness-support-thread.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/838576-diet-exercise-health-wellness-support-thread.html</a></p>
<p>Please don’t focus on the weight loss until you are sure he doesn’t have sleep apnea…lest you find yourself hollering at a sick puppy to get up and work harder.</p>
<p>AllThis, I totally sympathize with you. I deal with this every single night and dread going to bed because I know that it means another night of listening to H’s snoring. Even the friggin dog snores when he’s in our room so I get to listen to snoring in stereo! </p>
<p>He snores and snores and then everything goes silent. I notice he’s not breathing so I shake the bed until he moves around and then he starts snoring again. This goes on night after night. The other night, I got so annoyed by his snoring that I sat up in the bed and literally yelled for him to shut up. I know it’s not his fault, but I deserve a good night’s sleep once in a while too.</p>
<p>He refuses to go for a sleep study. He blames it on being “stuffed up”. I’ve been listening to this for years, but recently, my patience has been wearing thin.</p>
<p>I’ve decided that the first thing I’m going to do when the first kid moves out on his own is to convert that bedroom into a new room for me. I’m going to paint it, put in a nice comfy full size bed, and put a big sign on the door stating-----SNORE FREE ROOM.</p>
<p>Aaaaargh! I need some sleep.</p>
<p>Dont’ put up with it. My husband, after 20 years, finally got a CPAP about a month ago. Also after being told several years ago he didn’t need it. He did. Now he finally has it. I was amazed at how quiet and peaceful the machine is. I expected it to sound like a respirator. It doesn’t. It sounds more like a white noise wave machine. He now sleeps like a baby instead of thrashing around and practically choking to death each night.
These new machines are amazing. He has NEVER seemed so rested.
Just put your foot down, or do what I did, and put your foot in a different room to sleep until HE solves the problem.
Just my thoughts.</p>
<p>I wish I had another room in the house to sleep in. We don’t have any extra rooms.</p>
<p>He absolutely refuses to go for a sleep study. He thinks I’m exaggerating.</p>
<p>PS–Actually, one night I blew up an airbed, put it in the living room, and slept there. I thought that would rattle his cage a little. Nope—I did get an “I’m sorry, I can’t help it” from him". He honestly doesn’t understand how annoying it is to listen to his snoring all night long. He really thinks that I’m exaggerating about this. This has been ongoing for years so I can’t see him ever snapping out of his denial about the issue.</p>
<p>My dh sleeps in a recliner in the living room. Something about having his head a little elevated helps him sleep. And I get the bed all too myself, so I don’t complain. His father also slept in a recliner. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>@nysmile, I really feel sorry for someone suffering next to someone denying the impact of their snoring on the health of their loved one, let alone himself.</p>
<p>Some people are embarrassed when told they snore since they can’t do a thing to change it (hey THEY are asleep!). So they deny or claim the other exaggerates.</p>
<p>A couple is a partnership. Dreadful snoring reduces the health of the partner, like second-hand smoke. At some point it’s not only about “him” but about “you, too.”</p>
<p>Why don’t people get it?</p>
<p>I have heard of a man who snored so loud it was against a city ordinance!</p>
<p>There is a billboard near my home that says “snoring CAN be life threatening” with a picture of a woman getting ready to kill her sleeping husband.</p>
<p>haha…thanks for all the support! I will try to get him to try the testing again. He did go to the GP for the chronic sinus issues and she told him “he was fine”…right…maybe she’d like to sleep in the same room with him for a few nights??</p>
<p>He’s on some medication that supposedly makes it very difficult to lose weight, so I haven’t really pushed that issue, but I’m sure that would help.</p>
<p>I DO know it’s not his “fault”, but sometimes I am tempted to put my extra pillow on top of HIS head instead of mine :-).</p>
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<p>This is where a video camera with good audio comes in use!</p>
<p>Oh! I forgot that my dh, who is cheap, made himself a snore ring. He’d seen them advertised but didn’t want to spend the money on buying one. I will say, it did make a difference. I have no idea if this is a case of Dumbo’s feather in action, but it did help.</p>
<p>My H snores and has snored since he was in his teens. He snored when he weighed 170 pounds at 6"4" and he snores the same now and he weighs quite a bit more. Weight has nothing to do with his snoring. A mouth guard helps a little, breathright strips a little more and a neck pillow even a little more but nothing stops him from snoring loudly and continuously. He has refused to get tested for years and a few months ago he finally asked his dr to refer him to get tested. I am waiting patiently to see if he will follow through. I have spent many nights on the couch or in open bedrooms!</p>
<p>BTW, my H lost quite bit of weight and uses steroid nasal spray for “stuffiness” but I would NOT suggest that. He would be very …irritated if he knew I posted this!</p>