Snoring Husband - Raleigh,NC

My husband's snoring has increased as his weight has gone up. He's gained 15 pounds in the 9 years we have been married. When we were first married, he never snored. Now, his snoring can be terrible, especially on his back (which is his favorite sleep position). Anyway, I read somewhere where thick neck circumference is one of the risk factors for snoring and/or sleep apnea. I am harassing my husband about about losing weight, but so far, it's falling on deaf ears. :(
I found that if I go to bed before him, I am less likely to wake up with his snoring. Don't know if you have tried that, but it might help.
Also, he was on Flonase at one time, which seemed to help with the snoring, but it gave him headaches, so he quit taking it.
Wish I could help you, but at least I can sympathize.

Get a "snore pillow", a wedge or triangle-shaped pillow specifically designed for snorers. Breathe-rite strips did nothing for my foghorn-sounding husband. But a tennis ball sewn on the lower back of his pajama top did wonders. It kept him from rolling onto his back. Side sleeping seemed to lessen his snoring.

my husband uses the breathe right strips as well, but TWO of them at a time, that seems to help somewhat. Additionally, gotta say.... it's when he does yoga that it helps the most.. With the yoga one, he lost any excess weight which when you have and gain it around the chest and throat area, you snore more and two, the breathing exercising they do in class, help to open up lungs and nasal cavity.. I swear by the yoga ... it's worked more than anything..

I am a young, thin working professional and mom and I have sleep apnea.

My husband complained I snored so loudly when we got married. He said I would snore, struggle to breathe, and kick all night. I thought I was just a snorer and he should get over it. But I read up on apnea and realized my husband may have a point. Especially that untreated, sleep apnea can lead to myriads of health problems like high blood pressure, pulmonary hypertension, and even stroke. Sleep apnea is a disorder in the brain.

Basically when you fall asleep, your trachea collapses, and thus your body struggles to breathe all night. THe person doesn't realize it, but the sleep partner does (and suffers from the noise). The repeating cycle of falling asleep, then your body realizing it's not getting enough O2, and your brain trying to wake you up - all leads to unrestful sleep and a lot of daytime sleepiness/fatigue as a result.

I saw a sleep specialist (neurologist) who did a sleep study on me, and I had like 80 episodes of apnea all night!!

I got fitted with a CPAP, and within a week I felt the difference. I woke up feeling refreshed, no morning headaches or dry mouth/throat. (headaches are due to lack of oxygen). I need only 8 hrs of sleep a night and no daytime naps, as opposed to before when I had to sleep 10+ hrs and have daytime naps because I felt so tired all the time.

I'm not a typical apnea patient -- I'm not overweight or an older man. My dad has it and I happen to get it from him. Goes to show anyone can get sleep apnea.

Does your husband wake up w/headaches in the am? Or with a sore throat/dry throat?
Does he wake up feeling well rested? Does he easily fall asleep during the daytime or have daytime fatigue?
Is he overweight and/or have a thick neck circumference?

Anyway, the bottom line is, if it sounds like he is having sleep apnea, please do not let it go untreated for a long time. He will develop many health problems down the road as a result of it.

If you are not able to see a specialist, this trick might work. Put a tennis ball into a sock, and pin the sock to the back of his nighttshirt. That way, every time he tries to roll onto his back, he won't be able to. As you know snoring gets worse when one is lying on their back.

Good luck!

HI N.,

No one CAN snore in deep, restful sleep. He is not getting to that point. My husband used to snore as well until I learned this fact. I started him on a supplement called RestEZ which is primarily valerian root and he doesn't snore any more and gets his rest. It does not make you drowsy, it just relaxes you enough to get to sleep.He wakes up refreshed and gets so much more accomplished. Most people don't know this and go through all sorts of expensive and inconvenient contortions to sleep well.

Go to the health store and ask about valerian root or google it. It's an amazing gift from God in our house!

M.
www.squidoo.com/ifyourbabycouldtalk

If my hubby gains even a little, he snores sometimes or if he is beyond exhausted, he snores. The keys for me are to get to sleep first, then I am ok, or if he is really sawing logs, roll him onto his side with his face away from me. That is all that really works. Thankfully he doesn't snore all the time! I so hope the ENT helps bc I know you need some rest, hang in there!!

I'm a very light sleeper and my husband snores so loudly. We sleep in separate rooms and I use one earplug, run a fan, take a hot bath, and basically do whatever I can to sleep through the night. We've been married 21 years now and that is what works for us.

Just wanted to let you know that fat people, skinny people, young people, old people--everyone can snore and snore badly. My husband is a snorer. We managed to sleep together for the first 1-2 years we were married; after that, he slept on the couch. I am a terribly light sleeper and couldn't sleep with him snoring. He usually slept downstairs, because me and my daughter could still hear him snoring from the living room upstairs. And he snores loud enough to cut down an entire forest every night. He's been snoring since he was 14 years old (he's 40).

FINALLY, we managed to get him into a sleep disorder study. After doing an at-home test, we discovered he has severe sleep apnea--getting only about 60% oxygen at night when he was sleeping (normal is 92% or more; he was at stroke-happening level) and at most, with all the stopped breathing he was experiencing, out of 8-9 hrs of sleep/night, he was sleeping at most 2.5-3 hrs/night. And that was all broken up during the course of the night, not all at one chunk of time.

He now has a C-pak machine, and for the first time in 11-12 years (we've been married 13 years), we can sleep together again. I still get woken up--because he still snores a bit, even with the machine (but remember, he's one of the most severe cases they've ever seen in their clinic), but I have him roll onto his side (instead of his back) and he quits--and I can fall asleep.

The machine isn't the be all and end all answer, but for right now, it's working for us. If your husband is able to do the test, go for it. It might help him like it's helped us. The new C-paks are incredibly quiet, and I've had no problems sleeping with my husband. In fact, I sleep better than ever. I think it's because of the humidity that's released from the mask--I've been sleeping like a baby.

I was going to suggest he could have an underlying issue. My uncle used to snore loud he sounded awful turned out he has sleep apnea and has to hook up to some type of machine but him and my aunt now get their much needed rest at night

Hopefully you will get some answers from the ENT!

Until then, you can do what I do...which is just kick him and tell him to "roll over, your snoring"...it doesn't stop the snoring but some positions make my hubby's snoring more tolerable.

Hi N.,
I feel for you! When my husband snores, he is almost always laying on his back. I wake him up a little and tell him to roll over on his side. He does it (with some humorous half asleep commentary) and the snoring stops right away. Maybe your husband's snoring is related to the position he is sleeping in? Good luck! Hope you get some sleep soon. (:
Cyndi

ENT is the answer. He may have a deviated septum, I did and once I got the surgery it helped. I did not snore but I did breathe through my mouth instead of my nose which was noisier. Have him sleep on his stomach too, that might help until his ENT appt.

If the ENT does not identify a specific problem and dealing with that helps with the snoring, I would recommend he request a referral to a sleep clinic and have his sleep evaluated. He may have sleep apnea, snoring is a typical symptom, and there are treatments available for that.

My husband snored, and he had those episodes where he simply stopped breathing, then gasp, then snore some more, and it all started over again... After years of that he finally agreed to be evaluated, and he was diagnosed with sleep apnea, and now uses a CPAP machine. That took a bit getting used to, but helped immediately.
The first few months he would sometimes knock it out of position while sleeping, or take it off in his sleep, but that has improved vastly and hardly ever happens any more. And he feels so much of a difference that he definitely packs his CPAP when traveling. He even figured out a way to use it when sleeping in our pop-up camper, he does not want to sleep without it any more.
And I sleep better, too ;-)

I can totally sympathize. My DH is actually going in for a sleep study this week. I run a fan for white noise, which helps sometimes. He has tried the nose strips without success. It has definately gotten worse over the years and as he has gained weight. I will definately try the suggestion of a previous poster to vaccuum the mattress and rug! Never thought of that, but I bet it will help. One of us will end up on the sofa at least one night a week too, which I hate, but I have to sleep!!

Go to amazon and buy a pillow wedge online if your husband thinks he could sleep on his back slightly elevated. Keep the appt. with the doc, especially if you suspect sleep apnea. Do you hear your husband stop and start breathing suddenly?

A good nutrition and vitamin regiment can minimize the snoring by helping to build immunities and prevent allergies. If a program interests you just contact me for recommendations.

Things that make snoring worse or more prone to occur: drinking any alcohol, being over-tired, cold/allergy, sleeping on one's back, and being overweight (but plenty of skinny people snore too!!!!)

You can try to get him to sleep on his stomach (this may be VERY difficult, and it is not guaranteed to work) or you can use earplugs. If your child is crying, the earplugs are not going to drown out that sound, if they are simply calling out to you (semi-quietly), you may not be able to hear that, but if they didn't get a response from you, would they come to you or cry out a little louder? I agree that ear plugs are not ideal (and they also are not very comfortable imo).

Hopefully the ENT will come up with some solutions AND your husband will embrace these. They will probably recommend a sleep study and he NEEDS to do this. You really want sleep apnea ruled out, or if he has it, he will need some type of CPAP - a mask that he will wear to bed that improves the airflow and prevents the sleep-apnea from occurring. One of my coworkers uses one of these and swears by it, he does not like to go to sleep without it. He is more alert during the day and really feels it has improved his life. He has both a regular one for home and a travel model for work (we travel a lot for work, I don't mean he uses it in the office). If your husband has any doubts or issues about wearing the mask (assuming that is the direction things go), you can tell him the NFL is doing a big study on sleep apnea and encouraging all their players to be tested. It is known to adversely affect health and quality of life (increased risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke and diabetes). Good luck!

I use earplugs at night but the trick for me is to not have two of them in my ears. I only use one usually the ear that's facing up if I'm laying on my side or away from my husband if I'm lying on my stomach or my back. I do it for the same reasons I'm just not comfortable not being able to hear at all. This way it drowns out his snoring and I can get some sleep and still be able to hear my son get up which he does at least twice a night. Good luck.

I know this is late to the game, and perhaps a little silly...
but there was just an episode of Royal Pains on, where the sidestory was about the girlfriend snoring REALLY BADLY. They tried a bunch of different things, to no avail... and then at the very end (you know, the way shows resolve secondary storylines) it turned out that their nightly ritual of ice cream made the snoring unbearable. Dr. Hank said that dairy can make snoring worse...
Now I'm not sure if it's actually true... but a quick google produced this page
http://www.mens-health-tips.com/dairy-and-snoring.html

Good luck!

My husband had the sleep apnea surgery to cure his snoring and it worked until he put on weight and started drinking fairly often/heavy. Now, it's snoring and gas!!! DISGUSTING!! He says he can't help it but I know if he quit drinking and lost a little poundage things would drasticallly improve if not disappear. As it stands, he falls asleep hours before me and sleeps for at least one to three hours after me.

I stay in bed until he falls asleep and if it's really bad, I just move to my comfy couch.

If I cant sleep, I go out to the couch. I dont sleep as well, but I sleep better than I do when the snoring is too loud.

I'm in the same boat.
My next step is going to be O. of those mouthpieces that hold the lower jaw out a little bit.
After that, I'm going to try a bullet. LOL

My hubby snores loudly and I am a very light sleeper. I have one of those white noise sound machines like you use to help a baby sleep and I use it for myself. It helps drown out the snore sound and gives me a nice sound to focus on instead. My favorite is the ocean sound but I like to listen to the summer night one, a rainy night one and the babbling brook one. It helps me get a good night sleep.

I'm kinda surprised that no one mentioned using a small fan to blow @ the snorer's face. We did this for 10 years before he finally went for the CPAP. The white noise helps some, but the positive air flow worked so well, we even took one along on vacations to use in a hotel room. (ugh, I know! But it was worth the sleep.)

Hi N.,
We've had a similar issue in our bedroom, too. It just so happens that my husband had slowly put on some extra weight after having surgery which caused him to snore at night. He has done a lot less snoring now that he's dropped a few pounds.
Also, you can try raising the head of the bed. You can find blocks made especially for raising beds at Target. They'll hold it securely. Raising the level of the head is supposed to help.