loud snoring

hadoken

I snore like a freaking walrus every night. My partner and I struggle to deal with it and I really want to nip this issue in the bud, before it provides us with any serious problems.

It is truly a monstrous snore, how do you guys deal with your own and/or with your partner's snoring? Is surgery a good idea?

honkymcgoo

I use those breatheright strips and they work just fine for me. I have a friend who those don't work for, but he uses that mouthguard thing and that works for him.

minirhyder

Maybe supplement the strips with earplugs for your partner.

McJohnstable

If I snore, my partner prods me in the side and apparently that stops it. :P Haha.

DaMoonRulz

Has your partner ever noticed if you stop breathing while you sleep? Loud snoring can be a symptom of sleep apnea.

Frei

Are you overweight? Get a sleep study done.

iRevert

DaMoonRulz wrote: »

sleep apnea.

+1 was the first thing to come to mind

Druhim

There can be a wide range of causes for snoring and a wide range of solutions. You should see a doctor.

Iruka

If your partner notices that you snore in particular positions, it may be worth it to look into your mattress too. My BF had a sleep study previously that was sort of inconclusive, but when we got together I switched out his super shitty, dip in the middle, particularly soft mattress for my rather nice firm mattress with a foam topper. It pretty much eliminated the snoring, even before he started working out regularly again.

If you don't have another mattress to conveniently switch out, its not going to be as easy to just test, so you should probably do the sleep study first.

Athenor

I just had a sleep study done last night. According to the doc, no snoring whatsoever. I don't know how loud the mask is (it sure as heck was loud for me), but I am feeling absolutely wonderful today.

Seriously, get a screening for sleep apnia, and be honest with the doc.

Sir Carcass

I second seeing a doctor. I snored really badly for years and recently had a sleep study done and found I had severe sleep apnea. I got a CPAP machine and it has eliminated my snoring entirely. My wife actually didn't sleep very well the first few nights I used it because she was so used to me snoring.

ceres

Yep, sleep study. They can literally be life savers. A cousin of mine, among all his various personality problems, was becoming tired to the point where he couldn't function. He slept through the night, just he snored really, really loudly.

He had his sleep study done, and I think he ended up needing surgery. And then... everything got better. He slept quieter, he stopped being angry all the time, he had more energy and lost a ton of weight. He got his whole life back, and his doctors told him that the way he was he probably wouldn't have lasted another 6 months.

Druhim

Damn. I really need to schedule a consult with a sleep specialist. I'm sleeping better than I used to, but I still snore regularly.

superhappypanda

Just to reiterate what most folks have said, see a doc and get a sleep study. Also, if you're overweight I'd consider seriously looking into working out and changing your diet. I'm only saying the latter, because I snore when I'm overweight and the last time I dropped some serious lbs my sleep went from bad to great and my snoring seriously decreased.

Kato

Well, you got a lot of people here saying to get a sleep test and go to a doctor. That's great I suppose if you got insurance or you can afford it. Maybe I am wrong, but I can't imagine that they would do all of this testing for free.

I will gladly sentiment another thought though...are you overweight at all? I speak from experience. I just recently lost 40 pounds over the last 4 or 5 months and my wife hasn't been bugged by my snoring at night in a long time. Mainly because it is now just a deep breath, no snore or anything...just sound breathing. If you are any bit overweight or just out of shape and have no conditioning, I can't recommend to you enough to get back in shape! It has so many other huge benefits other than just the snoring part too....I feel 100x better now that I have lost this weight and I am keeping it off quite easily cause I sleep well, exercise and don't pig out. Oh...and I don't snore any more either.

superhappypanda

Yeah, the sleep study stuff is hella expensive. Good insurance or being the dictator of a small country is a must.

hadoken

Sorry for the way late response guys, been hella swamped.

I'll look into the sleep study for sure, and I'm not overweight I'd say I'm (relatively) fit as I exercise regularly. Still, I have been blowing the crap out of my nose and using the strips along with forcing myself to sleep facedown with my arms in a weird position, apparently I barely even snored last night .

Gotta get that sleep study done though, or at least talk to a doctor. Not being able to snuggle is shithouse.

Druhim

Of course suggesting seeing a sleep specialist assumes you can afford it. But it's also the most likely to get results as opposed to having people that aren't doctors toss out ideas and hoping one works. You might get lucky and try something that works. You also are very likely to waste a lot of time trying out a bunch of different things that don't work while still dealing with your snoring and how it's affecting your life. So good on you for deciding to talk to a doctor to try and figure out what's going on. Just keep in mind that doctors aren't wizards. They can't look into a crystal ball and magically know what's wrong with you. There are limits to our medical knowledge and there's always the possibility that they won't find anything conclusive or that it will take a while to ferret out the problem. But the odds of effectively getting it under control are much better if you go the sleep medicine route. And don't hesitate to find another sleep specialist if you don't like the first one you go to.

jefe414

If you're lucky there is a university nearby that does sleep studies for nothing (all about the research).

Druhim

Research programs are focused on research, not what's best for the patient. So no. If you can afford it, go to an established clinic.

Iruka

If position changes help you might just need better support while you sleep in general. I sleep flat against the bed. A body pillow can even things out too, and keep you from shifting too much.

I realize its could be as expensive as a sleep study, but seriously don't rule out a shitty mattress.