HELP! Snoring husband... any tips?

Hi everyone
I sleep at the speedway every night!! Or should I say, Im awake at the speedway every night! Its driving me nuts!! My husband snores like a racing car. :wall:
We've tried those acupressure snoring rings - it worked for 3 mths and no longer works, its like he became immune to it..
Anyone tried the snoring pillows or the herbal stuff from the health food shop or chemist that you put on your tongue?
Anything else that anyone knows of that has worked to help fix this problem?
Please dont suggest ear plugs as they do not block out the noise.. nor do headphones with music, the music just ends up keeping me awake. Ive even tried listening to cd's with just the sound of rain but the cords and headphones are irritating and uncomfortable to sleep with, even with a special soft one I bought thats like a head band.
I really dont want to sleep in separate rooms but its looking like we might have to.
I dont think its sleep apnoea as he doesn't ever stop breathing in the middle of the night.. so I dont think he needs to get checked by a doctor. I am sure its just snoring.. annoying!

I feel your pain.
I'm ok if I fall asleep first, but if I have to get up for the cubs it's all over, like last night. I got so fed up and just stared at him, fuming. Not sure how, but it woke him up and he asked what was wrong, and then stopped long enough for me to get to sleep again :dunno:
I saw some sticky things at the chemist that might help? You stick them across the bridge of the nose.
Good luck, I know it can be awful, especially if you're a light sleeper
Even if it's not apnea there may be a medical reason?

I hear ya, sorry babe we've resorted to separate rooms. My DH has a CPAP mask that he can still snore through.
He still might have apnoea. You can't always hear the stopping breathing. Loud snoring is generally a good indicator. My DH has been monitored at stopping breathing 53 times an hour. I only ever noticed and kicked him if I noticed it was over the count of 10 when really at has always been much more.

I jab and kick.
And when DH gets sick of that he goes and sleeps somewhere else. He's been talking about getting a sleep assessment or something to check for apnoea but of course he hasn't gotten round to it yet...

im with marcellus, i jab and kick and poke DH, thankfully changing how he is laying is usally enough. But his dad is a chronic snorer and he went and had a sleep assessment and has apnoea, but im not sure what they are doing to help with it! and im not sure if you could notice when he was stopping breathing he's partner seemd surprised when the said it wa apnoea, so maybe a visit to the dr might help?
Hope you can get some good sleep soon xxxx

I now sleep on a fold out lounge every night and have done so for over a month now. I get so sick and tired of the noise and telling him to roll over etc. I miss sleeping with him but in my 'condition' lol I need to get whatever sleep is possy. If he has a day off the following day, he sleeps on the lounge and i get our gorgeous waterbed!

xxxx

I hear ya! I love him , but its tormenting me.

I've lived the last few years simply surviving on ear plugs. Yep, you heard me. I buy them by the carton, the little foam industrial ones, and I just hope to god DP hears the smoke alarm if it ever goes off.

I hate not being aware of my surroundings, but I can't do it any other way. I don't know what I will do when we have babies and I need to be alert during the night. I guess have no sleep! haha

See the thing is, DP is a different person when he is asleep. During his waking hours, he is kind caring etc etc, but when he is alseep, he flat out refuses to roll over.Tells me: No, you roll over! Quite funny really. It upsets him he is like that, because if he had the sense he does when he is awake, he would absolutely roll over if i asked him.

One memory he has of his childhood is how upset he was over his parents sleeping in separate beds (FIL is a snorer too) and it means a lot to him for us to share a bed. It's just painful when I don't sleep.

Arrrgggghhhhhhh......

Like I said. I hear ya!

I'm not sure if it will help with your DH but my DH was a chronic snorer, many a night I'd kick him out cos I couldn't sleep. He decided to give up dairy and voila - his snoring is pretty much non existent. Unless of course he's had a few too many drinks and then it starts up again. Maybe worth a shot?

Snoring can still indicate mild apnoea. My DH has just been diagnosed with moderate to severe apnoea. He stopped breathing up to 93 times an hour and for as long as 30 seconds at a time. He's shocked at how bad it is. I'm not...I'd been at him for the last 18 months to get a sleep study done. The last two nights have been bliss with the CPAP machine. Another indicator was that DH has continued put on weight over the last year despite changing his diet and starting regular exercise.

kimmi - I spent many nights while pregnant sleeping on the couch worrying how things would be once bub was born. You learn to sleep when you can. I'll wake for DD but DH snoring doesn't bother me as much since DD was born.

yes I was in your situation for 12 years!!, we tried EVERYTHING under the sun, you name it - we tried it, and then enough was enough, we were sleeping in separate rooms, we were fighting because we were sleeping in separate rooms, it almost came down to divorce it got that bad!!

I MADE dh go to a sleep lab, where he had to spend the night with all these things attached to his head and chest etc, and it turned out he had sleep aponea. At no stage did I ever hear him stop breathing, we just thought it was a snoring problem. Since then we have never looked back, dh now wears a cpap mask (took him a few months to get used to it) and he doesn't snore anymore and he wakes up feeling really refreshed after a good nights sleep. :) The only time he has snored with it on is when ds has fiddled with the settings on the cpap machine while we weren't looking (cheeky monkey).

Even if you think its not sleep aponea, he should get checked just incase, it worked for us and I can highly reccomend it. And if your dh thinks he can't sleep with one of those masks on, just remind him that it will take a few months to get used to it and to stick with it. It is totally worth it in the end :)

Good luck.

Snoring, yes, that my hubby too! I do a lot of couch sleeping when it gets bad...it drives me nuts that he is sleeping away and I am lucky to get one wink. Anyway, it's worse if he has any kind of alcohol or if he is sick... but I nudge and jab if he is sleeping on his back, b/c it isn't quite so bad when he lies on his side. He was tested for apnea, but it came back negative. Go figure.

About the separate rooms-- We have a half-way compromise right now. I WANT to sleep in the same room, but if I start to get nasty 'cause I haven't had much sleep, then that is it and I move. We are much happier that way. Still, he gets the bed....Urrrggghhhh!

Earplugs!!

I went through the kicking him and rolling him over etc etc, then the sleeping on the lounge which made me cranky as I like to sleep with him next to me.

So now I sleep with earplugs in, I have industrial strength ones DH got from work.

Funnily enough I will wake as soon as I hear DD but it muffles the snoring enough for it not to bother me.

Is there a position that makes it worse?

DH is terrible if he is on his back so I prop him up against a pillow so he can't roll down - works a treat.

Before I found that I used to pound on the mattress (he thought that I was trying to attack him one night when I tapped him on the shoulder!) and the vibration would wake him enough to move

Apnoea- absence if breathing is absolute. Snoring doesn't indicate sleep Apnoea, but it is worth observing whether your hinny stops breathing for a couple of seconds or more. Sleep studies are great - I've done one - minimal snore volume- despite the boss telling me otherwise - and no Apnoea. A good indicator is the level of tiredness despite long sleeps in him. Even without sleep Apnoea suggested can benefit from BiPAP/ CPAP machines which keep a pressure in the airways that can overcome snoring.

Losing weight is a major factor
Plenty of water- keeps the airways moist
Avoid dairy at night stops mucus thickening up.

Record him and play it back so he gets an idea of what it's like.

As for earplugs. Go for high attenuation ( noise suppressing quality) -26dB and up I think I bought my partner a big set but now I bought her a 10 dollar pair of non disposable Rock and Roll plugs which a great- from large musical instrument stores- there is a dearer pair at a higher attenuation too.

Be careful too though that aren't surprised with a recording that proves you snore too!! ;)

Well thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts and ideas.
Seems like there are not a great deal of solutions out there.. I might try getting some bigger ear plugs.. trouble is trying to find ones that are small enough to fit my ear without causing pain!!

For those that have partners on a CPAP - doesn't the noise of that keep you awake??? or is there no noise?

Sunshine and stars - my advice to you - kick him out the bed!! Haha. thats what I do... maybe Im mean but he's the one doing the snoring! actually, we are lucky enough to have a spare room and he doesn't mind going down there as he sleeps better on his own too. but i too prefer not to sleep on my own so i would love to find a solution to this one day!

i have bought cd's with white noise, like rain etc - and if i turn it up loud enough it sometimes helps me get to sleep and block him out - , i might start trying that again, just gets irritating having the head phone cords around your head while you are trying to sleep and then trying to change positions in the night considering where your pregnancy pillow is, as well as how you are tangling up in cords, then add a kicking bubba to that saying 'mummy get off me, mummy dont lie that way'.. hehe, man i sound like such a whinger!

The latest CPAP machines are so quiet and lightweight, you wouldn't know they were on if it wasn't for the light on the front! The head pieces now too are much small and tubing more flexible.

cool stretcher bearer - so now i just have to get him a cpap and instead of chucking a pair of his boxers every night over the alarm clock light next to his side of the bed to block out the light... i will just have to chuck them over the light attached to his head instead.. might block out some of the noise too. haha

I never noticed DH stop breathing but got him to get a sleep study done because the snoring was AWFUL, he was always tired (even after seemingly having had a good night's sleep) and his Dad has apnoea. It turns out he was stopping breathing 20 times an hour and frequently 'waking' just at a level that he wasn't noticing, so was never getting into really good, deep, rejuvenating sleep. NEITHER WAS I!!!

They've fitted him with this mouthguard thing which pushes his lower jaw forward a bit and opens up the airway. Not the sexiest thing out, and not very comfortable for him, but he's getting used to it and willingly wears it as he feels so much better for having a real sleep. And the best thing.... SILENCE!!! At first, I freaked out quite a bit about the cost - ended up costing about 2 grand after the sleep study, specialist appts, the appliance itself and follow-ups (we don't have private health insurance). But now I lay there at night and think it was worth every cent to get a good night's sleep TOGETHER. And it means that he is happier, more engaged and helpful when he is awake, and his heart is not suffering - a major complication from sleep apnoea. I didn't know how we'd go with a CPAP - thought the noise would bother me just as much and he was resistant to the idea too, but they never suggested it. As it turned out, this mouthguard thingy has saved our sanity big time!

Oh thank god there are other people out there who are going through this as well!! I'm an extremely light sleeper so DF's snoring drives me crazy.

Muppity - I used to pound the mattress as well, but it doesn't work anymore.

OMG Kimmi - mines the same!! He gets sooo cranky sometimes, can't remember what it was but he almost had me in tears over something he said once, and had no recollection of it the morning after and he felt soo bad that he'd upset me too.

We've just done the sleep centre thing, waiting for appointment to go back and see what the go is.