Peaceful sleep

Busy Hands

Has anyone found a really or fairly effective way of stopping snoring. I'd been told before that I snored but just assumed that it was down to being drunk which I know is a cause. Now that I'm living with my girlfriend I've realised, and she certainly has, that it's a far more regular thing, loud as hell and not down to any particular food or drink. I don't smoke and am not overweight so I have to find some other way of cutting it out.
I feel very bad for her because I know how grumpy I am when she gently wakes me to shut me up. This could well put a fatal strain on the relationship in time.
Has anyone tried that gumshield type thing that Joey once used in Friends? Is it worth getting? Those nasal strips & the sprays are not much use in my experience. Can you get an operation and would Bupa/VHI help for pay it?
Any help or ideas will be considered.

declanoneill

Might be hard to do at first, but afaik sleeping on your chest greatly reduces/stops snoring in a lot of people (myself included).

Naos

Dont know where I seen the following..

If you sleep on your side it is meant to help.
Some person put on a t-shirt( which had a pocket on the chest) backwards, so the pocket was on the back. Then put a tennis ball in the pocket. Result was each time they rolled onto back, tennis ball would piss them off and they would go back onto side..

Might be worth a shot until you get used to sleeping on side

secret_squirrel

I have no idea if it works but have you seen that silent knight acupressure ring thing?

LegacyUser

Busy Hands wrote:

Has anyone found a really or fairly effective way of stopping snoring. I'd been told before that I snored but just assumed that it was down to being drunk which I know is a cause. Now that I'm living with my girlfriend I've realised, and she certainly has, that it's a far more regular thing, loud as hell and not down to any particular food or drink. I don't smoke and am not overweight so I have to find some other way of cutting it out.
I feel very bad for her because I know how grumpy I am when she gently wakes me to shut me up. This could well put a fatal strain on the relationship in time.
Has anyone tried that gumshield type thing that Joey once used in Friends? Is it worth getting? Those nasal strips & the sprays are not much use in my experience. Can you get an operation and would Bupa/VHI help for pay it?
Any help or ideas will be considered.

This may seem strange....

Recently I met and uncle and auntie of mine and the subject of him getting bought a clarinet or some sort of thing for xmas. So he just had to take it out to give us all a whirl as he had been taking lesson. Thing was a pain in the hole to get a sound out of (for me) but my auntie remarked that him having learned how to control his breathing to use said instrument had stopped him snoring.

So learning a wind instrument... or learning the breathing technique for one... might help.

You did ask for *any* ideas.......

Jimi-Spandex

Those robbie fowler style strips for your nose tend to work.

Sleeping on your chest is the best natural method I find. I can't sleep on my back unless I go to bed drunk.

I've heard of the tennis ball in the pocket thing working for a few ppl.

Einstein

that acupressure ring thingy mentioned above is supposed to do wonders...costs about bout 50 lids though...

Bamboozled

Divers wrote:

that acupressure ring thingy mentioned above is supposed to do wonders...costs about bout 50 lids though...

The Silent Knight ring does work. It stopped my mother in law snoring and she's snored all her life, and it stopped on of my former flatmates snoring when it was unbearable. Its worth a try, but it may not completely stop you, and if it doesnt stop you it could reduce it significantly so that she might be able to get some sleep through it and not have either of you waking up.

Try ebay for one before paying out for a brand new one. If you do have to buy a new one and it doesnt work, at least you'll have tried something thats known to work, and you could always sell it on ebay afterwards.

motabannedmrk playing a wind instrument for 21 years didnt stop my ex snoring, but different strokes for different folks. It might work for others though but it might be a steep price if he has no interest in music or learning a wind instrument.

Good luck. Let us know how you get on if you try anything. Pop back because I'm sure others are looking for a cure, and probably will be in the future too.

deek

Mear wrote:

Dont know where I seen the following..

If you sleep on your side it is meant to help.
Some person put on a t-shirt( which had a pocket on the chest) backwards, so the pocket was on the back. Then put a tennis ball in the pocket. Result was each time they rolled onto back, tennis ball would piss them off and they would go back onto side..

Might be worth a shot until you get used to sleeping on side

Ah Billy Connolly you leg-end

Busy Hands

motabannedmrk wrote:

This may seem strange....

Recently I met and uncle and auntie of mine and the subject of him getting bought a clarinet or some sort of thing for xmas. So he just had to take it out to give us all a whirl as he had been taking lesson. Thing was a pain in the hole to get a sound out of (for me) but my auntie remarked that him having learned how to control his breathing to use said instrument had stopped him snoring.

So learning a wind instrument... or learning the breathing technique for one... might help.

You did ask for *any* ideas.......

You're right, I did, and maybe there is something in learning some breathing techniques alright. Don't think I'll end up at Carnegie Hall playing the clarinet with my lack of rhythm though.

The acupressure ring sounds interesting, I've never heard of it to be honest, and can't see how a ring would have such a positive effect on snoring, but I'll definitely look into it. Thanks, keep the "any" ideas coming.

Bamboozled

The rings are advertised as being available in chemists. You'd probably find them in the bigger ones though. Or ask. They'd probably get a sample in after that to see if they'd sell.

You can also find them advertised in the Sunday paper magazines.

Sherlock

Theres a money back guarantee offer on the silent knight ring. I got one in Boots and it didn't work for me but its probably worth a go as you can always bring it back.

gafarrell

Busy Hands wrote:

You're right, I did, and maybe there is something in learning some breathing techniques alright. Don't think I'll end up at Carnegie Hall playing the clarinet with my lack of rhythm though.

The acupressure ring sounds interesting, I've never heard of it to be honest, and can't see how a ring would have such a positive effect on snoring, but I'll definitely look into it. Thanks, keep the "any" ideas coming.

These Silent night rings are available in any Boots stores.
I think the cost about 50 yoyo's

Gilgamesh

Mear wrote:

Dont know where I seen the following..

If you sleep on your side it is meant to help.
Some person put on a t-shirt( which had a pocket on the chest) backwards, so the pocket was on the back. Then put a tennis ball in the pocket. Result was each time they rolled onto back, tennis ball would piss them off and they would go back onto side..

Might be worth a shot until you get used to sleeping on side

you got that from billy connelly

incisor71

BBC2 featured a programme (can't remember its name .... hopeless, I know) where hubby & wife were sleeping in the same bed, and the husband used to break into a loud rattling snore every few minutes. It was ruining the family life as both were constantly tired during the day, and was straining the marriage to boot. He was admitted to a sleep clinic and they diagnosed sleep apnoea, i.e., he'd actually stop breathing every once in a while and the rattles were caused by him resuming breathing again. They fitted him with a breathing device - probably a nebuliser - to help restore regular breathing. Happy days again.

Actually the less extreme solution to snoring that I wanted to cite was to avoid breathing through your mouth while sleeping. (I learnt this when I went on a Buteyko breathing class for non-medical asthma cure.) How do you control your mouth whilst asleep? Simple. Take a strip of masking tape, and tape the mouth shut before going to bed. You'll only need to do this for a few consecutive nights.

After a few nights it'll become a habit not to open the mouth during the night, and by way of a bonus you're much less likely to wake up with a blocked nose / dry throat the next morning.

At least, that's how it fared for me! Sleeping on the side also helps, as your jaw is less likely to drop open during the night.

P.S. It's not a good idea to do this if you have a heavy cold, or if you've been drinking heavily that night. (Standard boards.ie disclaimers on medical advice apply.)

garthv

Yeh im a pretty heavy snorer myself and so is most of my family , never been a problem until me and the missus went away for a weekend. I woke up the next morning with bruises all down my back (from her hitting me trying to shut me up) and her still wide awake and extremely extremely pissed off! Gonna try out the Silent Knight ring and see what happens.

TerrorFirmer

Sleep on your chest. Thats what I do everynight for the last 7 years. There won't be a peep outta you.

the_syco

incisor71 wrote:

Take a strip of masking tape, and tape the mouth shut before going to bed. You'll only need to do this for a few consecutive nights.

Aye, a "few consecutive nights", if ye don't die the first night!

Jimi-Spandex wrote:

Sleeping on your chest is the best natural method I find. I can't sleep on my back unless I go to bed drunk.

I don't snore usually, BUT seemingly I have a few times, after drinking. The times I do, I've woken up lying on my back.
Usually, I ly on my stomach, or on my side.

incisor71

the_syco wrote:

Aye, a "few consecutive nights", if ye don't die the first night!

One needs the mouth for breathing far less than you might think - I rarely breathe orally, even when jogging. I've found that retraining breathing to favour the nose over the gob has brought many long-term positive health changes.

Mind you I haven't shared a room in a good while, so I can't vouch for not ever snoring.

nesf

Excellent Site with plenty of info and links here: British Snoring and Aponae Website.

Hope it helps. Everyone in my family snores loudly, regardless of the huge variation in body types, diets etc etc. So over Christmas when we're all back "home", none of us sleep well

Busy Hands

Nice one. It would appear that I am one of those freaky "tongue breather" types. Looks like it's the gumshield yoke for me after all then. Hopefully it'll do the trick. Might drop into Boots for the 30 day trial of the Silent Night ring also too though.

Plastic Scouser

I got fed up of waking my fella up 'gently' when he snored so now I just elbow him whenever he starts!! Amazingly, he snores much less nowadays! (Is this conditioning?! )You could suggest to your girlfriend that she does the same!

planck2

sleep on your side, if you sleep on your chest, gravity plays a role in that there is more surface area for air, not so if you sleep on your side.

leftofcentre

I seen that BBC show to, but i can't remember the solution

I found these links that should help you out:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/northeast/series5/snoring_sleep_disorders.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/articles/sleepdisorders.shtml

Best of luck.