After months of frustration (and one painful, unsuccessful surgery) VN blogger Sarah Gayle Carter has finally found a solution to her snoring problem:
My snore-cure tooth-guard device arrived a few weeks ago. It is polished, translucent, pink plastic, fits like a charm, and only makes me feel slightly like a horse with a bit in its mouth. But who cares? It works!
Finally, after all these months of lonely nights, imagined rejection, guilt, self doubt, and sleeplessness, Russ and I are finally spending all night, every night, together in the same bed. I cannot overstate the magnitude of the change this has brought about in our day-to-day lives, not to mention the nightly gift of peace and comfort as we drift to sleep, lulled by the rhythmic breath and enveloping warmth of each other’s bodies, side by side from head to toe.
From A snoring solution and some thoughts on sex (journal entry 39)
Sarah first wrote about her snoring problem here:Snoring, sleeping together, and the whole can of worms
Do you have a snoring solution to share? Recommend it in the discussion below.
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Sounds very interesting.
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I am glad to get this information! So sorry that I don’t have any useful hints or solutions. I wish that more women would share their expertise about anything we would all like to know
Mary in South Carolina
Your letter could have been written by me. My snoring is so bad that my husband has to leave our bed most nights and retreat to another bedroom in order to get a decent night’s sleep. I feel terrible and miss his company. Can you give me more information about the device that you are using to prevent your snoring? How much did it cost? I am assuming that you had to have impressions made in order for it to custom fit your mouth?
Thank you for any information that you can share.
Linda Underwood
lunderwood@houseofruth.net
Linda – I know EXACTLY how you feel! Here’s what i learned…..Somnomed is a particular brand name given to me by a dentist-brother of a friend of mine who has done lots of work with a sleep clinic near his practice in NJ. Apparently there are lots of variations on the theme, but after his own investigations and first hand experience with his own patients who’ve have issues with either snoring or sleep apnea, he thinks the Somnomed is the best of the lot. Yes, you go to your dentist to be fitted (impressions made of your teeth). He then orders the deveice from the manufacturer and, when it arrives (3-5 weeks) will make any neccessay adjustments and instruct you on how to use it. The cost seems to vary from market to market accross the country. I paid about $875 in Richmond. The cost was much higher in NJ, so maybe you should check out several options. If you are diagnosed as having sleep apnea (you will probably have to spend the night in a sleep clinic to determine), your insurance is likely (but not garanteed) to cover the cost of the appliance. One school of thought is that anyone with severe, chronic snoring actually has at least a mild form of sleep apnea, which can in some cases be very serious. Sleep apnea is the condition that occurs during sleep, when, due to obstuction in air flow, oxygen is cut off at regular intevals. I have to say that though the oral device has created significant improvement in my snoring, it has not 100% wiped it out. I do still snore, but – according to Russ – a lot less often, and a lot less loudly. Its brought us to a place where it’s at least workable, if not perfect. I have not found the device to be that uncomfortable, but then I have, in the past, used a tooth gaurd for tooth grinding (yes, I’m a regular menace when I’m unconscious!) So I was used to sleeping with something in my mouth. But, even so, it’s just not that bad and well worth it to be able to sleep in the same room and not feel guilty of crimes committed during an unconscious state. (talk about feeling helpless – how do you stop something you don’t know you’re doing??) So I say go for it! Best of luck to you. Sarah
Sarah,
Thank you so much for responding. I have read about these dental devices before however I am concerned about the possible long term effects of possible tooth movement. Do you know anything regarding this?
Thank you, Linda
Well, they take an impression of your teeth as they are, so it’s not as if the device is changing the configuration of your teeth. As to whether it might restrict normal future movement? Hmm – might be better if it kept them where they are (ha!) Bottom line is – I don’t know. But you order the device from a dentist (rather than my own, I looked for one in Richmond who had worked with the Somnomed product before), but whoever it is, I think it’s certainly a legitimate question. A thought – you might try going online to find Somnomed, and ask them directly, even before talking to your dentist. I am not exaggerating to say using the device has changed my life. Best of luck to you! Sarah
Thank you for the inforamtion. I will definately research.
Peaceful sleeping!
Linda
YOWZAH! For $875, he can sleep with earplugs!
Sleep apnea is a serious thing. My ex snored so loudly that you could hear him clear across the house and through insulated walls, even with ear plugs in. The specialist said that they had never seen someone as severe as he was nor that snored as loudly. He was fitted with a CPAP machine and that cost over $2000 just for the machine and cost about $100 a year for the face mask, tubing and such to maintain it. I still could not sleep in the same room with him as he would play with the head piece and the face mask. Adjusting the velcro in his sleep all night long and the hole in the face mask blew air in my face like a whale blow hole. Unfortunately I still could not sleep with him; due to the restless legs and constant movement all night long. He would not be alive today if it was not for the machine. To bad, maybe he would have died in his sleep as his Oxygen saturation levels dropped to dangerous levels and he had a heart attack. They actually say that if you suffer too long that with sleep apnea it causes elevated blood pressure, heart damage from elevated blood pressure, strain on your heart and not to mention not getting sufficient restful sleep. They say that many times the cause of unknown deaths in your sleep is from untreated sleep apnea. So I guess my comment to that is I hope that you have a good life insurance policy and that you will be happy to be a widow or widower. Money is not everything and leading a healthy life contributes to a happy marriage.
Oh, wow! My husband sleeps with earplugs! Where did you get it and how much is it?
Hi JerseyGirl. As VN blogger Sarah Carter wrote to Linda above (Sarah is the member who found the snoring solution), the product that works for her is called Somnomed. Sarah paid about $875 for it in Richmond, Virginia. Please read Sarah’s complete response, above, for all the details.
Please, if you have a snoring problem, investigate to make sure that you don’t have sleep apnea. It’s not just the noise you make that’s the problem, it’s the damage to your health. According to WebMD, “Sleep apnea occurs when your breathing is disrupted during sleep. Men, overweight people, and people over 40 are at greater risk for sleep apnea. Untreated sleep apnea can cause hypertension, stroke, or heart failure.” I’ve been using a CPAP (continuous positive air pressure) machine and mask for almost two years. I’m not a big fan of the mask, but it beats dying of (or not dying, but living through) a stroke. My husband and I both use them, take them with us when we travel and they’re not too much of a hassle. Insurance covers the machine and such; to me that means that there’s generally proof that it helps your health.
You are so right. It is not easy to live with and does take some patience to learn to sleep with one of these. Also you comment about being overweight is so true. My ex weighed over 420 lbs. He was like a beached whale but he is alive because of the machine. He would fall asleep watching TV or driving the car and he would become severly confused if he was not sleeping with the apnea machine. To bad for our marriage that he did not realize that it could have been a marriage saver also. He finally got his act and life together but by then it was too late for us. I could not put up with the not caring about himself and all of the health problems that he had with his obesity, high blood pressure, confusion, aggresiveness and the physical abuse that he inflicted upon our children and I. He unfortunately felt and thought that it was everyone elses problem and fault and not his own. He also lost his job due to not being able to function or make decisions. He would get lost going to work, not show up to work and fall asleep at some very dangerous times. So this is a serious conditon and life threatening for some.
I too have a severe snoring problem. When I had the first sleep study done several years ago, my sleep apnea was so bad that my doctor sent me right away to have tests done to see what damage had been done. I was promptly fitted for the CPAP and I have never sleep better and feel more rested than when I got the machine. But, I often find that I struggle with the face mask and tubes and such that it interferes with my sleep. Some nights I just can’t get comfortable with it. My dentist wanted me to switch to the mouth guard piece so I wouldn’t not have to fight all night with the CPAP but my ENT says my apnea is so bad that it wouldn’t work. I would really like to get off the machine and find something I wouldn’t have to fight with. You’ve given me the incentive to go back to my ENT and ask for something else. I don’t want the surgery. I hear it is painful and often doesn’t work.