1. Get Adequate Vitamins and Minerals
Even if you eat well and exercise regularly, you may be lacking in vitamins and minerals that can aid with sleep. For example, theanine helps your brain release serotonin and dopamine. Both of these chemicals impact your sleep cycle. You can purchase a vitamin with theanine or drink some green tea; the leaves are high in theanine, one of the reasons this drink is recommended before bed.
Magnesium and calcium are also powerful sleep-inducing minerals. Both also cause the brain to release chemicals that help you sleep. Vitamins, nuts and green vegetables can boost your intake of these minerals. A supplemental program, such as THRIVE by Le-Vel, can also help ensure your body is getting adequate nutrition. Le-Vel Thrive reviews boast that the program aids in increasing energy, weight loss and overall nutritional support, which can make a big difference in the quality of sleep you get each night.
2. Use Earplugs
Purchase some earplugs to use when sleeping. Earplugs stop you from hearing most or all of your partner’s snoring. You can buy inexpensive plugs at a convenience store. Each purchase typically comes with a few pairs of plugs made of a soft material, such as silicone or foam.
If this option does not do the trick, invest in a higher-quality pair, such as noise-canceling headphones or earbuds. A larger pair of noise-canceling headphones probably works best but only if you are a back sleeper. If you sleep on your side or stomach, you cannot turn your head due to the size of the ear coverings. In this case, earbuds work better.
3. Get a Nasal Strip
There are over-the-counter solutions for your partner to try as well. One of the most popular is nasal strips. This flexible strip sticks to the sleeper’s nose and opens the airway, making it easier for them to breathe and less likely to snore. There are even extra strength options available.
4. Turn On a Sound Machine
A sound machine can drown out the noise of your partner’s snoring and make it easier for you to sleep. There are a variety of models available at different prices. In most cases, a basic inexpensive one will do. You can even download a free sound machine app to your phone.
Find a sound that relaxes you, such as a thunderstorm or rainforest. Keep the machine on your nightstand, and turn the volume up loud enough so you cannot hear your partner.
5. See a Doctor
A doctor can help determine the cause of your partner’s snoring and the best options to treat it. In some cases, surgery might be an option to correct the issue. Though it can be pricey, if you are really struggling to cope with his or her snoring, this may be the best choice to correct the issue permanently.
6. Have Your Partner Sleep on His or Her Side
If your significant other is a back sleeper, this can make the snoring worse. Sleeping on his or her back puts pressure on the diaphragm, making the snoring louder. If you wake up and notice your partner on his or her back, give them a nudge. Hopefully, this makes them roll over on his or her side. If your partner does not take well to sudden movement in the night, glue or sew an object onto the back of his or her shirt, such as a foam toy or a small ball. When he or she tries to sleep on his or her back, he or she will automatically roll over due to the uncomfortable shirt.
7. Sleep In a Different Room
While this is not an ideal long-term solution, it does the trick for a short time. Maybe you have a big meeting in the morning. Perhaps your partner has surgery scheduled to correct the issue causing the snoring, but you just need to get a few good nights of sleep now. Sleep in your guest bedroom or on the couch, or have your partner sleep there instead.
8. Avoid Smoking and Alcohol
If your partner smokes and drinks, he or she should cut back. The respiratory system can be impacted by drinking and smoking, making snoring worse. Encourage your significant other to quit smoking or cut back as much as he or she can. Make sure they avoid alcohol in the evenings.
9. Lose Weight
Extra weight can make snoring worse. If your partner is a good amount overweight, dropping some pounds can make a huge difference. Encourage him or her to eat better and exercise more by being involved. Do meal planning together. Go to the grocery store together. If you have a gym membership, take classes together or work out on machines together. If you do not have a gym membership, exercise outside for free by jogging, riding bikes or rollerblading. Search online for free workout videos and do them together in the comfort of your home.
10. Take an Allergy Pill
If your partner recently started snoring, the cause might simply be allergies. If the snoring is not new, he or she might still have year-round allergies. If so, taking an allergy medication can decrease the snoring, making it easier for you both to sleep.
11. Go to Bed Early
If you and your spouse go to bed at the same time, try going to bed earlier than him or her. Doing so gives you time to fall asleep before the snoring begins and hopefully continue sleeping throughout the night.
12. Take a Sleep Aid
If you need a little boost to help you fall asleep and stay asleep, take a sleep aid before going to bed. Diphenhydramine is a key ingredient for helping you get some shut-eye. It is an antihistamine that not only treats allergies but also helps treat insomnia. It comes in different forms, such as tasty gummies, dissolvable pills or capsules.
Conclusion
While it is easy to become angry at your partner when they cause you to lose sleep, the best thing you can do is work together to come up with a solution. Try these tips until you find one or a few that help you get a good night’s sleep.
The disruption of sleep from snoring is causing couples to have a hard time sleeping together. To avoid the symptoms of daytime sleepiness, many couples choose not to sleep together in the same bed.
In the book, “Two in a Bed: The Social System of Couple Bed Sharing,” author Paul C. Rosenblatt interviewed 42 couples and examined how sharing a bed affects the couple’s relationship. Many couples described the intimacy and comfort level of sleeping in the same bed is extremely important to their relationship.
As he describes in the book, in their time together before drifting off to sleep, “couples catch up on what’s going on with one another, plan, make decisions, deal with disagreements and solve problems.”
With their hectic schedules, many couples often only have this time to catch up. It is no wonder why it’s crucial to their relationship. Unfortunately, snoring can force one spouse into another room for the sake of sleep, and this crucial together time is hard to replace in their busy lives otherwise.
If your marriage is suffering because you or your spouse snores, the key to reconciling is to understand that snoring is a symptom of a physical condition, such as sleep apnea, and it can be treated.
There are many non-surgical, in-office, and minimally invasive treatments available to snorers today. Although we at Alaska Sleep Clinic would never make the claim that we have saved marriages, we have heard back many times from patients who say that it wasn’t until after their snoring was cured, they realized how much happier they are snuggling next to their spouse again.
