Friday, March 07, 2008

How I Stopped Snoring

I have endured many years of complaints and chiding about my snoring. Perhaps more importantly, anyone near me when I sleep has suffered even more seriously. The BreatheRight strips don't seem to work, since I snore in my throat. The spray just doesn't get it done.

My doctor expressed some concern last month at my elevated blood pressure. Because I have few risk factors for hypertension, I began checking into possible causes of the problem. Eventually, I found that sleep apnea had been known to raise blood pressure. I was also experiencing headaches in the morning, and found myself needing to nap in the middle of the day. These too can be symptoms of apnea.

At about the same time, a third party - who was as concerned about anyone who might sleep around me as she was for my well being - brought this to my attention. I was intrigued by the the physical effect it is supposed to have. But I am not in a position to drop 129.00 USD plus tax on a non-returnable item that is "supposed" to work.

The more I read the comments of those who had success with the pillow, the more I wondered if it would be possible to engineer a homemade solution that would provide the same benefit. I gauged the success or failure of the solution based on presence or absence of a headache within a short amount of time after waking, whether or not I became sleepy before dinner, and whether or not I had any other evidence of snoring (interpret that as you wish).

After about a week of trying, I found something that works. If I can support the back of my head with my pillow, with my arm laying much as it is in the picture of the product, I can let my mouth hang. The headaches and the drowsiness (along with the snoring) have disappeared since adopting this way of sleeping. The one night I forgot to sleep this way, I sure enough suffered both once again.

Tomorrow, I will start on cancer. Hopefully I can be working on world hunger by mid-April.

1 comment:

Chris said...

Is that Harrison Ford sleeping in that picture?

Also, get on the cancer thing. Nobody puts baby in a corner, except for maybe cancer.