Post: #1

I've been told I am very a heavy snorer, and I've always had trouble getting up in the morning, felt very sleepy after lunch...basically only had windows of time during the day when I felt really alert, and spent a lot of time fighting off sleepiness.

I finally decided to do something about it a few weeks ago. I ordered a mouthguard to wear at night, designed to let you breathe more easily. It holds the lower jaw forward slightly, which is supposed to keep the back f the throat from collapsing and blocking breathing.

Man, what a big difference. I feel much more rested in the morning, and my after-lunch crashes have turned into mild lulls. If you have the problems I had, I highly recommend you try one of these.

Downsides are that it does seem to exacerbate my TMJ. I have some pain in my jaw joints when I wake up. It goes away quickly though. So far not a big problem, long as it doesn't get any worse. I've also had to change my sleeping position. I prefer to fall asleep on my stomach, but with the nightguard in that puts too much pressure on my jaw.

I also grind my teeth, so I am a little concerned how long the thing will last. So far so good though.

I'm not affiliated with the maker or trying to market anything, just thought I'd share something that helped me in case anyone had the same issues. There are various brands and styles of snore-prevention nightguards; I bought the SnoreRx.

Post: #2

You probably have sleep apnea. If you have a moderate or serious case, the mouthpiece is not enough, you also need a bipap machine. There is really no other option in moderate-serious cases.

The doctor can give you an oximeter to take home and put on before you go to sleep. It measures your oxygen saturation. There are certain limits that you need to be within, and most people don't get there from the dental piece alone.

If you have any doubts, get checked out. Many people just think they snore and don't know they have sleep apnea. They go their whole life, and then suddenly die of congestive heart failure or other circulatory issues. I know a guy it happened to. If girls tell you that you snore heavily/stop breathing, then go to a doctor and get checked out.

Post: #3

Yeah, I was going to say the same thing.

You should probably get checked for sleep apnea. I know I have it, my dad has it, both grandparents have it.

Once I can afford treatment for it, I'll get a CPAP machine to fix the problem. I've been told that losing weight can help, but in all seriousness, the CPAP machine will do you a world of good.

Post: #4

Yep. Sleep apnea. You're not getting enough oxygen. You need to get more exercise. Start lifting weights and walking/running an hour a day.

Post: #5

Post: #6

I suspect I do have at least some mild sleep apnea. My dad did, I think. Good to know that there is a test one can do at home. I thought the only way to get diagnosed was to spend nights in a sleep lab. I might ask about doing the blood-oxygen monitoring.

Thing is, even if I did get diagnosed with sleep apnea, the treatments aren't that good--primarily the CPAP machine (continuous positive air-pressure, i.e. the Darth Vader mask). The nightguard is giving me surprisingly good results so far, which is why I decided to mention it here.

Btw, I am in pretty good shape, lift weights and am not overweight.