I’ve continued experimenting and trying to figure out the snoring thing. I can’t say I’ve figured it out, but I can tell you where I am now.
I had a sleep study done. I had an RDI of 6.1 (number of abnormal breathing events per hour of sleep). Aparently 0-5 is normal, 5-15 is mild, 15-30 is moderate, 30+ is severe. I’ve heard of people having RDI of 50+ and I think a co-worker of mine who was very overweight was over 100. So I was barely in the mild category. The place that did the sleep study said I could get a CPAP if I wanted one but I declined. I’ve heard they are great, but not easy to maintain and sometimes not easy to use. So I kept working on other things.
I did go back to nasal dilators. I use the Mute nasal dilators every night. They help, but don’t solve the problem. I wash them in soap and water every day. Not difficult to maintain.
The more things I tried to figure it out, the more I felt like my nasal congestion was key for me. It seemed like if I was able to breathe through my nose it helped prevent me from snoring. I found two things that helped me in this area.
I stared using a Neti-pot. I know these things can be a pain to use sometimes, but I have regular nasal congestion, mostly from allergies, and I really feel like it helps. I buy gallon jugs of distilled water and microwave 8 oz. of the water for 30 seconds and it gets it at just the right temperature. Mix it with the saline pack and pour. I don’t use it every day, but I try to use it 3-4 times per week. If I am outside a lot during the day, especially in spring, I will definitely make a point to use it. And I don't just use it because of snoring... I use it because it actually helps me breath better which is a positive no matter what. If you don’t want to deal with a Neti-pot you could try Navage. It is like an automated Neti-pot. Only reason I didn’t get Navage is they require you to use their saline ‘pods’ that are like Kurig cups.
Another thing that was interesting that I found that helped is I stopped snacking at night. Now, I don’t know if it was actually eating food late that caused me to snore, or if I might have a food allergy that causes congestion for me. My go to late night snack when I would stay up late watching TV and drinking was whole wheat goldfish crackers. At first I thought it might be a gluten allergy because of the whole wheat so I steered away from gluten for a few weeks, but it didn’t seem to change much. I think it might be dairy though, from the cheese in the crackers. I have pretty much cut out dairy for the past several weeks and I think it is helping. I found out about the snacking at night factor when I had several days during the same week where I stayed up late drinking and didn’t snore, but when I stayed up late drinking AND then raided the pantry for snacks, I snored.
So my routine now is: Mute nasal dilators every night, neti-pot 3-4 times per week, no late night snacking before bed, and no dairy (or severely reduced). Cutting out the snacking has also helped me loose a few pounds, which also helps the cause as well. And I do still snore, but it has been greatly reduced.
