Why does my wife hear me snore, but it does not wake me. It wakes her and she cant sleep untill I stop?

Answer 1

Most people who snore do not hear themselves -- they are asleep, after all! Their families are not so lucky. I thought my spouse was just being silly about my snoring until I shared a hotel room with a colleague on a trip and was told to stuff socks in my mouth.

If your snoring is really loud and disruptive, chances are good that you have a condition called sleep apnea, which MUST be taken seriously. Untreated sleep apnea not only stresses both the snorer and everyone else in the house who can't get a good night's sleep, it can also lead to heart malfunction and death!

Apnea is easily treated with the use of a night-breathing aid called a CPAP. You must see a sleep doctor before you can get one, as they have to be individually adjusted, but most insurance covers the cost. CPAP eliminates snoring 100% and keeps your heart from being damaged. Surgery is very rarely used to treat apnea, as the success rate is not that good. And people who are not overweight DO get this disease as well as those who are obese.

Please ask your doctor to refer you to a sleep doctor or sleep clinic ASAP. These facilities often have a long waiting list, and procrastinating can really damage your health. Do it today.

Answer 2

Sleep apnea, sleep apnoea or sleep apnœa is a sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep. These episodes, called apneas (literally, "without breath"), each last long enough so one or more breaths are missed, and occur repeatedly throughout sleep. The standard definition of any apneic event includes a minimum 10 second interval between breaths, with either a neurological arousal (3-second or greater shift in EEG frequency, measured at C3, C4, O1, or O2), or a blood oxygen desaturation of 3-4 percent or greater, or both arousal and desaturation. Sleep apnea is diagnosed with an overnight sleep test called a polysomnogram.