I Have OSA and a Snoring Hubby

Last year I was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). I don’t know how long I have had OSA or what the cause of it is. I’m waiting on a second, more in-depth sleep study that will hopefully point to the cause. I try to follow the sleep routine I was instructed on by the sleep clinic as best as I can to help improve my sleep. However, another major factor in my ability to get a good night's sleep is my husband's snoring.

Husband snoring

There are times his loud snoring will wake me up and I do seriously wonder how much of an impact it has on my sleep. I don’t know if before COVID-19, you were allowed to have your spouse/bed partner sleep with you so that the study could pick up on how interruptive the other person in the bed was to your sleep.

My husband and I moved in together a decade ago. At the time, my health was just starting on a massive decline after having my gall bladder removed. This is when I discovered my hubby snores. Six years ago he started working at a job that at times, has made his snoring really loud. When it’s at its loudest, I can hear him in the next room as if he was right beside me. As my hubby and I aren’t planning on having any kids, we have always lived in a 1 bedroom place. We sure would love to have a 2 bedroom place so that nights when I am having a rough time sleeping and want to avoid disturbing my hubby or when he is snoring really badly, there is another room and bed to go sleep in.

How to stop his snoring?

There are so many times that I would like to kick my hubby out of bed when his snoring is really bad and make him sleep on the couch, as he is able to actually fall asleep and stay asleep on the couch. However, as he is the primary money maker, I refrain from that. Instead, I gently caress his skin until it makes him stop snoring.

Most of the time, this only gets him to stop for a couple of minutes before he starts up again. Sometimes when he starts up again, it will be quiet and I can eventually pass out.

When the snoring won't stop

There have been a lot of times that I lay in bed, extremely frustrated, feeling on the verge of tears, because my OSA is being extra pesky and the snoring from my husband is too loud to be able to fall asleep. I can’t make the snoring stop long enough for me to pass out from sheer exhaustion.  I’m not ashamed to admit that I love the times when his shift work has him sleeping on a different schedule than I am on.

Between OSA and my husband’s snoring, some nights my quality of sleep is massively hampered. The sleep doctor made it sound like it’s so easy to get a good night’s sleep but the reality of it, well for me anyways, is anything but easy.

Maybe partner also has OSA?

I think my husband may also have OSA and am in the process of encouraging him to get tested. Who knows, it could lead to less snoring and that’s a win-win for both of us.

Do you have a bed partner that snores too? How does it affect your OSA? Please share a comment.