Is Snoring Ruining Your Relationship?

Snoring is often not taken very seriously, but it takes a toll on the person who snores as well as on his or her partner. Snoring can harm your relationship in the short term and also cause lasting damage.

In this blog, the sleep specialist at eos sleep diagnostics will explain how snoring and relationship issues can be related as well as what you can do about it.

How snoring and relationship issues can be related

Increased stress levels

As both partners aren’t sleeping well night after night, it’s easy to become ill-tempered. The snorer may feel guilty, and his or her partner might feel resentful. You’re more likely to snap at each other and have little patience for day-to-day issues and disputes that you might be able to shrug off if you were both sleeping well. This can put a strain on your relationship that could lead to serious problems.

Decreased intimacy

In around 80% of cases, chronic snoring can lead partners to sleep in different rooms so the non-snorer can try to get some sleep. This separation can prevent you from sharing “pillow talk” as you catch up at the end of the day. It can be a quiet respite to focus on just the two of you, especially if you have kids.

Being physically separated at night can make you less likely to cuddle and be intimate with one another. In addition, men with sleep apnea, a potentially serious sleep disorder, experience erectile dysfunction at a higher rate than other men.

Adverse health effects

Snoring can be associated with sleep apnea, which can lead to many potentially serious health effects for the snorer. Some of these even affect his or her partner. For example, a lack of deep sleep can cause excessive daytime sleepiness that makes both partners more likely to be involved in a motor vehicle or workplace accident.

Both can also have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The noisy snoring can cause noise-induced hearing loss over time, and the snorer’s partner may also experience elevated blood pressure. This puts him or her at greater risk for serious health issues such as stroke and heart disease.

What to do about it

Getting the help you need can ensure that you both get the rest you need while improving your snoring and relationship. A sleep study, is a test that is routinely used to confirm or rule out sleep apnea, narcolepsy, insomnia, and many other sleep disorders.

Make an appointment with a eos sleep specialist, who will discuss your sleep habits and medical history with you. He or she may also suggest a sleep study, which will monitor what happens to your body during sleep, including your breathing, heart rate, blood oxygen levels, movements, and more. This test will enable your doctor to confirm or rule out the presence of sleep apnea or another sleep disorder.