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Snoring is often the subject of jokes but if someone in your life snores you will know it's far from funny. It disturbs the sleep of the entire household. People who don't sleep enough often become irritable with one another so it's more than just a night-time problem.
Even more worrying, snoring can lead on to sleep apnoea during which the sufferer stops breathing in his or her sleep. He or she may frequently wake up with a start and disturbed nights become the norm. This can result in daytime fatigue causing poor concentration and a tendency to fall asleep at inappropriate times. This may happen in work, at home or even when driving.
During sleep apnoea, breathing sometimes stops for 10 seconds or even longer. To an onlooker this can be quite frightening, listening for the next breath and wondering if it will come.
The good news is that retraining your breathing helps reduce this and other sleeping problems, such as nightmares, sleep walking and insomnia. If you normalise your breathing during the day, it helps normalise your night-time breathing too. As a result you get a better night's sleep.
On a personal basis, I used to snore and suffered quite badly from insomnia. I remember sleeping for just 2 hours a night and then having to teach a fourth form the next day. Quite a challenge - for me and for the students. I'm sure my disposition was not at its best!
Now a sleepless night is a rare event and only serves to remind me of how long the nights are when everyone else is asleep.
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