When an individual suffers from obstructive sleep apnea, they often find themselves feeling groggy or unrested during the day — even after getting a whole night’s sleep! But sleep apnea doesn’t only affect the diagnosed individual; it can wreak havoc on the spouse’s sleep quality. If your partner is diagnosed with sleep apnea, follow these tips from ApneaMed to support their condition and promote better sleep for both you and your spouse.
How to Support a Partner with Sleep Apnea
Although your spouse may be the one diagnosed, you may be experiencing the same sleep deprivation. Does their snoring or gasping keep you up or constantly startle you from your slumber? When you’re feeling sleep-deprived, it can be challenging to be a supportive partner. Here are a few steps you can take to support your spouse diagnosed with sleep apnea:
- Have healthy and open communication with one another. If your spouse’s sleeping disorder keeps you up at all hours of the time, it’s important to talk openly about your concerns with them. If you let your aggravation fester, you’re going to explode — which may cause them to go into denial mode. If you have concerns about their constant snoring and choking, explain how you’re concerned for their health.
- Although communication is vital, it can be helpful to have proof. If your spouse doesn’t think their condition is very disruptive to you, you may want to record a snippet of what it’s like while they sleep. Recording examples of their snoring or gasping can help them better understand the extent of the problem and convince them to seek help from a medical professional.
- Improve the sleeping conditions in your bedroom. While adjusting the conditions of your bedroom may not resolve the problem completely, it can open up the conversation about different ways for them to mitigate their symptoms. Consider lowering the temperature in the room while you sleep, installing blackout curtains, or using an air purifier to enhance the quality of air.
- Promote positive lifestyle changes for both of you. If your partner has sleep apnea, they may not understand how much it impacts your sleep. It can be beneficial not only to recommend that they make positive lifestyle changes that help sleep apnea symptoms but also to take on these lifestyle changes yourself. Suggest that you both cut down on caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine intake. Maybe add an evening walk to your daily routine. Whatever you suggest, opt for doing it together to show your support.
- Temporarily consider alternate sleeping arrangements. Until your spouse is convinced to get tested for sleep apnea and get treatment, you may want to suggest alternate sleeping arrangements. Remind them that this is only temporary until they have an effective treatment plan, and encourage how this will positively impact their relationship since they’ll both be able to sleep through the night.
Get Tested for Sleep Apnea with ApneaMed
If your spouse seems to be suffering from sleep apnea, it’s essential to get them tested by a medical professional to get the treatment they need. Not only will this allow them to sleep more soundly, but it will leave you feeling less sleep-deprived as well. To make things easy, ApneaMed offers a home sleep study that can be self-administered in the comfort of your own home.
The home sleep study will be mailed directly to your home, allowing your spouse to perform the test themself.
Throughout the night, the device will monitor and record their blood oxygen levels, blood oxygen saturation, breathing and heart rates, and more to gather important information that one of ApneaMed’s board-certified sleep physicians will review. From there, the sleep physician will provide a recommended treatment plan for your partner to help improve their quality of sleep (and yours!).
ApneaMed offers various home sleep tests and in-home breathing equipment to help treat obstructive sleep apnea. Contact our team to learn more.