In my earlier Internet research for finding ways of curbing my snoring and finding better sleep, I ran across a few different sites, many which were “natural remedy” sites trying to push supplements and herbal type remedies. Being fairly skeptical, I tend to put little credence in the results that they promise. However, one site called the Accidental Scientist’s blog did catch my eye, mainly because of the non-chalant way that was described about the results and how different friends corroborated his fish oil method for temporarily overcoming snoring… not to mention the fact that he wasn’t selling anything on his site.
I finally got around to trying this fish oil (Omega-3) supplement to see if it would make any difference. I can emphatically say that it didn’t make any difference for me with my snoring. I couldn’t believe how large the gel capsules were and how much trouble I had swallowing them. This made me wonder whether I may have a less room in the back of my throat compared to most people.. and if I do have less room, maybe the soft palate area is more susceptible to snoring! I did notice another effect from the fish oil and that was it seemed to cause indigestion and a bit of acidic reflux. I’ve noticed that whenever I have acidic reflux in my throat it would irritate my throat and also make my snoring worse! Apparently there’s some recent research out there that indicates that 44% of people with acid reflux also snore which I read about here.
What’s also interesting is that back in the 40’s there were some cases that were a lot like the “Injection Snoreplasty” procedure where the upper palate is injected with a stiffener that produces scar tissue. The scar tissue helps prevent the vibration that causes snoring. The cases back then involved injecting fish oil of all things! Apparently this was somewhat painful. Even though modern Injection Snoreplasty is an outpatient procedure that usually only needs a local anesthesia, some people have reported it was more painful than was expected and needs to be repeated over time to remain effective. Being pain averse, I’ll probably save that as a last resort!
I also read in a lot of different sites where Melatonin would help with sleep. Melatonin really doesn’t have much to do with snoring or helping to prevent sleep apnea or anything like that. Rather, it is supposed to help you with being “mentally at peace” and improving the “quality” of your sleep. Due to my work, I get fairly stressed out and wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble falling back asleep due to my brain hashing over troublesome projects I’m dealing with. I don’t think it provided me with much if any benefit from taking the melatonin, or at least if it did help, it wasn’t really enough for me to take notice. I’m planning on keeping my eyes open for other things that may help. The mouthpiece that helps prevent my snoring right now is good, but if I can find something else that is easier I’m all ears and it definitely never hurts to try!