I suppose you’d have to know your sleeping partner very well before asking for an Airmax Breathing Aid for Christmas. I was lucky enough to have an understanding partner, perhaps not so understanding to put up with my occasional Walrus Like groans at intermittent times of the night, but understanding enough to make the effort to search the internet for a Solution. I think I might have said to him,
“This is the challenge , should you choose to accept it?” He smiled and I knew he was up to it.
A few days before Christmas, when my only choice was to sleep on my side , curled up in an almost foetal position, due to the dog ( a small terrier) and making an effort not to lie on my back It was when I stretched out comfortably on my back and fell asleep that my body called out for more air and I would wake myself up , with the mating grunt of a hefty artic Walrus in the throes of ecstasy. This did not go down well particularly when said Sleeping Partner had to get up at 6.00am to go to work.
However, Christmas Day arrived and I’m pleased to say so did a solution to my breathing problem in the form of the “Airmax Breathing Aid.” The one I had been looking at on the internet , was battery powered and gently blew oxygen into the nasal passages while you were asleep. Sensibly, for a first try at increasing airflow ,my Partner went for the purely mechanical solution. So it was that I opened the box and came across a blue soft moulded rubber device , a bit like a pair of headphones for a trendy mouse.
There was a small device(blue) and an orange device (medium). However, as with anytime on Christmas Day there were other priorities and after the usual thanks and now you open yours I put my package away safely , wondering when I would get the chance to try it out.
As with any Christmas, the dishes needed done and I was tidying up in the kitchen at 1.00am on Boxing Day after my Sleeping Partner had called it a day as he had a bit of a cold. When I’d finished putting away a batch of dishes and had washed up more ready to put then away in the morning I made myself a small drink and thought about getting ready for bed aswell as reading the instructions for my “Airmax”
I took the Airmax box upstairs and I’ve got to admit I was a little nervous Perhaps it would hurt? Perhaps it would be uncomfortable? Or even make my eyes water or my nose run. That wouldn’t help me sleep. However, I was determined to try it , if it meant I could sleep on my back.
The instructions said , “fit in front of a mirror”. So after brushing my teeth, and rinsing the blue Airmax, I put it as instructed with the “legs” opening my airway and the little blue rubber bit looking like I had a nose piercing. I thought I looked a bit like a Punk Rocker. It was not uncomfortable in truth I could hardly feel it , I adjusted it slightly by pushing the blue rubber bit upwards and everything seemed to fit very nicely. I also had a bit of a cold and in truth, I immediately began to breath more easily. This I felt was a good sign. I perhaps was not as tired as I should have been, but the bed and the quilt cover were very tempting. I hopped into bed and lay on my back, my sleeping partner was fast asleep.
The feeling of being able to stretch my neck , back and legs was wonderful. I couldn’t decide whether I wanted by arms under or over the quilt. The most important thing was I had a choice. My breathing was easier, I wasn’t coughing and all I knew was that my body was getting more air. It was a pleasant feeling.
Unfortunately though, possibly because of the excitement during the day , I just couldn’t sleep. I wanted to know as soon as possible if when I fell asleep that I wouldn’t snore. I knew if I started it would wake my sleeping Partner and I would get a deep voice in my ear saying “Roll Over, your snoring!”. I always hated that as it would wake me up and also make me feel annoyed with myself.
I couldn’t sleep and lay there for about an hour, I eventually needed to get up and go to the bathroom. I thought , well suppose my “Airmax” falls out when I get up, but it didn’t , it stayed put. I had visions of it falling out like a contact lens and having to search for it on a dark landing. Fortunately, it just seemed to stay put, I checked again in the mirror and again thought it looked like a nose piercing without the pain.
Back into bed I got and now my brain was beginning to settle down, so I must have nodded off to sleep on my back. It wasn’t until about 8.00am that morning when my Partner said ” Roll Over”. I had slept on my back all night and it was just towards the end of my sojourn that I began making loud noises again, though I am assured that they were nothing as bad as they used to be.
The instructions say use it for two weeks to get used to it, I’m more than happy to do this and I really think that the extra airflow helps. I might move up to the orange ( medium) one to see if it stops my Snoring noises completely, but there was such an improvement , I think both of us will be a lot happier. What a great little device, I’m a Punk Rock Sleeper.
