My Snoring Story
 by Dennis Freeman

I never thought I'd end up trying to make a living from a web site about snoring.  My career started with an MA in Broadcasting.  Then after a few years as a TV reporter and freelance journalist, I found my niche and moved rapidly up the marketing hierarchies at several hi-tech companies. In 1996 I landed a job as Senior Director of Product Marketing at a software firm in Atlanta.

At this point, my career stalled; I lost my sharpness and zest for the job. I no longer devoured trade publications. I found myself sitting at my desk wishing it was 5pm so I could go home. I fell asleep in meetings.

Nothing that unusual, I told myself. A mid-life crisis. We all slow down in mid-career. Maybe I'm depressed. My doctor prescribed Prozac. I felt better but it didn't re-energize my work performance. When the hi-tech meltdown came, my company probably didn't think too hard before including me on the lay-off list.

Now about this time, I became engaged to a wonderful woman who seemed to like everything about me except my snoring. I can fix that, I thought, and began to look for snoring cures. There are hundreds of snoring remedies out there. None of the easy ones fully solved the problem: not nasal strips, nor throat sprays, nor pills.

Turns out I have mild sleep apnea. And here's the point of my story: apnea causes daytime sleepiness, lack of concentration, depression. Everything I'd been experiencing in the past few years, in fact, could arguably be attributed to my sleep disorder.

Being out of work gave me time to dig into apnea issues. It's clear that doctors frequently fail to diagnose mild or moderate sleep apnea, which is a pretty common problem, especially as you get older. Untreated, apnea will become worse and can be life-threatening. It raises your blood pressure, and increases the risk of stroke or heart attack.  It can also kill others -- sleep apnea patients fall asleep at the wheel of their cars and -- in a recent fatal crash -- their trains.

I established PutanEndtoSnoring.com to raise awareness of sleep apnea as well as provide an exhaustive list of snoring remedies.  This site features a questionnaire that will, I hope, alert some people to the fact that they're Snoring out an SOS.  My research has led me to the cure for my own snoring/apnea problem.  I use a "cocktail" of snoring remedies, including a dental mouthpiece which realigns my jaw and tongue, along with a throat spray and marjoram oil.

Put an End to Snoring draws several hundred visitors a day -- a large enough audience that I've been encouraged to launch The Snoring Shop to sell some of my favorite snoring remedies directly.  The products stand on their own merits -- but if you are torn between ordering apparently similar products, buy ours!  You'll be helping maintain PutanEndtoSnoring.com as a valuable resource for the millions of people who suffer from sleep apnea.