I love my husband. But here’s the thing that nobody tells you about marriage: you think the challenges will be around finances, communication or whose turn it is to do the dishwasher. But the true test comes at 3.37am when you’re lying awake while the person you love most in the world impersonates heavy machinery or the merry whistle of a perpetually boiling kettle inches from your face. After 15 years of sleepless nights, I set out on a mission for better sleep and a quieter husband - and in the end, three surprisingly simple steps worked (including one solution you can find in a high street chemist).

Being kept awake when you want to sleep is not only miserable and maddening, it’s also bad for us. Chronic lack of sleep is linked to an increased risk of serious health problems from heart disease to obesity, via type 2 diabetes, anxiety, depression and even early death.

I’ve always known my insomnia was at least partly of my own making: my mind has a special trick of spiralling towards catastrophes at 2am. Still, over 15 years of marriage, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been woken by my husband’s snores. I sometimes lie there for an hour or two, my now-fully-awake mind whirring. Just when I think it’s stopped, he’ll roll over and a new sound is unlocked: one staccato motorbike rev followed by the forlorn sound of a slowly deflating balloon.

The British Snoring & Sleep Apnoea Association estimates there are now around 15 million snorers in the UK. NHS ear, nose and throat consultant and sleep surgeon Mr Ryan Chin Taw Cheong explains that this snoring epidemic is fuelled by an ageing population and the rise in obesity. Snoring, he says, can also signify something more sinister: sleep apnoea, an obstruction of breathing that can dangerously lower oxygen levels and is linked to multiple health conditions, from stroke to heart disease and even possibly to dementia.

Whatever its cause (and whether you’re snoring or cursing the one who is), by interrupting our sleep it ‘disturbs the appropriate stages of REM, which is when the body rejuvenates’, Mr Cheong says. Bad for our bodies, then, but also for our relationships. Research shows that sleep-deprived couples argue more intensely, struggle to read each other’s emotions and behave more negatively toward one another.

My own turning point came about six months ago. My husband went away and, for the first time in memory, I slept blissfully every night for a week. Suddenly, the extent to which my sleep problems were rooted in his was painfully clear. One night soon after his return, his snoring was so deafeningly loud he woke himself up… to find me sobbing in despair.

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It was a low moment – but a helpful one. My husband resolved to address the issue. ‘Treatment is like a jigsaw, with lots of pieces specific to the individual,’ says Mr Cheong.

‘Weight, alcohol and lifestyle play a role, but it might be anatomy: a physically restrictive nose or throat. Or physiology – the way muscles relax at night. Some are worse on their back or on their side. It might depend on the pillow. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution and that’s the challenge.’

Firstly, Mr Cheong recommends lifestyle optimisation. ‘Be sure your weight is on point, that you’re not drinking too much alcohol and that you’re breathing through your nose.’

There’s also a range of over-the-counter treatments to consider. Social media is full of advocates for mouth taping: a large plaster worn over your mouth to encourage nasal breathing. But, ‘The evidence is sparse and there are dangers if you have a physically blocked nose,’ Mr Cheong says. ‘I’d only recommend it after an ENT evaluation.’

Nasal strips – adhesive strips put across the bridge of the nose – are another option. ‘They can improve airflow, which is very important,’ says Mr Cheong. ‘That reduces the harshness of snoring and makes you more likely to breathe through your nose. If you mouth-breathe, your jaw drops, the back of the tongue gets pushed back and the air becomes more turbulent.’

Snorers can also buy specialist mouthguards, but Mr Cheong warns: ‘I’d recommend a GP referral for a drug-induced sleep endoscopy to discover if a mouthguard would be effective.’ For persistent, problematic snoring, he suggests an NHS sleep study, involving a wearable medical-grade device that charts breathing pattern, snoring and possible apnoea.

As for my husband, after noticing how much alcohol interrupted his sleep, he cut down on it during the week, which helped. Next: an extra pillow. Overnight, his snoring lessened. Then he added nasal strips into the mix and… bingo! His snoring decreased by about 80%.

It’s been a game-changer. He still snores occasionally, but it’s shorter-lived and, crucially, quieter. His smartwatch shows that the quality of his sleep is much improved – and so is mine. I’ve stopped lying awake in the dark listening to him – something I once thought would be lifelong.

And, just like that, happiness and wellbeing has returned. My only regret is that it took us 15 years to find such a simple solution.