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Snoring is such a problem for me that I recently decided to get in touch with Gary Zammit, Ph.D., director of the Sleep Disorders Institute at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan, who offered me an exam. Frankly, I wanted to know how to stop snoring.

Zammit examined my throat, took a medical history and asked me a long list of questions about both my snoring pattern and sleep habits. The questions were wide-ranging - from how much coffee I drank to whether I ever saw or heard things that weren't there as I was falling asleep or waking up (hypnagogic hallucinations). He was looking for two things: clues as to why I snored and warning signs that might indicate a condition called sleep apnea, a serious medical problem of which snoring is only a symptom. There are some interesting anti-snoring devices out there, though.

So here we show you how to nip each type of sleep-disturbance pattern in the bud with the best self-help techniques. (See " Sleep-Disorders Clinics" in our help section for determining when your sleep problem is serious enough to deserve a sleep-medicine specialist's attention.)

PATTERN #1: TROUBLE FALLING ASLEEP

Release the pressure valve. It's one thing to have trouble sleeping. It's quite another to start worrying about having trouble sleeping. Before long, the worry itself can start to interfere with your ability to fall asleep, even when the initial cause of sleeplessness is gone. If it is snoring, some remedies are here. Fortunately, there's much you can do to eliminate this second tier of trouble.