uncomfortable sharing a room?

[sharon1965]

neverbetter,

i guess my reason is mainly that i will feel stressed worrying if my roommate is getting any sleep; just trying to structure for my own success while being considerate of the other person...

[peggyb]

Hi -

I, too, work for a not-for-profit organization. Because of costs, we always have to share rooms. I haven't found it to be a problem, but we all get along really well. As a matter of fact, my friends just giggle when they see me with my mouth taped shut! I'm a big talker and I tease that there have been in my life for YEARS that would have loved to tape my mouth shut.... anyway, my CPAP machine is really quiet and much less noisy than someone else snoring.

if you get along with your co-workers, I wouldn't stress about it. It can be fun - and you'll enjoy talking about your cheap boss........

peggyb

[Linda3032]

And you never know -- your cpap use in front of others might help them to realize that someone in their family might have sleep apnea.

And I'm sure your roommate takes medicine, you just have a different form of medicine. Don't let it bother you.

[sharon1965]

i guess i sound like a big baby about this, but i think what's really bugging me now is that while i was trying to explain my position to my boss, i felt like i wasn't being heard, that my feelings weren't respected...if everyone in the group was sharing a room and there was no option i would just have to go with the flow, but since there is the option for some people to do what they want to do, and i seem to be the only one who wasn't given a choice, i feel bullied and manipulated ...anyway, the rooms are booked, i guess it's a done deal and i just have to put up and shut up...time to start looking on the bright side, thanks for letting me vent

sharon1965

[Guest]

I travel quite often with my company. At one time they tried to arrange for sharing of rooms while travelling. I was one that refused to do so and when asked to travel I put the restriction on that I would not be sharing a room with anyone so quit traveling. It wasn't long before they got upset but I really didn't care because I had another job already lined up. When I tendered my resignation I included the reason why I was quitting (the travel arrangements). They promptly backed off, as I was not the only one refusing the travel with shared arrangements.

[birdshell]

While not a business person, I have shared quite a number of rooms with other women as a Sweet Adeline. We would stay away for 1-3 nights 4 or 5 times a year.

Also, I may have chosen the wrong profession! Teachers are very, very rarely given any allowance for a hotel OR Motel 6 room; and even the cost of the conference registration may only be partially covered. That is at least true in Michigan, for the most part--each school district has its own policies.

Before sharing, I always had to ask if anyone minded my snoring. Anyone who did mind, could not stay in my room. This actually precluded us rooming together at any Sweet Adeline event. As we aged, and if we could afford it, many of us opted to share a room and pay a bit extra for the privilege of having our own bed. Often, the hotels and motels have only full sized beds, although the queen sized ones are becoming more prevalent.

Here are my thoughts, Sharon:

1. Your snoring surely would have bothered a roommate. NOW you shouldn't snore.

2. Your mouth opening noise can be handled with a bit of tape for one night, as shown in Rooster’s popular posting:

Just One Man's Very Successful Mouth Taping Procedure

I add to this a smear of milk of magnesia on the skin which is allowed to dry and I put on the tape vertically. BTW, I keep a tablespoon or so of milk of magnesia in a little (emptied and washed out) shampoo bottle picked up from a hotel.

3. Your problem with exhibiting yourself in a ComfortLite 2 could be worse, IMHO—the CL 2 is much prettier than many other masks. (Guess which mask I use regularly?)


4. Even my friend who is a light sleeper likes white noise. It is VERY true that the machines are so quiet, and the hotel heater/air conditioner blowers SO noisy, that I seriously doubt if ANYONE would object to the small bit of noise from your flow generator.


5. Just in case, you may wish to pick up some earplugs. I used to do this, and leave them on the nightstand after showing the proper insertion methods, for my roommates. Often, they would use them and, of course, they were the new owners of that pair. Several were very thrilled to find this solution for any other trips that they might make.

I even found that earplugs helped me to get a better night’s sleep in a strange environment such as a hotel room. I think that I have both used them and not used them since receiving my CPAP, but cannot remember for certain.

There may be some other tips that you may garner in the various travel postings. I would like to say that sharing the trip and conference, as well as meals and the hotel room, might make your work experience richer and more trusting. Many companies are doing team building exercises; this is, in a way, one of those experiences.

I cannot advise you in any way for your fibromyalgia; that is a whole different forum, although I can understand that the trip might be especially hard on you. Would more frequent breaks be helpful? I should think that would be a reasonable request with which no one could object.

6. Maybe a quick one-on-one with your boss would be beneficial for both of you; or maybe a group discussion. Only you and your co-workers know the boss’s quirks and modus operandi; but speaking up for yourself CALMLY, rationally and with good supportive details cannot be wrong. You may be surprised at the support—after all, this is a non-profit organization for which you work. There must be a certain amount of compassion for others.

I believe that you are being considerate as well as taking care of yourself by bringing up the topics in this posting. You ultimately must decide, but you are also thinking ahead. Best wishes and please let us know what you have decided.

Karen