Treatment of Severe Snoring With a Combination of Pseudoephedrine Sulfate and Domperidone

Abstract

Pharmacologic treatment of severe snoring has not been considered to be of great value. The objective of this study was to determine whether the combination of a nasal decongestant and a prokinetic drug would decrease or eliminate severe snoring. Thirty healthy individuals whose sleeping partners reported that the patients had severe nightly snoring entered an open-label trial of 60 mg of pseudoephedrine and 10 mg of domperidone at bedtime for 30 days. Each night's snoring was scored on a diary by the sleeping partner. At the end of the open-label trial, a subset of subjects whose snoring had recurred were randomized to one or both placebo-controlled trials, either 60 mg of pseudoephedrine sulfate plus 10 mg of domperidone or to 30 mg of pseudoephedrine sulfate plus 10 mg of domperidone. In another placebo-controlled trial, the drug combination was compared with each component. In the open-label trial, 493 of 772 evaluable subject-nights were free of snoring; another 232 nights were scored as mild snoring. In the placebo-controlled trials, low-dose therapy caused a reduction in snoring, and high-dose therapy even a greater reduction in snoring. The drug combination was more effective than either agent alone. Treatment with a prokinetic agent plus a nasal decongestant reduced or eliminated severe snoring in the majority of subjects treated.