Cpap + Diet - Smoking = Help!

[Rebamom]

Hey y'all!

Haven't been around for a few weeks - was actually getting along with my Cpap. We have an agreement, I keep Mr C surrounded in large soft fluffy pillows and he agrees to not strangle me - been working great. He understands he gets 90% of my attention and I keep the other 10. We have been doing well with no problems until this week.

Six days ago I made a life changing decision. After 45 years, I quit smoking. No patch, no pills, I just quit. I also placed myself on a diet I designed to prevent any weight gain (lost 4 lbs so far). The problem is that I am getting a steady increase of obstructive apneas each night since I quit - last night being the worse. It was bad enough to wake me and took me quite a few to breathe again, relax and lay back down.

Any suggestions? Ideas? Do you think this will be short term while the body is adjusting to the lack of nicotine? It was quite a scare waking to not being able to breathe and I have to question my decision without consulting my doctor.

[Pugsy]

Just how much of an increase are we talking about?
Are you waking more often in general with or without the apnea events maybe being involved?
If so, there is the chance that some of that increase isn't real and instead is Sleep/Wake/Junk or SWJ for short and we have to mentally remove them from the evaluation process. Withdrawal from any drug can seriously mess with our sleep quality until we have got past the withdrawal stage. I am not sure just how long that takes for nicotine but I would assume at least a couple of weeks.

Care to share last night's report?
If you don't know how.
viewtopic/t158560/How-to-post-images-for-review.html

[Rebamom]

Hi Pugsy,

I have gone 0 to about 4 every night, one night was 6 and last night was 4. I can share the report in a little bit when I get to my desk, out in the public eye right now. I wouldn't say I am waking more often, but definitely earlier, minimum 60-90 minutes earlier than before. Normal wake time is 3:30 am, I remove mask and cat nap until 4. Now I am awake around 2:30 and pretty much up - but try to get a snooze in around 3:30. I do find I am catching a power nap in the afternoon to make up that difference - one minute I'm there and the next I'm gone - my system is truly screwed up right now.

Never really thought about it as overcoming a drug, yet I know you are right and no clue how long it might take. I "assumed" since I was not having trouble throughout the day, the same would be at night - guess we all know what assuming does, lol!

[Pugsy]

Nicotine is a drug and a powerful drug which is why it's so hard to quit taking it in whatever form (chew, smoke).
Withdrawal is going to happen...just for some people it's harder to deal with than others.
Plus how withdrawal manifests itself is going to vary widely among individuals.

[Julie]

Drink lots of cold water and brush your teeth a lot (esp. tongue) to get rid of the nicotine - those really help!

There's lots of stuff online about withdrawal and how to deal with it - lots of tricks, etc... don't just do this alone and it won't backfire.

[ChicagoGranny]

Drink lots of cold water and brush your teeth a lot (esp. tongue) to get rid of the nicotine - those really help!

To get rid of nicotine? If she quit smoking, all the nicotine was gone within a few hours.

[Rebamom]

Thanks ladies! I have added some water in my diet plan and I have a great friend that has been supporting me through the entire process. For the
really bad cravings, I have found Twizzlers Orange Creme Licorice to be exactly the "fix" I need and it works! For now, when I'm stressing, especially at work, I go for a walk - not sure what I will do when that is not possible (bad weather, etc) - but hopefully when that day comes it will not be an issue. Overall things to me are going well, just want to go back to sleeping like I was. I know for many my 5 1/2 to 6 hours seemed not enough, but it was a huge improvement and once it became without interruption which I had achieved, felt really good. Now I'm back to 4 or less, and I'm tired. Keeping positive though - it will get better!

[Julie]

The smell and taste of nicotine can linger a lot longer than a few hrs!

[Rebamom]

I have no doubt - I have been washing walls - laundered just about everything in my closet - ready to tackle my car to rid it all of the smoke and nicotine. Anything to help. Yes I still smell it, but I also burn incense, which seems to keep my mind clear and focused elsewhere. Taste, diet has a lot to do with that and keeping with water and broths has helped. Spices, especially salt, that bring on cravings, bring on the taste - so for now my diet consists of bland liquids, except for the licorice. I believe it is helping and if nothing else, it is definitely not hurting me.

[klm49]

I have no doubt - I have been washing walls - laundered just about everything in my closet - ready to tackle my car to rid it all of the smoke and nicotine. Anything to help. Yes I still smell it, but I also burn incense, which seems to keep my mind clear and focused elsewhere. Taste, diet has a lot to do with that and keeping with water and broths has helped. Spices, especially salt, that bring on cravings, bring on the taste - so for now my diet consists of bland liquids, except for the licorice. I believe it is helping and if nothing else, it is definitely not hurting me.

Congratulations!
You have done yourself a great service by quitting smoking! Sounds like you have truly decided to quit. I was able to quit after 32 years of it using the Nicotine "gum". I hope you continue, now get those reports up so Pugsy can help you. Congratulations again.

[chunkyfrog]

Congratulations!
Praise for announcing your action publicly--it shows your commitment.
Do the math, if you haven't already, and start planning your reward in a few months,
using the money you will have saved--and it should be something AWESOME.
Those stinky things are so damn expensive!

[SewTired]

It takes 3 - 6 weeks for your body to mostly recover after you quit when you've been smoking for decades. The lungs and skin take even longer. I have no specific advice for you as I quit long before I needed a cpap. I'm thinking though - when seasonal allergy season starts up, I start getting a lot of centrals. I had my machine set to 9.8 - 15 in anticipation. I've narrowed my pressures by raising the lower and lowering the upper. So, now it is 10.6 - 13.2. That reduced the centrals.

Finally, congratulations on quitting! It's kindof a rough road, but YOU CAN DO IT!!

[Rebamom]

Thanks for the kind words everyone! I'm looking forward to a new lifestyle for sure!

Here is last nights report from Sleepyhead

sleep060618.png (74.6 KiB) Viewed 15055 times

[Julie]

Why not raise your min. pressure to e.g. 8 for a week and see how you feel.

[Rebamom]

Thanks Julie - actually that is exactly what is going to happen. It just dawned on me that my new order in April was for AP 8-16, so I called to find out why it wasn't done. They are doing it now - so hopefully I will see some improvement starting tonight.