Vaping and sleep apnea

[Superbals]

I posted a thread about this somewhere else and was told i should check here so i'm pasting the content of that thread and hopefully someone may know a little more for me.

Hey guys dunno if anyone in here can answer these or not but worth a shot....

I have VERY severe sleep apnea (around 140 to 150 per hour). I also have a tracheostomy (tube in my throat that i use to breathe when im asleep). Since I started vaping i've noticed that my trach tube ends up clogged up by the time i wake up every morning (normally its mucus and such in the tube) but lately its been clogged by something harder than just mucus. I'm thinking it could be because vaping drys your throat a lot maybe thats where its coming from.....Now i am trying to get my trach tube taken out within the next week or so and going to try the CPAP again for my sleep apnea (since i did have a deviated septum fixed maybe i can tolerate it better now?). I'm wondering if my throat being dried out would effect my apneas? I mean it can't be worse than it was before i got the trach since smoking effects the apneas. I try to keep well hydrated while vaping but i chain vape most of the day so Not sure i could ever drink enough fluids to keep myself hydrated lol.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and any input is very appreciated​

 

[owutaqt]

So, forgive me for asking questions but I am confused. You have obstructive sleep apnea? or just sleep apnea? You are stopping over 100 times an hour just during sleep?
You do not need the trach to breathe during non sleep hours right?

I would say that you probably should discuss the ramifications of having the tube removed with your doctor. Can they put it back easily enough, should it not work well enough?

Do you have any humidified air around you while sleeping? My son has apnea pretty bad and has to have a humidified space, this may help. When you say harder than just mucous what does that mean? Is it just dried mucous or a whole different kind of substance? This is important because vaping may not be the answer to that problem.

I would say that you probably should consult with your doctor about all of these things and you should probably take a sample of the "mucous" that is clogging things up.

Sleep apnea is no joke and one night of it can be really hard on your cardiovascular system so I would tread very lightly.

If you do go back on the CPAP make sure you ask about one that has a humidifier attached.

Good Luck to you.

 

[Superbals]

So, forgive me for asking questions but I am confused. You have obstructive sleep apnea? or just sleep apnea? You are stopping over 100 times an hour just during sleep?
You do not need the trach to breathe during non sleep hours right?

I would say that you probably should discuss the ramifications of having the tube removed with your doctor. Can they put it back easily enough, should it not work well enough?

Do you have any humidified air around you while sleeping? My son has apnea pretty bad and has to have a humidified space, this may help. When you say harder than just mucous what does that mean? Is it just dried mucous or a whole different kind of substance? This is important because vaping may not be the answer to that problem.

I would say that you probably should consult with your doctor about all of these things and you should probably take a sample of the "mucous" that is clogging things up.

Sleep apnea is no joke and one night of it can be really hard on your cardiovascular system so I would tread very lightly.

If you do go back on the CPAP make sure you ask about one that has a humidifier attached.

Good Luck to you.

Well i have a few things to answer here...First off yes it is obstructive sleep apnea. Im stopping breathing about 140 to 150 times an hour while sleeping. The trach was put into place to bypass the part of my throat where the apneas were happening as a quick fix so i would not have to risk losing my job since i was falling asleep at work.

I do have a doctors apointment on Friday where i'm going to go more in depth with her about all of this. If they need to put it back in it'll be another surgery but the surgery was not very painful and recovery was only 2 to 4 weeks.

I don't have a humidifier but keep the window open or ac on or something to keep the air cool and moist.....

Im sorry to hear about ur son having it. Sleep apnea is horrible...it's effictively ruined a lot of things in my life and cost me at least 5 jobs in the past.

The dried stuff i find in my trach tube almost looks like a scab would with blood on it but its not a scab obviously and its just big enough to fit into the tube and clog it so i don't breathe out of it.

I had trouble tolerating the cpap before i got this surgery....i would throw it off in the middle of the night every night and i tried for months to get used to it and never could...What made matters a little worse was i was tied to using a full face mask due to a badly deviated septum but apparently they fixed that when they did the trach surgery on me so im hoping if i go back to the cpap i can use a more comfortable mask.

There's only 2 reasons I want to get rid of the trach tube....First off because i need to start looking for a new job and i just don't think i can look very presentable with a tube hanging out of my throat and toilent paper around the tube (because mucous and such does leak from it)....Second off because the tube im using right now is too small for me. I had a different kind of tube in then one day i tried to clean it and change it on my own and it got messed up and i couldn't get that more comfortable type of tube. So they put this kind in now that's horrible uncomfortable and leaks constantly. I can't remember the name of the one i had before but it was a clear rubberish tube that didn't need a strap around my neck to hold it in place like this one does. I've had the hole resized and the clear rubberish one put back in before but it's incredibly painful and irritated that area of my throat so bad that i coughed and it fell out.

Hope that info helps to explain the situation better!! Thanks again for taking the time to read this whole mess lol

 

[owutaqt]

Yeah my son, his dad, my dad, my uncles.....it is all around me. A/C is drying and unless it is humid out the window is not helping. I would take that "scab" thing to the doc with me, put it in a baggie. Have you tried the mask that just goes up your nose? With the septum being fixed that might be a great alternative.

I do hear that duct tape can keep masks on ppl that throw them off hehehe!
Good luck to you.

 

[Superbals]

Ahh i always thought a/c helped keep it cool and moist but now that i actually stop to think about it that was a stupid thing of me to think lol I haven't tried the nose only masks since i've been using the trach tube ever since that got fixed. I had the most luck in the past with a "hybrid" style mask that goes into ur nose and covers ur mouth as well.

My mother and wife were pretty seriously considering straps like they have on those hospital beds to keep me from throwing it off haha

 

[lonercom]

I have Sleep Apnea and use a mask that covers my nose and mouth. Rather than a CPAP I have a BIPAP which warms and humidifies the air. I have to fill it every other day with Distilled Water. Ask the Pulmonologist about it and let us know how you make out.

Not sure what the crud is, perhaps some of the gunk being washed up from the lungs as they heal?

 

[Superbals]

I don't remember why they gave me a cpap instead of bipap...I think it had something to do with how severe my sleep apnea is or somethin

 

[salemgold]

I have just about the same level of sleep apnea as you do. My cpap machine has an attached humidifier that helps me tremendously. I am not sure if the one that you tried has one but it may be worth a shot to try. There is also a gel available called Nasal Ayr that helps to keep you from drying out when rubbed under your nose. Your doc may suggest adjusting the pressure up some too. Mine is set at 13. I have noticed more congestion when vaping and it seems like the higher the VG the more congested that I get. Good luck.

 

[bbb]

Superbals, I used to have sleep apnea, almost as severe as you. I have worn both cpap and bipap, the bipap was more effective and mine did have a humidifier iirc. My last sleep study, they told me if I were a new patient, they would not suggest any hardware. Altho, I still don't sleep well on my back, I sleep at 45 degrees in my lazy chair, with my legs elevated due to the pain in my totally replaced knees, and my neuropathy from diabetes. But, I definitely sleep much better, with few or no apneas, I even dream ocassionally now.

I have a long story too, heart surgery, 2 total knee replacements, type 2 diabetes, Barretts Esophagus, a few other maladies. The thing that really helped my apnea was surgery by my ENT. I had 3 procedures all at once, he fixed my deviated septum, cleaned out my sinuses, and something else I don't remember. I do remember I had to wear plastic inserts in my nose for a few weeks. David Letterman had the same thing done and he showed them on air when he got his taken out. They were about 4-5 inches long, iirc. Anyway, my ENT really helped my sleep apnea. Maybe your ENT could suggest something else besides your fixed septum to help ?

This all happened well before I started vaping. I smoked for 40 years. I've been cigarette free for about 2 months now, since I started vaping. Quitting cigarettes was pretty easy for me, I know it isn't as easy for some ppl. Without vaping, I don't know if I would go back to cigarettes or not ? I do know vaping is the best thing I've done for myself in a long time, the improvement in my "daily health" was dramatic.

Even with diabetes, I generally use an Aqueous Glycerine, Vegetable Glycerine cut 15% with deionized water. PG is just too drying for me and anything over 30% PG gives me a headache. It seems almost silly to be so ultra careful with vaping after smoking cigarettes for so many years. But we never knew, until the last 20-30 years or so exactly what was in cigarettes, and how harmful they were. Best luck to you and Vape on

 

[tababomb]

You need to go back to your pulmonologist and get your machine titrated again. It sounds as if the machine that you were using was not properly calibrated. When you go in, you should absolutely as about getting a machine with a built in humidifier.