HELP !! Night Sweats and insomnia.... 5 weeks now ! :(

[tabithad]

Good news:
I quit smoking 5 weeks ago, have a EGO T, luuuuuuuuuuuuuv it ! Have found my daily vape, few of them actually and I am in love with vaping...have not had one drag since I got my Ego.

Bad news:
I have not slept a full night in 5 weeks. I am miserable and exhausted and have almost gotten into 2 car accidents in the past couple of days from not paying attention and being tired. Before I quit smoking I would go to bed each night at 9pm and get up at 5am, always on schedule, never drank caffeine etc... I have a good bedtime routine and I am not a night owl.
I have been waking up sweating 3-4 x each night, I used to sleep straight through 8hr not moving, now I am up and last night it was 12:30am, 2am, 4am, finally at 5am my alarm went off....UGH

I am vaping a low PG juice, I started at 24mg and am down to 12-14mg juice now. I don't feel like I am nic fitting and that is what is disrupting my sleep at all as I vape it all day and I am quite satisfied with the lower nic level.

I am 40yrs old, technically too young for menopause, but it sure a heck feels like it !!

Open to any thoughts, suggestions etc.... ready to get a pack of smokes just for one week to see if that makes a difference

 

[hairball]

Try 0 nic at night. It sounds like withdrawal to me. If nothing else, talk to your doctor and see if you could get a light sleep aide. I hate taking anything but sometimes you need to.

 

[Valsacar]

I'd say see a doctor. Not something I've ever heard attached to vaping... but I understand your pain I have sleep apnea.

 

[tabithad]

Would "0" nic not make me withdrawal even more though ? I used to smoke right up until I went to bed... what would be the difference ?
I would think that having no nicotine would actually make me wake up constantly from that... I used to wake up a lot when I would quit cold turkey, could not sleep for many nights.
I am willing to try it though, just wondering your reasoning behind it ???

 

[StormFinch]

It may be A) that you're still getting more nicotine than your body is used to at night; try cutting your nic down to the lowest point you can without wanting to chain vape all night right after dinner. B) You're still detoxing; everyone has different rates at which they get rid of all the cigarette toxins. C) Your body isn't used to all the increased blood circulation; try using a lighter blanket or maybe a fan/crank down the heat at night. Iirc, it took me about 3 months to get used to having normal circulation, which included no longer having cold hands and feet! Or D) something totally unrelated to vaping.

You mentioned that you thought you were too young for menopause, I started into peri-menopause around 40 and 4 years later I'm still in it. Some weeks I'm perfectly fine and some I'm running around in a tank top with snow on the ground. From what I've read it can actually last anywhere from 4 to 10 years, though a few women will only go through a couple of months, before actual menopause begins. As others have mentioned, a trip to the doctor can't hurt, and you might ask them to check your hormone levels if they don't find anything else amiss.

 

[Adrena]

Yes seeing doctor is a must! Quitting smoking lowers estrogen levels.
Women in the pre-menopause years are more and more finding themselves experiencing symptoms of chronic insomnia, hot flashes, night sweats, migraine headaches, anxiety, fatigue and depression. Uzzi Reiss, M.D., author of Natural Hormone Balance for Women, says: "Some of the above reactions occur nearly simultaneously whenever the level of estrogen falls."

Age is not the only factor for menopause or pre-menopause, I'm 35 my mom 51 and we both are traveling down this road together. Quitting smoking may have triggered the start of menopause for you, Have a doctor look into it.

My thought you're not getting enough nic throughout the day. You may be "weaning" yourself too quickly. Try vaping 24 in the morn and lowering it slowly through the day to a 6-8 mg by 6pm and not vaping at all one hour before you lay down for the night.

 

[tabithad]

It may be A) that you're still getting more nicotine than your body is used to at night; try cutting your nic down to the lowest point you can without wanting to chain vape all night right after dinner. B) You're still detoxing; everyone has different rates at which they get rid of all the cigarette toxins. C) Your body isn't used to all the increased blood circulation; try using a lighter blanket or maybe a fan/crank down the heat at night. Iirc, it took me about 3 months to get used to having normal circulation, which included no longer having cold hands and feet! Or D) something totally unrelated to vaping.

You mentioned that you thought you were too young for menopause, I started into peri-menopause around 40 and 4 years later I'm still in it. Some weeks I'm perfectly fine and some I'm running around in a tank top with snow on the ground. From what I've read it can actually last anywhere from 4 to 10 years, though a few women will only go through a couple of months, before actual menopause begins. As others have mentioned, a trip to the doctor can't hurt, and you might ask them to check your hormone levels if they don't find anything else amiss.

Well I can try using "0" nic juice in the evenings but I am sure that will put me into a nic fit and make it impossible to sleep because of that, when I have quite cold turkey in the past I wake up constantly with startled heartbeats .....

I sleep in a cool dark room each night with a fan on me. The reason I don't think it's early menopause is because this has only started since I quit. however maybe the quit triggered the menopause... who knows lol

I have absolutely no problem falling asleep at night, then a couple hours later I wake up in a hot sweat, then need to use the bathroom, then come back to bed, cover up with just a light sheet, right back to sleep, wake up about 15 min later, now cold, cover up with my duvet and then a hour later wake up again covered in sweat and repeat that whole process..

Drinking lots of water is NOT helping either, but it needs to be done in the evenings before bedtime because I am vaping then and get thirsty....

 

[JupiterV]

I had about the same issue. With experimenting by lowering the nic in the evening and also vaping 50/50 PG/VG helped bit time. Don't know if it was a placebo effect but whatever, it worked.

 

[Plooker]

I'm not a woman so I can't comment on menopause. But I've had major trouble sleeping and I've had some pretty starnge dreams since I started vaping.

I am NOT suggesting that you don't need to see a doctor but you should also consider the amount of nicotine you are ingesting. Even at 12-14 mg, if your vaping all day long, you are getting way more nicotine than if you smoked a pack of cigarettes. I am amazed at some of the folks that chain vape 36mg all day and then talk about increasing. Not good at all. That is the kinda stuff the FDA/Gov't will be looking at.

I'm also concerned that many sites will default to 36mg when you order. It implies that that level is just fine and dandy for everyone. It's not. Many kits ship with 24mg, also too high to be sending out to someone just starting. Let people choose where they want to start I say.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[tabithad]

I'm not a woman so I can't comment on menopause. But I've had major trouble sleeping and I've had some pretty starnge dreams since I started vaping.

I am NOT suggesting that you don't need to see a doctor but you should also consider the amount of nicotine you are ingesting. Even at 12-14 mg, if your vaping all day long, you are getting way more nicotine than if you smoked a pack of cigarettes. I am amazed at some of the folks that chain vape 36mg all day and then talk about increasing. Not good at all. That is the kinda stuff the FDA/Gov't will be looking at.

I'm also concerned that many sites will default to 36mg when you order. It implies that that level is just fine and dandy for everyone. It's not. Many kits ship with 24mg, also too high to be sending out to someone just starting. Let people choose where they want to start I say.

Just my 2 cents...

Really ??? I didn't know that smoking at 12/14mg was higher than smoking a pack a day ?? I figured it was like the patch when you are stepping down.... and it was more like half a pack, 21-24mg being closer to a whole pack each day

 

[Adrena]

Me neither the post got me looking for some info and I found this Ecig supplier studies. I know nothing of the maker or if the chart is accurate but it was interesting to look at. Study compares a cig an e cig and the Nicorette(r) inhaler prescription.

The Ruyan (nicotine) e-cigarette

 

[Plooker]

Really ??? I didn't know that smoking at 12/14mg was higher than smoking a pack a day ?? I figured it was like the patch when you are stepping down.... and it was more like half a pack, 21-24mg being closer to a whole pack each day

Depends on how much you vape. 12-14mg is in the range of a pack a day if you vape like you used to smoke. If you take ten to fifteen puffs and stop like you do when you smoked then, yes, it's pretty close. Bust many vapers (myself included) vape significantly more than they used to smoke.

I'm sure someone on this forum can help out as far as equivalents go. Like how many drops of a certain mg strength equals a cigarette of a certain strength. Maybe try starting a post "Nicotene equivalents: vaping vs. smoking" the veterans will come to the rescue.

Dripping can help with keeping track. If you look at like - "I'm gonna drip X number of drops and that's my cigarette". It's easier said than done, though.

 

[tabithad]

humm.... yes you are right, I may only be using 12-14mg juice but it's in my hand 24/7 lol well not when I am sleeping...or should I say "trying to sleep"

When I wake up at night I don't crave nicotine though, not like I used to , sometimes when I was a smoker and would randomly wake up I would consider going outside to have a smoke at 2am , I don't get that feeling. So dang tired all I want is to go back to sleep when I wake up now...

 

[tabithad]

I thought I was doing myself a favor by cutting down my nic level in my juice, however maybe I would be better off going back to 24mg and vaping less frequently.....

 

[pianoguy]

Have you tried melatonin? It works well for me if I'm having trouble sleeping, and was a godsend when I was trying to get back on schedule after a trip to Manila. I took it about an hour before bedtime. I also agree about cutting back on the nic level before bedtime and also avoid caffeine in the evening. Good luck!

 

[tabithad]

I did try that a week or so ago one night, my friend recommended it, it made my night worse... or it "appeared" to make it worse... some people can not take that stuff, I might be one of them, wild dreams and night sweats lol

Now I have a whole bottle....want it ? lol

 

[curiousJan]

This sounds like hormones to me ... according to a quick search nicotine reduces estrogen levels essentially by binding to estrogen receptors making the cells unable to absorb as much as they may need.

If you are vaping like me (pretty much 24/7 while I'm awake), it sounds like you might want to try again to reduce your juice strength (rather than increase it). I found that while I started at 24mg/mL, I'm now at 18 because 24 was too much since I was vaping more than I smoked.

A trip to the doctor to run some blood work would probably be a prudent thing to do as well.

Jan (who knows a bit about menopause -- surgically menopausal for 4 years now)

 

[tabithad]

I am trying to think back the past week or so, there was one night where I only woke up once and that was cause my darn cat woke me up..... and that evening I was over at a friends house, didn't vape much and then went for a evening walk... maybe I am getting too much nicotine even with low juice....
Since I quit smoking I have been sitting at my pc most evenings vaping away till my little heart was content.... maybe I should NOT be doing that... too much nic !!

 

[pianoguy]

I did try that a week or so ago one night, my friend recommended it, it made my night worse... or it "appeared" to make it worse... some people can not take that stuff, I might be one of them, wild dreams and night sweats lol

Now I have a whole bottle....want it ? lol

Har! Sorry to hear that didn't help. I did read that night sweats can be a symptom when quitting smoking, but I wouldn't think it would be going on this long. My wife went into menopause shortly after she turned 40, so that is certainly worth investigating.

 

[Dirgon]

I've had insomnia for over 6 years now, on and off. I take 100mg of Diphenhydramine HCL daily in order to sleep, and if I've got a headache (also frequent) I take Diphenhydramine with Ibuprofen or Acetaminophen. (Read: Benadryl, Benadryl and Advil (Advil PM), or Benadryl and Tylenol (Tylenol PM))

I say the actual names because ALL over the counter sleep aids contain Diphenhydramine, typically as the ONLY ingredient. They're just rebranded benadryl.

I get cranky as hell before finally falling asleep some nights, but it's literally the only thing that gets me to bed. Lunesta (I think... some big pharma sleeping pill) gives me a HORRIBLE taste in my mouth for the rest of the night and melatonin makes my eyes hurt.

Edit: Keep in mind this isn't sanctioned by a doctor, but I figure taking a boatload of benadryl beats having no sleep. I'd be up for 24-36 hours at a time without it, and I'd fall asleep and be out for 12+ when I finally crashed. That 16 up 8 down cycle never happens without me taking 100mg of benadryl.

Keep in mind that we don't absorb 100% of the nicotine content through vaping. There's no solid studies on it yet, but it's far below cigarettes. (Google freebasing nicotine, there's a reason there's ammonia in cigarettes)


I did, however, have crazy sleeping problems (moreso than normal) after I first switched to vaping. I'd wake up off and on and had crazy dreams, but for me it went away after a few weeks.