I posted this in 2016 in this thread: Starting to smell smoke after years of vaping?
Some of the replies freaked me out and the phantom smoke smell went away eventually though I don't know exactly how. I received some questions from other people so I thought I should follow up on what happened in my situation.
About three years ago I ended up going to the doctor because I couldn't sleep and was referred to a sleep specialist and found out I had sleep apnea. I had a week on their sleep monitor and was told I stopped breathing hundreds (or thousands? can't remember, but a lot!) of times a night and could suffocate and die at any time. Then they wanted me to buy a cpap machine and be hooked up to this thing for the rest of my life, like a pod in The Matrix, and pay for all these supplies regularly. After a week on the cpap machine I was almost suffocated by the machine multiple times and I woke up gasping for air, either because I knocked the mask loose in my sleep or because they said they had to adjust settings over the internet.
I knew the cpap wasn't going to work for me so I took it all back and never went back to the doctor (I was "only" out the $1000 or so for all the testing and what not). From reading about sleep apnea and my own logic, it made sense if I was overweight that my nasal passages and throat could be enlarged also and could be causing my breathing problems. I totally changed my diet and never ate fast food or processed food again and had to cut back to 1500-1700 calories a day to lose about 2-6 lbs of weight a week. I lost almost half of my body weight over the course of 1.5 years and my sleep apnea went away. Over that period I also switched up my vaping hardware and juice so I don't know when the phantom smoke smell disappeared, but it did, and luckily I didn't have brain cancer or anything else some people suggested.
I know weight isn't the only thing that causes sleep apnea, but in my case it did. Now I actually get REM sleep and when I get to bed on time, I'm fully rested. From what the doctors told me, before all this I was being woken constantly trying to breath. I was tired 24 hours a day no matter how much "sleep" I got and would fall asleep just sitting down for a few minutes anywhere. Sometimes I had to pull off the road for a 10 minute nap or risk falling asleep while driving. Driving long distances was misery. Now when I think back I can only describe those years as a walking dream. That's what it felt like being deprived of sleep for years.
It's hard to believe that obstructed breathing wouldn't have contributed to the sense of smell, but it was either that or just switching up my vaping. I believe the weight had something to do with it.
Some of the replies freaked me out and the phantom smoke smell went away eventually though I don't know exactly how. I received some questions from other people so I thought I should follow up on what happened in my situation.
About three years ago I ended up going to the doctor because I couldn't sleep and was referred to a sleep specialist and found out I had sleep apnea. I had a week on their sleep monitor and was told I stopped breathing hundreds (or thousands? can't remember, but a lot!) of times a night and could suffocate and die at any time. Then they wanted me to buy a cpap machine and be hooked up to this thing for the rest of my life, like a pod in The Matrix, and pay for all these supplies regularly. After a week on the cpap machine I was almost suffocated by the machine multiple times and I woke up gasping for air, either because I knocked the mask loose in my sleep or because they said they had to adjust settings over the internet.
I knew the cpap wasn't going to work for me so I took it all back and never went back to the doctor (I was "only" out the $1000 or so for all the testing and what not). From reading about sleep apnea and my own logic, it made sense if I was overweight that my nasal passages and throat could be enlarged also and could be causing my breathing problems. I totally changed my diet and never ate fast food or processed food again and had to cut back to 1500-1700 calories a day to lose about 2-6 lbs of weight a week. I lost almost half of my body weight over the course of 1.5 years and my sleep apnea went away. Over that period I also switched up my vaping hardware and juice so I don't know when the phantom smoke smell disappeared, but it did, and luckily I didn't have brain cancer or anything else some people suggested.
I know weight isn't the only thing that causes sleep apnea, but in my case it did. Now I actually get REM sleep and when I get to bed on time, I'm fully rested. From what the doctors told me, before all this I was being woken constantly trying to breath. I was tired 24 hours a day no matter how much "sleep" I got and would fall asleep just sitting down for a few minutes anywhere. Sometimes I had to pull off the road for a 10 minute nap or risk falling asleep while driving. Driving long distances was misery. Now when I think back I can only describe those years as a walking dream. That's what it felt like being deprived of sleep for years.
It's hard to believe that obstructed breathing wouldn't have contributed to the sense of smell, but it was either that or just switching up my vaping. I believe the weight had something to do with it.
