I'm not a great believer in "random coincidences", but I'd be interested to hear of other ECF members experiences with high strength NRT patches. It would be interesting to see if anyone else has had the same encounters.
Just after 2004 or thereabouts, and over the next 10 years or so, I had a number of semi-succesful attempts giving up smoking using this method. The only one that truly worked for me was the 24 hour patch, applied last thing at night so I woke in the morning having those very lucid "nicotine driven" dreams. The best I can describe this is as is very intense, surreal, weird dreams in vivid colour - the sort of thing your grandmother would suggest was down to eating too much cheese before going to bed. As I awoke in a relatively good frame of mind [I am not a morning person - I'm convinced 85% of my dna is vampire], I could skip the first analogue of the day. So far so good. I'd cut down on the nicotine levels, and eventually wean myself off both patches and the nicotine, and last maybe 6 months before something tipped me over the edge and I'd fall off the wagon and start smoking again. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Then something very strange happened. I used to put the patches on my back, roughly where my kidneys were. I'd alternate sides daily to prevent any skin irritation, but there was no obvious sign of severe allergy or a bad reaction other than a very slight redening of my skin, which I put down to the adhesive. I have always had sensitive skin, and suffered bad eczema as a child. So nothing out of ordinary there.
I then started suffering the most violent back pain imaginable every few days, which actually made me nauseous and close to tears on a number of occasions. The pain was indescribable, but it was not muscular, skeletal or down to a trapped nerve AFAIK. The best I can describe it was if someone wrapped a steel belt around your waist and just kept tightening it. It didn't affect me on the front, and my breathing was fine, and it was not my lungs themselves. It was just purely across the small of my back.
I didn't think much of it [typical male here, grin and bear it, doctors are for wimps etc.], until a few weeks later. I woke up one morning feeling absolutely wretched, and very panicky. I didn't know what was wrong with me at the time [more on this later], and decided to go downstairs. As I walked into the kitchen, I realised I was about to collapse, but something very strange happened. I just knew I had to get that nicotine patch off my back or I was going to die. I reached around, and ripped it off, just before I passed out with such force that I totally destroyed the kitchen waste bin that broke my fall in the process. An angel, God, my subconscious or a higher being, I really don't know, but I'm convinced I'd be compost now if I hadn't acted at the time - but I do believe someone was looking out for me. As for my other half, she was sound asleep in bed and didn't wake up. I did scare the cat senseless though. Any protestations from Mrs OG about being a "light sleeper" are now met with a very wry grin ...
Half an hour later, and I was back to my usual self. I was probably only out for a few minutes or so. A cup of coffee and a RYO later and I was my usual, grumpy, cantenkerous, morning self. I know there are grave risks to your health if you smoke while you are on NRT, but I hadn't been doing that at the time. Admittedly, when I was on the lower mg pathches I'd sneak a couple of RYO's from time to time, but nothing major. I was convinced that I had suffered a nicotine overdose, and I started joining the dots with the back pain. Probably wasn't the wisest thing to smoke after the event, but it didn't affect me in the slightest.
Asking around in the office, I found out that quite a few other people had really bad reactions to the patches. What was for me such strong empirical evidence that these things are not as safe as they seem, was 2 accounts from 2 other colleagues. One chap put the patches on his arm, and was suffering really bad pain in his arms. Another placed them on his legs, and was suffering leg pain. I put mine on my back ...
I finally bit the bullet and went to my doctor, and it wasn't until I went through a thorough examination they then discovered I had COPD. I went on various inhalers etc, and would take ventolin at night which always pushed my heart rate up, but not that severely. I decided to get a mini-heart rate oxygen meter, and discovered [as I'd always known] that I'm a typical high/fast metabolism sort of guy, thin as a rake, but even at rest my heart rate sat around 110-160 BPM without discomfort. Then one morning I woke up feeling like death [as I did during my dustbin encounter, but nowhere quite near as bad]. Recognising the symptoms, I put the heart monitor on and I was sitting at a rather spectacular 220 BPM. A call to the doctor and a trip to the emergency room later, some oxygen and a saline drip brought be back to a reasonable level, and it was then I ended up on beta-blockers which have managed this condition well so far.
What is really strange about this whole thing is I used to drink maybe 5-12 cups of really strong coffee a day. Never touched the sides, didn't affect my heart rate or my sleep patterns. Many a time I'd drink 3-4 strong espresso shots, go to bed an hour later and sleep like a baby. I know this as I monitored my heart rate after drinking coffee [which I sort of gave up later on as a precaution]. I dread to think what my heart rate was like that morning I collapsed, but I guess I was heading for 250 BPM. With the ventolin episode, I managed to get to ER [20 mins away], and wait for 5-10 minutes before I was seen. The nurses face was a picture when I explained what was wrong with me [That classic, yeah, right I believe you look], but I had calmed down a bit by then. The more accurate hospital ECG had me at 195 BPM at rest, which the doctor put down to the Ventolin.
So here I am, at least now I can manage my nicotine intake, vaping on my own terms. If you don't hear from me ever again, I've messed up on the nicotine dosage on my first batch of DIY fluids and the beta-blockers have failed ...
.
Just after 2004 or thereabouts, and over the next 10 years or so, I had a number of semi-succesful attempts giving up smoking using this method. The only one that truly worked for me was the 24 hour patch, applied last thing at night so I woke in the morning having those very lucid "nicotine driven" dreams. The best I can describe this is as is very intense, surreal, weird dreams in vivid colour - the sort of thing your grandmother would suggest was down to eating too much cheese before going to bed. As I awoke in a relatively good frame of mind [I am not a morning person - I'm convinced 85% of my dna is vampire], I could skip the first analogue of the day. So far so good. I'd cut down on the nicotine levels, and eventually wean myself off both patches and the nicotine, and last maybe 6 months before something tipped me over the edge and I'd fall off the wagon and start smoking again. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Then something very strange happened. I used to put the patches on my back, roughly where my kidneys were. I'd alternate sides daily to prevent any skin irritation, but there was no obvious sign of severe allergy or a bad reaction other than a very slight redening of my skin, which I put down to the adhesive. I have always had sensitive skin, and suffered bad eczema as a child. So nothing out of ordinary there.
I then started suffering the most violent back pain imaginable every few days, which actually made me nauseous and close to tears on a number of occasions. The pain was indescribable, but it was not muscular, skeletal or down to a trapped nerve AFAIK. The best I can describe it was if someone wrapped a steel belt around your waist and just kept tightening it. It didn't affect me on the front, and my breathing was fine, and it was not my lungs themselves. It was just purely across the small of my back.
I didn't think much of it [typical male here, grin and bear it, doctors are for wimps etc.], until a few weeks later. I woke up one morning feeling absolutely wretched, and very panicky. I didn't know what was wrong with me at the time [more on this later], and decided to go downstairs. As I walked into the kitchen, I realised I was about to collapse, but something very strange happened. I just knew I had to get that nicotine patch off my back or I was going to die. I reached around, and ripped it off, just before I passed out with such force that I totally destroyed the kitchen waste bin that broke my fall in the process. An angel, God, my subconscious or a higher being, I really don't know, but I'm convinced I'd be compost now if I hadn't acted at the time - but I do believe someone was looking out for me. As for my other half, she was sound asleep in bed and didn't wake up. I did scare the cat senseless though. Any protestations from Mrs OG about being a "light sleeper" are now met with a very wry grin ...
Half an hour later, and I was back to my usual self. I was probably only out for a few minutes or so. A cup of coffee and a RYO later and I was my usual, grumpy, cantenkerous, morning self. I know there are grave risks to your health if you smoke while you are on NRT, but I hadn't been doing that at the time. Admittedly, when I was on the lower mg pathches I'd sneak a couple of RYO's from time to time, but nothing major. I was convinced that I had suffered a nicotine overdose, and I started joining the dots with the back pain. Probably wasn't the wisest thing to smoke after the event, but it didn't affect me in the slightest.
Asking around in the office, I found out that quite a few other people had really bad reactions to the patches. What was for me such strong empirical evidence that these things are not as safe as they seem, was 2 accounts from 2 other colleagues. One chap put the patches on his arm, and was suffering really bad pain in his arms. Another placed them on his legs, and was suffering leg pain. I put mine on my back ...
I finally bit the bullet and went to my doctor, and it wasn't until I went through a thorough examination they then discovered I had COPD. I went on various inhalers etc, and would take ventolin at night which always pushed my heart rate up, but not that severely. I decided to get a mini-heart rate oxygen meter, and discovered [as I'd always known] that I'm a typical high/fast metabolism sort of guy, thin as a rake, but even at rest my heart rate sat around 110-160 BPM without discomfort. Then one morning I woke up feeling like death [as I did during my dustbin encounter, but nowhere quite near as bad]. Recognising the symptoms, I put the heart monitor on and I was sitting at a rather spectacular 220 BPM. A call to the doctor and a trip to the emergency room later, some oxygen and a saline drip brought be back to a reasonable level, and it was then I ended up on beta-blockers which have managed this condition well so far.
What is really strange about this whole thing is I used to drink maybe 5-12 cups of really strong coffee a day. Never touched the sides, didn't affect my heart rate or my sleep patterns. Many a time I'd drink 3-4 strong espresso shots, go to bed an hour later and sleep like a baby. I know this as I monitored my heart rate after drinking coffee [which I sort of gave up later on as a precaution]. I dread to think what my heart rate was like that morning I collapsed, but I guess I was heading for 250 BPM. With the ventolin episode, I managed to get to ER [20 mins away], and wait for 5-10 minutes before I was seen. The nurses face was a picture when I explained what was wrong with me [That classic, yeah, right I believe you look], but I had calmed down a bit by then. The more accurate hospital ECG had me at 195 BPM at rest, which the doctor put down to the Ventolin.
So here I am, at least now I can manage my nicotine intake, vaping on my own terms. If you don't hear from me ever again, I've messed up on the nicotine dosage on my first batch of DIY fluids and the beta-blockers have failed ...
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