Drinking Alcohol - Effects??

[Ronnie Libra]

This could be my imagination. I doubt it.

I hear drinking alcohol is bad for a Sleep Apneatic such as myself, but here's some things I notice and I want to know what other people think as far as experience goes, not so much interested in THEORY.

When I drink moderate amounts of alcohol like a couple beers or a glass or two of wine, I notice I feel pretty good, and awake the next day, if not a tiny groggy from the alcohol, but WAY BETTER than a night of bad sleep.

Then what happens, is maybe the next night sleep sucks. Like some sort of delayed hang over. I don't know if this makes any sense. For instance. Today I am feeling half tired but enough to be up and about. Yesterday I felt MORE awake but also a bit hung over, because I had a buddy I shared s bottle of sake with the day before.

So I'm trying to figure out how much the consumption of alcohol affects me. Like I said, it seems to help short term, but then I'm not sure whether or not the longer term effects are in my mind or not. I'm really new to all this cpap, apnea, stuff.

Has anyone else had a similar experience to what I'm talking about?

[wildman 2]

Ronnie,
This was once explained to me years ago. It is a rebound effect. I wish I could explain it to you. I'm sure someone smarter than me will give you an explanation. I ended up drinking less a t parties and such because it just wasn't worth going through a day of bad moods and no energy. Alcohol can really mess up your sleep apnea treatments!! Just not worth it to me anymore!!
Know His Peace,
Bob

[Ronnie Libra]

Ronnie,
This was once explained to me years ago. It is a rebound effect. I wish I could explain it to you. I'm sure someone smarter than me will give you an explanation. I ended up drinking less a t parties and such because it just wasn't worth going through a day of bad moods and no energy. Alcohol can really mess up your sleep apnea treatments!! Just not worth it to me anymore!!
Know His Peace,
Bob

Here's the difficult part of that.... I'm a bartender.

[Julie]

Alcohol is a depressant, and will therefore make you sleepier, making your Cpap have to work harder for you, never mind how you feel the next day... You might have felt great one day after drinking but I wouldn't count on it as being the answer to anything and if you're looking for permission, using it with cpap is not the way to go... just asking for trouble. I'd change my job before risking my life.

[chunkyfrog]

There ARE diabetic bakers.
Who says you have to consume the merchandise?
Is that even permitted?
Certainly not a good idea.

[FarmGirl]

Ronnie,
This was once explained to me years ago. It is a rebound effect. I wish I could explain it to you. I'm sure someone smarter than me will give you an explanation. I ended up drinking less a t parties and such because it just wasn't worth going through a day of bad moods and no energy. Alcohol can really mess up your sleep apnea treatments!! Just not worth it to me anymore!!
Know His Peace,
Bob

Here's the difficult part of that.... I'm a bartender.

Are you looking for permission?

[HoseCrusher]

Actually, you are in the perfect place to conduct some testing...

As you know, there are many varieties of beer, wine, and other spirits. On the first night take half a glass and see what happens two days following. Jot your reaction down in a log book for future reference. Repeat the next test with a whole glass. Repeat again with two glasses, then again with three.

Once you find your "limit," you can switch to see if it is brand dependent or just the blood level of alcohol that causes the problems.

When you finish your testing you can write a book. "The Bartenders Guide to CPAP..."

[yawnny]

FWIW, I don't drink often, but a couple times a year on "special" occasions, I have been know to hoist one too many, definitely would not drive after. Felt like crap the next day, but the data from my S9 auto did not indicate any additional apneas or increased pressure being delivered. This is only my experience, and your mileage may definitely vary, my advice is don't do it unless your doc is OK with it.

As an aside, the respiratory therapist from my DME told me that the APAP was initially developed for use by heavy drinkers who might need a pressure increase in response to more relaxed airway. I don't believe a word of it though.

[Sleep2Die4]

As an aside, the respiratory therapist from my DME told me that the APAP was initially developed for use by heavy drinkers who might need a pressure increase in response to more relaxed airway. I don't believe a word of it though.

I saw the forum has a Hall of Fame for DME Biggest Lies. You should nominate that one.

Drinking Alcohol - Effects??

I did a lot of reading at Dr. Park's site. His specialty and passion are sleep apnea and he is highly regarded by patients. He wrote this

"7 Ways to Speed Up Aging"

#2. Drink a night cap before bedtime

Alcohol may help you to fall asleep better and faster, but it causes your throat muscles to relax and you’ll stop breathing much more often, preventing you from achieving continuous deep and REM sleep. Not sleeping deeply can increase stress levels, making it difficult to shut down your brain when you’re trying to fall asleep. Drinking alcohol before bedtime can help you to go to sleep, but you end up aggravating this vicious cycle. Alcohol also irritate the stomach, creating more acid production.

The whole article is interesting - http://doctorstevenpark.com/7-ways-to%c ... d-up-aging

If you have a machine with software you can experiment to see whether you have more apneas when drinking.

[Ronnie Libra]

I'm not sure why anyone was asking me if I needed permission. I think I stated clearly what I was wondering in my initial thread.

The bartender thing is like this. I don't drink a lot, I tend to enjoy a drink here and again socially. So the purpose of this thread is wondering who else has experienced whatever reactions from drinking.

As you can see, 1 person says, "Don't risk your life!" while another says, "Run an experiment to see what happens if..."

Opinions vary, experiences may vary. Wildman 2, your response was kind of interesting, implying that this is not something unique to just me.

Julie - what do you mean by risking my life?

We're not talking about me going out and getting completely wasted, like I'm an alcoholic, this is about drinking moderately and socially. The reason I brought this thread up in the first place is because I have heard drinking is bad for sleep apnea people, and I wanted to know specifically why, from people who have experience drinking here and there, with more cpap experience than I do.

I was gonna take a couple weeks to not drink, anyway, and see for myself if this makes a difference, so I figured, Hey! Let's learn in the process....

[Ronnie Libra]

I did a lot of reading at Dr. Park's site. His specialty and passion are sleep apnea and he is highly regarded by patients. He wrote this

"7 Ways to Speed Up Aging"

#2. Drink a night cap before bedtime

Alcohol may help you to fall asleep better and faster, but it causes your throat muscles to relax and you’ll stop breathing much more often, preventing you from achieving continuous deep and REM sleep. Not sleeping deeply can increase stress levels, making it difficult to shut down your brain when you’re trying to fall asleep. Drinking alcohol before bedtime can help you to go to sleep, but you end up aggravating this vicious cycle. Alcohol also irritate the stomach, creating more acid production.

The whole article is interesting - http://doctorstevenpark.com/7-ways-to%c ... d-up-aging

If you have a machine with software you can experiment to see whether you have more apneas when drinking.

Respect on this. Thanks for the insight.

[Julie]

Hi -

Every time you sleep either without cpap altogether, or else compromise the experience in some way (by drinking, by taking meds, by napping without cpap) you're risking your life... I wouldn't be using the thing if I didn't think it mattered, that one day I might not wake up but hadn't yet settled on what would happen to my cats, etc. etc.

Maybe a little dramatic, but it does happen and I'm not interested in being the topic of a new posting any time soon.

[ozze_dollar]

I find if I have a couple of drinks I go out like a light and get 8 hours straight. he he just me

[FarmGirl]

When someone tells me

Here's the difficult part of that.... I'm a bartender.

it sends (to me) the message that they are drinkers (1 beer, 5 wines, 3 mixed drinks, 2 whatever-pops-your-cork) and are looking for an excuse/permission to continue.

As a bartender, you know (or should know) what even one drink can do to a body (decreased reflexes, decreased, inhibitions, increased mortality, etc).

::: off my soapbox :::

[chunkyfrog]

There have been apnea patients who had dramatic, very frightening experiences due to drinking.
Apnea and alcohol is a very dangerous combination--even with therapy.