Will drinking alcohol effect my cpap treatment.

[rickskids]

I'm so thrilled with the results I have had, I'm worried about the effects of alcohol on my sleeping. I've been doing this four weeks and really don't want anything to set me back. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Lee Lee]

It's not recommended at all. For one thing, it can cause you to need more pressure then you were titrated for. One of the websites I keep up with said this:
"One of the reasons that sleep apnea becomes worse after drinking is that when throat muscles relax and cause a cessation of breathing, you ordinarily gasp for breath and startle yourself awake. If you have been drinking, you are more relaxed, and may be unable to awaken and start breathing again. Alcoholics are at a higher risk of getting sleep apnea, other sleep disorders and sleep disruptions." (mysleepcentral.com)
That being said, I enjoy having a cocktail or two in the evening, and I have good sleep and good data most of the time. In all things, moderation!

Lee Ann

[mars]

Hi Rickskids

You do not say how much you are drinking before going to sleep, so it is hard to judge the effect on you.

Generally speaking, alcohol is a dangerous drug, and if it had just appeared in the last 20-30 years it would very likely be made illegal.

If you want to be on the safe side, I would suggest no drinking whilst you are awake, and so you will avoid all problems concerning alcohol, except those caused by others.

Otherwise, work out what a safe blood alcohol level would be for you, get an instrument for measuring blood alcohol, and keep below your safe level.

A safe level is where you metabolize the alcohol before it reaches the brain.

Alternatively, go a week with your normal drinking, and a week with no drinking, and compare the results.

Having both - an alcohol damaged brain and a sleep apnea damaged brain - I personally would tend to give what is left up there every chance of recovery.

Good luck.

cheers

Mars

PS An interesting moral/ political/ scientific arguement is currently going on in the UK

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8342454.stm

[SleepyT]

drinking alcohol has an effect on cpap therapy. if i want a beer, i try to have it before 5PM...which pretty much limits my drinking to weekends. the other night i had two beers with dinner...and my AHI numbers that night were double what they usually are.

i call CPAP the great corrector! keeps me in line...can no longer get away with things i used to!

[BlackSpinner]

Generally speaking, alcohol is a dangerous drug, and if it had just appeared in the last 20-30 years it would very likely be made illegal.

However a glass of wine daily has been shown to reduce heart ailments, reduce weight and increase life expectancy.

[rickskids]

I quit smoking for my health and it seems that alcohol is next...thanks for the input guys.

[Pugsy]

Generally speaking, alcohol is a dangerous drug, and if it had just appeared in the last 20-30 years it would very likely be made illegal

Ahh, we have been down that illegal road. It was called Prohibition. Big time illegal.
Made a lot of people very, very rich.

[mars]

Generally speaking, alcohol is a dangerous drug, and if it had just appeared in the last 20-30 years it would very likely be made illegal

Ahh, we have been down that illegal road. It was called Prohibition. Big time illegal.
Made a lot of people very, very rich.

Hi Pugsy

It is true that most people think of prohibition in the US in terms of gangsters, bootleggers and killings.

What most people do not think about is

Less child abuse
Less domestic violence
less violence due to drunkenness
Reduced deaths and injuries from car accidents
Less industrial accidents
Less other accidents
Reduced hospital admissions
Better work productivity
Apart from crimes resulting from illegality - less crimes
less police and hospital resources needed
etc

If we look at prohibition in terms of human suffering, then prohibition was a great success.

The reason is that alcohol is a dangerous drug, it causes a lot of damage to the body, to the brain, and to others. This is why prohibition worked. There is a definite correlation between the amount of alcohol available and the amount of alcohol drunk, and the amount of alcohol drunk and the level of human suffering.

Now don't get me wrong, I am the messenger on this, not the advocate.

cheers

Mars

[Pugsy]

Now don't get me wrong, I am the messenger on this, not the advocate.

Nah, I was just pointing to a historical thing.
I won't go into the evils of whatever because I think differently and it means nothing and won't do anything but open up another can of worms and I am sick of worms at this point.

[BlackSpinner]

The reason is that alcohol is a dangerous drug, it causes a lot of damage to the body, to the brain, and to others. This is why prohibition worked. There is a definite correlation between the amount of alcohol available and the amount of alcohol drunk, and the amount of alcohol drunk and the level of human suffering.

But there is also:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/red-wine/HB00089
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 222705.htm
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Truth-Abo ... e&id=48582
Plus this information dates back to studies done in the 40's when the information was suppressed because "alcohol can't be good for you" and that people can't be trusted to self dose of course!

Note that it is specific to red wine.

Glasgow in Scotland and Toulouse in France show many similarities and yet many differences. The inhabitants of both cities eat tremendous amounts of high fat foods, traditionally take little exercise and drink alcohol. The surprising difference is that while the people of Glasgow have one of the highest rates of CHD in the world, the fortunate people of Toulouse have one of the lowest. Traditionally beer and spirits are the preferred drinks in Glasgow, while the folks in Toulouse drink red wine

.

[freepostg]

Switch to Scotch and drink a lot of it. Get an auto cpap and forget about your troubles!

[tillymarigold]

That's why I use an Auto machine ...

No, I mean, it's not the reason of course, but having an Auto machine means I don't worry too much about having all the alcohol out of my system before I go to bed.

[potholerepairman]

If you get drunk and don't put your cpap on it will definitely affect your cpap treatment.

[Sleepy Taz]

I quit smoking for my health and it seems that alcohol is next...thanks for the input guys.

Quitting a 2-3 pack a day 35 year habit was bad. Not drinking when I loved to party was bad, Changing my diet to eat healthy and live longer is harder than both.

[jnk]

I believe that this is a highly individual thing depending on an individual's own nervous system; you have to look at your efficacy numbers to see if and how YOU are affected.

For me, even very little wine in the evening affects my numbers a LOT, so I rarely indulge. I usually have an AHI on my ResMed around 5 and an AI of less than one, often 0.3 or 0.1. But one beer or as little as one quarter of a glass of wine in the evening can put my AHI over 10 for that night and make my AI as high as 3, even with high pressure! I think my nervous system may just be particularly sensitive to it for some reason, and I don't think that is the case for the majority, but I would say it is worth keeping an eye on the data to see.