Affected by cigarette smoke?..Proof enough for me!

I had company at the house last week overnight 2 nights. The gentleman of the couple is a smoker. He has always been allowed to smoke in the house, in the kitchen with the fan going.

The day they arrived he forgot to turn on the fan and so there was smoke throughout the house. No big deal to an ex-smoker right? Normally I wouldn’t have cared. When I got up the following morning (my normal range on CPAP seems to be 0.0 – 2.5) it was 7.0. A little alarming to me but I wasn’t sure if it was really the smoke.

Off they go for a few days, the range becomes normal again and then they’re back for one night again. Before they get to the house, this time I’m traveling in a vehicle with them. I’m sitting in the back, he’s smoking in the front…window cracked, stuck in traffic…getting lots of smoke. Now to the house where he continues to smoke. I’m not saying anything because I’m very curious if it’s actually the smoke. Monday morning I wake up and immediately (as always) check my machine and pretty much didn’t believe what I was seeing so I went and got my glasses…13.8. Oh oh.

Monday night windows were opened to air out the house for a while. This morning it was 0.2

I wonder if incense and / or stove burning smoke has the same effect. Maybe that's what the battle with my AHI has been about.

After seeing what happened those two nights for me, I'd be inclined to try and stay away from the incense and smoke if you can for a couple of days and see what happens. I never thought it would cause such a change!

kismet210 wrote:After seeing what happened those two nights for me, I'd be inclined to try and stay away from the incense and smoke if you can for a couple of days and see what happens. I never thought it would cause such a change!

Hmmmmm both are going to be a little difficult. I can stay away from the incense at home, but I'm Orthodox - at it is used often and in abundance at church. The wood stove is going to be a challenge since its the main source of heat for the house... but maybe wearing a face mask when I put in more wood. . .maybe at church too.

Thank you for posting your observation. . . I've been MONTHS fighting with my AHI.

Oh my...that would be a little tough, yes it would.

What about the pressure? Are you able to adjust the pressure to see if maybe the setting is not right for you?

quietmorning wrote:

kismet210 wrote:After seeing what happened those two nights for me, I'd be inclined to try and stay away from the incense and smoke if you can for a couple of days and see what happens. I never thought it would cause such a change!

Hmmmmm both are going to be a little difficult. I can stay away from the incense at home, but I'm Orthodox - at it is used often and in abundance at church. The wood stove is going to be a challenge since its the main source of heat for the house... but maybe wearing a face mask when I put in more wood. . .maybe at church too.

Thank you for posting your observation. . . I've been MONTHS fighting with my AHI.

If your wood stove is properly vented, then you really shouldn't be a factor. DEAN

qmx wrote:

quietmorning wrote:

kismet210 wrote:After seeing what happened those two nights for me, I'd be inclined to try and stay away from the incense and smoke if you can for a couple of days and see what happens. I never thought it would cause such a change!

Hmmmmm both are going to be a little difficult. I can stay away from the incense at home, but I'm Orthodox - at it is used often and in abundance at church. The wood stove is going to be a challenge since its the main source of heat for the house... but maybe wearing a face mask when I put in more wood. . .maybe at church too.

Thank you for posting your observation. . . I've been MONTHS fighting with my AHI.

If your wood stove is properly vented, then you really shouldn't be a factor. DEAN

It is now that the chimney sweep came and gave it a thorough cleaning. We just received a new load of wood, and this wood doesn't burn as well, so there's been more smoke than usual when I open the stove to put more in. I don't think we'll get the same wood again. :-/

Wood needs to be properly seasoned; you may have been sold a green load.
Let them know you are feeling the effects of it.

chunkyfrog wrote:Wood needs to be properly seasoned; you may have been sold a green load.
Let them know you are feeling the effects of it.

Yep. I will. It shouldn't be green.

Smoke in my house?

It doesn't take much smoke to infect your CPAP...change the filter and hope that the smoke has not penetrated the foam insulation inside the CPAP. It takes a l o n g time to get rid of the smoke smell.

I always wondered what Catholics who are sensitive to smoke would do. I went to a funeral for a dear friend and the incense almost killed me--I had to leave the church. And the aftermath of asthmatic bronchitis wasn't very nice. My daughter (the teenage crumudgeon who's no longer a teenager) thinks it's highly amusing that a Catholic funeral almost killed me.

I'm starting to have trouble even with our Friday night candles--when they go out the smoke bugs my lungs even if I'm in another room. Supposedly beeswax candles won't cause the same problem, but I haven't found a steady supply.

I'm Catholic, and I have been to a few funerals, but omy experienced incense once at a service that wasn't a funeral. I can't remember when or where it was, but it was new to me.

This past week, I went to a funeral for a former co-worker. She was Chinese, and more than half the attendees were Chinese. There was a LOT of incense. Had I known, I would have taken allergy medication before going in. I spent most of the funeral praying I wouldn't have a loud sneeze attack during the service. Thankfully, I made it, and my congestion cleared up pretty quickly once we were outside. I did put some allergy gel on my nose before going in because I expected flowers. So, that probably helped.

Janknitz wrote:I always wondered what Catholics who are sensitive to smoke would do. I went to a funeral for a dear friend and the incense almost killed me--I had to leave the church. And the aftermath of asthmatic bronchitis wasn't very nice. My daughter (the teenage crumudgeon who's no longer a teenager) thinks it's highly amusing that a Catholic funeral almost killed me.

I'm starting to have trouble even with our Friday night candles--when they go out the smoke bugs my lungs even if I'm in another room. Supposedly beeswax candles won't cause the same problem, but I haven't found a steady supply.

A much cheaper alternative to beeswax are oil candles - if you use virgin olive oil. You can use any cup - and a cork wick float holder or a long wick with a specifically designed wick holder - place about a quarter cup of water in the bottom, then fill the rest with olive oil. Olive oil burns cleaner than even beeswax and it's less expensive in the long run. The smoke from this type of candle is clean enough that I wouldn't worry about it effecting my apnea at all.