Insomnia and hot flashes

[aaudet74]

Hi there!! Just curious if anyone else has experienced random insomnia? Also I seem to have hot flashes every night when I try to go to sleep. I'm only 2 and a half weeks into my quit. Hot flashes could be something else as I am 48 years old. Lolol But they only started happening every night after I quit. Is it just me or has this happened to anyone else?

Thanks!!

[JohnRPolito]

Anne, if you ended nicotine use, nicotine somehow doubled the rate by which the liver eliminated caffeine from the bloodstream (also see "Your blood caffeine level will double" for symptoms & caffeine levels in various products).   Now the caffeine effects of an evening cup of tea or a Coke or Pepsi can feel like two  Consider a caffeine reduction of up to 50 percent to return your blood caffeine level to baseline.

As Joel explains in "Sleep adjustments after quitting smoking," there's also that possibility that the amount of sleep required now that smoke's 7,000 chemicals are no longer present has changed (also watch the related videos linked at the bottom of the page).

As for hot flashes, a 2015 study followed 761 women aged 45 to 54 years of age at baseline for 1 to 7 years.  It found that "women who quit smoking were less likely to suffer from hot flashes, less likely to have severe hot flashes, and less likely to have frequent hot flashes than women who continued to smoke (OR=0.55, 0.80, 0.76), but were more likely to suffer from any hot flashes, more severe hot flashes, and more frequent hot flashes than women who never smoked (OR=2.55, 1.68, 1.46). "

And congratulations on 2.5 weeks of the most intense healing your body's 30 trillion cells have likely ever experienced.  As you're hopefully well aware, there's just one rule to keeping the healing and repair going for years to come.   No nicotine today, to Never Take Another Puff!  

Breathe deep, hug hard, live long,

John -  100% nicotine-free since 05/15/99 & still loving it!

[Barbscloud]

@aaudet74 There are many withdrawal symptoms when we quit smoking.  Some are very unexpected.   You've just eliminated nicotine and thousand of chemicals, so your body is going to react.

Insomnia is very common.  Google ways to treat insomnia whether from quitting smoking or not.  I have read about night sweats when quitting , but necessarily described as hot flashes in women.

Here are a few common symptoms, but there are more!

These symptoms should pass for most quitters in a few weeks.  Hang in there.  We smoked a long time, so it's going to take some time to feel better.

Congrats on your quit.  You're doing great so keep up the good work.

Barb

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome!

Looks like your specific questions have been addressed, so I will provide my usual welcome information.

The important thing you can do right now is to educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind. To that end, I highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.”    You can purchase a digital version online or borrow it at your local library.  Here is a video to inform you further about nicotine addiction: Nicotine and Your Brain

I quit over ten years ago and I base my overall recommendations on my experience and that of others over the years. if you decide to use a quit aid, I recommend those that don't let the addict control the dose such as Rx drugs and the patch. Each cigarette you smoked contained about 1 mg of nicotine. If you use more than one form of NRT, be sure you aren't getting more than when you smoked.

The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced.  Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand in a place different from when you smoked. Maybe switch to tea for a bit.  If you always had that first smoke with your coffee, try putting your tennies on right out of bed, going for a quick walk, then taking your shower and THEN your coffee! .  Take a different route to work. Take a quick walk at break time where the smokers AREN'T.

You need to distract yourself through any craves.  You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), do a few jumping jacks, go for a brisk walk or march in place, play a computer game.  Keep a cold bottle of water with you. Don't let that smoking thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged. You might visit “Games”: The active ones are at the top of the list going down the left side of the page.

Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas:

101 Things to Do Instead of Smoke - EX Community

The conversation in your head in response to the "I want a cigarette" thought needs to be, "Well, since I have decided not to do that anymore, what shall I do instead for the three minutes this crave will last?"  Then DO it.  You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.

You might want to join other site members by taking the daily pledge when you quit. IT helps to hold yourself accountable and also accountable to others here. Find it at Home (top left), then first blue box.

Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!

Nancy