Key takeaways
- Nicotine affects sleep due to adrenaline.
- Withdrawal symptoms may disrupt sleep patterns.
- Timing vaping with sleep schedule can help.
- Reduce stress, alcohol, caffeine, and screen time.
- Consult a GP for personalized advice.
Nicotine vaping products (NVPs) are helpful in stopping smoking on your quit journey with a GP.
While it can help prevent you from smoking tobacco, this device still contains nicotine – a relatively harmless chemical that is known to affect sleep.
So, does vaping affect sleep? Will the body adapt and get better at sleeping over time while vaping? Let’s learn more about it in this post.
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How Does Vaping Affect Sleep?
Let’s make one thing clear, tobacco smoking has a worse impact on your sleep quality than NVPs from pharmacies – namely because your body absorbs dangerous chemicals like aldehydes and carbon monoxide.
NVPs from pharmacies are thoroughly tested for inhalation safety and manufactured with high medical device standards and GMP guidelines – every ingredient used is characterised and every process overseen by medical professionals. They’re manufactured with smoking cessation and your wellness in mind.
Nicotine, while quite harmless on its own, can give you a small boost of energy. It does this by stimulating your adrenal glands, causing your adrenaline levels to spike and your body to remain active for longer.
If we put two and two together, it’s possible that using your prescription NVP a few minutes or an hour before sleeping can raise your adrenaline levels, heart rate, and blood pressure because of nicotine.
Vaping Makes Me Tired. Is This Normal?
Do vapes make you tired?
Known effects of using pharmacy NVPs for the first time are coughing, lightheadedness, dry mouth (which you can solve by drinking water while using the device), and temporary throat irritation.
Feeling lightheaded after using an NVP is normal and can be similar to feeling tired. This effect is only temporary and will go away five minutes or a bit more after your last puff.
It’s possible that your withdrawal symptoms – rather than the nicotine in your pharmacy NVP – is the one causing sleep disruptions.
Can Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) Affect Sleep?
Like NVPs, NRT can affect sleep if you chew nicotine gum or use an inhaler a few hours or minutes before sleeping. Nicotine patches, which you can wear while sleeping, provide a small but consistent dose of nicotine and can possibly affect your sleep.
However, your withdrawal symptoms might also be too much for your current NRT dosage to alleviate – a frequent case for most motivated smokers trying to quit without a GP’s help. If this is the case, we recommend seeing a GP to assess your previous tobacco intake.
How to Reduce Vaping’s Effects on Sleep
As nicotine stimulates your adrenaline and momentarily raises your heart rate and blood pressure, it’s important to time your vaping periods with your sleeping schedule in mind. Alongside this, you can do the following to help improve your sleep while on a smoking cessation journey using NVPs from pharmacies.
No Vaping Hours Before Sleeping
Your GP will likely prescribe using your prescription NVPs when you feel a strong craving for tobacco and take only a few puffs. But, do not vape at least 3 to 4 hours before your sleep schedule to help your adrenaline levels and blood pressure settle down and help you sleep.
Consult a GP
If your sleep quality hasn’t improved after doing the first step, we recommend seeing a GP if you haven’t yet. Your GP could assess your nicotine intake and help you find a solution to improve your sleep quality throughout your quit journey.
Reduce Overall Stress
Have you been feeling stressed lately? Admittedly, quitting smoking even with NRT and NVP can be extremely stressful. You might be able to reduce overall stress by trying meditation and mindfulness – ways to help you confront various aspects of your life that are causing you stress.
Reduce Alcohol and Caffeine Intake
Alcohol and caffeine are two of the most well-known disrupters of sleep for anyone. In addition, alcohol is known to be a factor for smoking relapse alongside social smoking. Limit your alcohol and caffeine intake while on your smoking cessation journey. Better yet, limit your intake of these two even after you successfully quit to experience better sleep quality.
No Devices Before Sleeping
Taking your portable computer to sleep is a common practice for many people. However, if you’re trying to get better sleep quality, limit your use of devices before sleeping.
The release of melatonin encourages better sleep quality in the body, and smartphones emit blue light that limits its release. So, attach your unit to a charger an hour or two before sleeping and see if you can get better sleep.
Take Up Physical Exercise
Lastly, physical exercise is the best way to get better sleep. Your body craves physical stimulation, and you can get better rest by tiring yourself naturally. A 15-30 minute walk per day (once you can manage it in your smoking cessation journey), can do wonders for your sleep.
And if you can manage to go beyond, you can expect immense improvements in your sleep quality.
Summary
Does vaping affect sleep? It can, but with the right use of your pharmacy NVP and with the help of a stop smoking GP, you can correctly assess how your treatment tool is affecting your sleep and the best way to go about using prescription vaping to quit smoking.
We know that quitting with NVPs can be confusing at first, but we can help.
Smokefree Clinic gives you access to many medically reviewed and trustworthy resources that can inform and aid you in your path to wellness, so have a look around!
If you’re ready to get started, Smokefree can connect you to friendly Australian healthcare professionals who excel in helping patients quit smoking for good, including via the use of pharmacy NVPs.