Smoking is a Sleep Aid?

[pipefish]

I only smoke in the evening and I find that I fall asleep much faster on my pipe nights. I mostly smoke aromatics with low nicotine levels, so for me it's definitely the relaxing nature of pipe smoking that gets me sleepy.

 

[blendtobac]

I'll be submitting this month's article about nicotine, but one little insight- nicotine is a biphasic substance. In lower doses consumed slowly, it can have a soporific (sleep-inducing/calming) affect, but faster and higher volume intake is stimulating. That's why a lot of people tend to puff away a bit more with the early day smoke.
Russ

 

[foggymountain]

Yes it is a mild sleeping medicine. That does not eliminate the possibility that you are crazy.

 

[spartan]

A good 45 minute session with SWMBO is the best sleep aid I've found on the market. But it's expensive and not very reliable.
A pipe is usually the runner-up.

 

[phred]

I made the mistake of drinking a caffeinated beverage at dinnertime on a weeknight a few weeks back, and at bedtime was still bouncing off the walls. Went out and smoked a pipe, came back in, washed up, went to bed and slept like the dead.
Nicotine is an interesting substance - as Russ pointed out, it's both a stimulant and a depressant, depending on dosage and other factors. I find it both calms me down and sharpens my focus.

 

[mso489]

foggymountain, possibility that I'm crazy? I call it a guarantee.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

On days I work a swing shift I'll sometimes have a bowl or two in the late morning and I find it helps get me going for the day. I also find that in the evening a nice relaxing bowl helps me go to bed. For me it works both ways.

 

[rmason]

I just discovered the miracle of smoking before bed, it lets me collect my thoughts and relax it's a great sleep aid only problem for me was making the mistake of using Irish Flake (I grabbed the wrong bag of cube cut and found out when I went to smoke it).

~Ron

 

[zenforest]

I had been suffering from Sleep Apnea. I would fall asleep, but my snoring would wake me up constantly. Sound funny ? Let me tell you.....it's not. You go months on end without ever getting any nice, deep, REM sleep. Its miserable.
Not even thinking about that issue, I took up Pipe Smoking again. After a couple weeks of smoking a couple bowls a day on average.......suddenly......no more Sleep Apnea.
I fall asleep, and STAY asleep ! Deeeeeep REM Sleep ! Ahhhhhhhhh
If I had to offer a reason, I would suggest that my Nasal Passages are ever so slightly more cleared, and this helps me breath at night from my nose.
Link to what Sleep Apnea is http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sleepapnea/
Could smoking a pipe be a cure ?
Perhaps I can get tobacco covered by my heath insurance now ????

 

[tuold]

I think yoru is on to something with meditation as an aid to peaceful sleep. My personal belief is the nicotine sharpens the mind without stimulating the rest of the nervous system to the point where there is not an adrenaline-type reaction. With my pipe I can relax and think things through clearly. The problems of the day can be put away with calm, thoughtful resolution.
I compose music and there are times when I get writer's block. After an hour or so with my pipe I can come back with all kinds of ideas. Listening to music,viewing art or reciting a mantra can do the same thing but they don't taste quite as good. ::

 

[beefeater33]

I'm insomniac--- Nicotine just makes it worse, but I still love it. I've never been one to go right to sleep after a bowl, but I wish I could!!

 

[andrew]

It's called nightcap for a reason.

 

[yaddy306]

It's called nightcap for a reason

Because you wear it on your head?

 

[kanaka95]

Definitely i find that smoking a pipe close to bed time helps put me out.This is what i usually do while spending sometime on the forums with you awesome people before i go to bed.Then walla sleep like a lamb.

 

[thesmokindragon]

@ Fsu2 ~ you are correct ~ Just enough of Lady Nic and she will pick you right up (AM Smokes), Full-on with Lady Nic and good night :puffpipe:

 

[claypipesarchaeologist]

Smoking before bed gives me crazy vivid dreams. I hear slapping a nicotine patch on before bed will give you the most realistic dreams of all. I'd like to try that, if I wasn't so cheap.

 

[fadingdaylight]

It is true claypipes, the nicotine, being a stimulant, increases brain function and focus. Although the body may be physically relaxed (oh so comfortable...) the brain continues to function at peak operating speed, hence the enhanced dreams. Studies have been done that show consuming caffiene just before sleeping can aid in inducing lucid dreaming as well.
I have done the patch thing, and honestly, as a guy who generally never remembers his dreams, I found the intense dreams unpleasant. Just my two cents.

 

[saltedplug]

There's something about a late hour that calls for a pipe.

 

[lde432]

. Alcohol can make me sleepy but tends to wake me up in the middle

of the night, for some reason.

The alcohol is metabolized by an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase into an acetaldehyde. While the alcohol is a depressant, the acetaldehyde is a stimulant and is known to wake people up in the middle of the night feeling tired, crappy, and unable to fall back asleep. I don't drink often but even if I have a couple of glasses of wine at dinner it will happen to me. I've found if I take an over-the-counter benadryl or sominex when I go to bed it will carry me through the night uninterupted.

Some folks, particularly Northeast Asians, aren't able to further metabolize the acetaldehyde into more benign components so it builds up and causes unpleasant symptoms.
I find that nicotine has the very classic and usually expected effect of a stimulant for me. If I smoke after 6 pm or so I will fall asleep later than usual. On the other hand, a lunchtime pipe will carry me through the afternoon with alertness and focus.
That said, I'm envious of those of you who can smoke at night and still sleep. That would be my favorite time to smoke if I could just sleep afterwards...