Natural Sleeping Aids

How does nicotine affect sleep?

Written by clive on 3:20 AM

“I’m going to have a cigarette and relax.” This is a common statement but a biological impossibility. Nicotine, the drug found in tobacco, is a stimulant; it arouses and excites the nervous system. This explains why insomnia ranks high among the complaints voiced by smokers.

Nicotine can affect sleep in two ways. First, since nicotine is a central nervous system stimulant, it produces almost the same effects on the body as caffeine. Nicotine produces physiological arousal in the body that results in an increase in blood pressure, an increase in heart rate, and stimulation of brain-wave activity, all of which can affect sleep. Although at low blood concentrations nicotine may cause mild sedation and relaxation, at higher concentrations it leads to a state of arousal.

The second way in which nicotine may contribute to insomnia is by interrupting sleep. Because nicotine is an addictive drug, it is craved by the smoker’s body. This craving does not disappear during the night. As smokers sleep, their bodies go through nicotine withdrawal. This may cause smokers to awaken in the middle of the night craving a smoke. If a cigarette is smoked after a mid-night awakening, the nicotine will arouse the central nervous system and very likely will further aggravate insomnia, despite the initial mild sedation.

In experiments at Pennsylvania State University conducted by Dr. Anthony Kales, a group of men who had been smoking from one to three packs of cigarettes a day for at least two years stopped smoking. Dr. Kales found that despite displaying daytime withdrawal symptoms (temporary irritation, tension, fatigue, and restlessness), the men fell asleep faster at night and had less nighttime awakenings.

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