From a quick Google search it looks like it depends on the strain and dosage. Also doesn’t look to be super well studied. On an anectodal level, I tend to have more vivid dreams on a higher THC strain and a deeper sleep on a higher CBD strain but here’s part of an article on the subject:
Acute administration of THC has also been associated with decreased REM sleep and increased slow wave sleep (SWS), similar to some animal studies [30, 31]. However, the effects on slow wave sleep and total sleep time are not persistent
Data regarding effects of cannabidiol or CBD on sleep are limited. Studies in rats injected with increasing dosages of CBD showed an increase in total percentage of sleep, with a decrease in REM latency at lower doses and an increase in REM latency at higher doses
Lol because there’s no side effects / risks / addiction potential in sedatives/hypnotics?
Mm, yes.
I use weed and Ambien for sleep (not both all the time, but you get it) and while I Ambien suits me very well, I can see the abuse potential and know a lot of people who choose to avoid it due to all manner of behaviour. And very often nowadays, what is prescribes for slight insomnia is something like a small dose of seroquel, which is practically poison compared to weed. Originally it was meant only for the most severe manic schizophrenics and bipolar patients. Then they started pushing it “a little” and despite being fined for hundreds of millions for bad marketing practices, it’s still pushed a lot.
“Take a sleeping pill”
Why not cannabis? Smoking is unhealthy, yes, but herb vaporisers are pretty innocuous as delivery mechanisms.
Good meme, but I also have to respond with a bit srsly.
Use doesn’t always equal abuse.
I acknowledge weed addiction is massively a thing. Anything can be addictive.
Dependence on the other hand…
Benzos and benzolike drugs are often used as hypnotic sleeping aids, and while they’re very safe and usually well tolerated, if you develop a benzodiazepine dependence, that’s gonna be hell compared to any weed addiction.
Trust, me, I know a lot of weed addicts and I’ve known a lot of pill junkies.
Leaping to benzodiazepines when I said to take a sleep med is insane. There are much milder ones and benzodiazepines are not typically used as a sleep aid. Even Ambien is too strong for most.
Ambien is specifically a sleeping aid. There’s no other accepted use for it. Zolpidem and zopiclone are the most common sleeping aids, and they are hypnotic sedatives.
And benzos are used sometimes for hard insomnia, long acting benzos.
I’ve been having sleeping problems for more than a quarter of a century, but please, do tell me about these “more common” medications that aren’t benzolike or hypnotic and definitely safer than fucking cannabis. No-one is “leaping” to anything. Long acting benzos and benzo derivative hypnotics like ambien are really the only sleeping aids we’ve got.
Unless you’ve bought into giving headsmashingly strong neurolepts to people with no history of mental disorders… as a "sleeping aid".
Go ahead. I’ll wait. And no, melatonin isn’t for acute insomnia, it’s something youre supposed to take at bedtime, not if you wake up in the middle of the night.
Hydroxazine is an antihistamine (in the same family as diphenhydramine) which is frequently prescribed for anxiety relief and as a sleep aid. It is safe and usually well tolerated. While there is addiction potential like there is for diphenhydramine, it is far far less addictive than benzos. An adult can safely take up to 100mg up to 4 times per day for anxiety relief. I can’t find dosages for insomnia anywhere but that probably because most people get completely knocked out by 30-50mg let alone 100mg. For reference, I’m a 260lb dude and 50mg will take me from anxiety attack to entirely unconsious in less than 30 minutes; a friend of mine says 25mg is enough to knock them out. Being an anticholinergic drug it isn’t great for long term use but it is still a whole lot better in that regard than benzos.
I know from my mother who is a nurse midwife that high dosages of hydroxazine are frequently given to women in labor when it’s going to be several hours until the baby actually starts ariving to let them sleep through most of the labor. If it can make someone sleep through labor pains I can’t imagine insomnia it couldn’t handle.
If you wake up at 4 am and have to get up at 6.30, taking a hit and being able to go back to bed instantly and wake up in a few hours is much more practical than taking a sleeping pill, waiting 30 min for it to kick in and then not being able 2 hours later because the half-life of sleeping pills is at least 6 hours (for ambien) to 8-12 (imovane and most benzos) to 20+ hours (quetiapine, mirtazapine).
Just take a sleeping pill.
Terrible advice. Sleeping pills are much more addictive than cannabis and you should only take them if your doctor advised you to.
I’m not saying OPs behaviour is healthy.
Weed is also terrible for a sleep aid since it suppresses REM.
Is that true? I use it most evenings and still have vivid dreams every night.
From a quick Google search it looks like it depends on the strain and dosage. Also doesn’t look to be super well studied. On an anectodal level, I tend to have more vivid dreams on a higher THC strain and a deeper sleep on a higher CBD strain but here’s part of an article on the subject:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8116407/#:~:text=There is a dose-dependent,effect in the NREM phase.
That depends very much on which sleep aid you’re taking. I also didn’t say anything about taking it every damn day.
Lol because there’s no side effects / risks / addiction potential in sedatives/hypnotics?
Mm, yes.
I use weed and Ambien for sleep (not both all the time, but you get it) and while I Ambien suits me very well, I can see the abuse potential and know a lot of people who choose to avoid it due to all manner of behaviour. And very often nowadays, what is prescribes for slight insomnia is something like a small dose of seroquel, which is practically poison compared to weed. Originally it was meant only for the most severe manic schizophrenics and bipolar patients. Then they started pushing it “a little” and despite being fined for hundreds of millions for bad marketing practices, it’s still pushed a lot.
“Take a sleeping pill”
Why not cannabis? Smoking is unhealthy, yes, but herb vaporisers are pretty innocuous as delivery mechanisms.
Good meme, but I also have to respond with a bit srsly.
Use doesn’t always equal abuse.
I acknowledge weed addiction is massively a thing. Anything can be addictive.
Dependence on the other hand…
Benzos and benzolike drugs are often used as hypnotic sleeping aids, and while they’re very safe and usually well tolerated, if you develop a benzodiazepine dependence, that’s gonna be hell compared to any weed addiction.
Trust, me, I know a lot of weed addicts and I’ve known a lot of pill junkies.
Leaping to benzodiazepines when I said to take a sleep med is insane. There are much milder ones and benzodiazepines are not typically used as a sleep aid. Even Ambien is too strong for most.
Ambien is specifically a sleeping aid. There’s no other accepted use for it. Zolpidem and zopiclone are the most common sleeping aids, and they are hypnotic sedatives.
And benzos are used sometimes for hard insomnia, long acting benzos.
I’ve been having sleeping problems for more than a quarter of a century, but please, do tell me about these “more common” medications that aren’t benzolike or hypnotic and definitely safer than fucking cannabis. No-one is “leaping” to anything. Long acting benzos and benzo derivative hypnotics like ambien are really the only sleeping aids we’ve got.
Unless you’ve bought into giving headsmashingly strong neurolepts to people with no history of mental disorders… as a "sleeping aid".
Go ahead. I’ll wait. And no, melatonin isn’t for acute insomnia, it’s something youre supposed to take at bedtime, not if you wake up in the middle of the night.
I’m not sure where your post came from because I did not say that it isn’t a sleeping aid.
If were talking about acute insomnia, what are the “milder” medications which aren’t hypnotic (and thus probably benzo derivatives)?
Trazadone for one. There are others. Please do some research if you’re going to share opinions on the topic.
Hydroxazine is an antihistamine (in the same family as diphenhydramine) which is frequently prescribed for anxiety relief and as a sleep aid. It is safe and usually well tolerated. While there is addiction potential like there is for diphenhydramine, it is far far less addictive than benzos. An adult can safely take up to 100mg up to 4 times per day for anxiety relief. I can’t find dosages for insomnia anywhere but that probably because most people get completely knocked out by 30-50mg let alone 100mg. For reference, I’m a 260lb dude and 50mg will take me from anxiety attack to entirely unconsious in less than 30 minutes; a friend of mine says 25mg is enough to knock them out. Being an anticholinergic drug it isn’t great for long term use but it is still a whole lot better in that regard than benzos.
I know from my mother who is a nurse midwife that high dosages of hydroxazine are frequently given to women in labor when it’s going to be several hours until the baby actually starts ariving to let them sleep through most of the labor. If it can make someone sleep through labor pains I can’t imagine insomnia it couldn’t handle.
Sleeping pills last longer. Why get up and smoke when you could be asleep?
If you wake up at 4 am and have to get up at 6.30, taking a hit and being able to go back to bed instantly and wake up in a few hours is much more practical than taking a sleeping pill, waiting 30 min for it to kick in and then not being able 2 hours later because the half-life of sleeping pills is at least 6 hours (for ambien) to 8-12 (imovane and most benzos) to 20+ hours (quetiapine, mirtazapine).
So that’s why