How Nicotine Can Impact Your Sleep Sleeping 7 to 9 hours per 24-hour period is important for health and readiness. As a Warfighter this might already be tough to reach, but using nicotine can make it even harder to achieve. As a stimulant, nicotine can affect your body’s ability to rest and cause trouble sleeping. Those who use nicotine products are more likely to experience a decline in sleep quantity and quality, which can harm operational performance. Increased Risk of Sleep Problems: Warfighters who use nicotine are more likely to develop health conditions, including those that interfere with sleep. Having a chronic condition can lead to or worsen sleep problems and vice versa. Smoking and vaping irritate the nose and throat, which can cause swelling and restricted air flow. This may lead to sleep apnea, a condition where your airway becomes blocked while sleeping and often causes snoring or gasping sounds that interrupt sleep. Nicotine can also increase the risk of other disruptive sleep behaviors, like nightmares and sleepwalking. Difficulty Falling Asleep: When you use nicotine products, your breathing, blood pressure and heart rate instantly increase. These changes can make it harder to fall and stay asleep, leading to lower quality sleep. If you choose to consume nicotine, stop use at least 4 hours before going to bed. Disrupted Sleep Stages: While asleep, your body naturally moves through different sleep stages. This cycle is necessary for high quality sleep, but nicotine can interfere with it. Using nicotine products can change how your body experiences the sleep stages, leading to less time in the deeper stages of sleep. Without enough deep sleep, your physical and mental health may suffer. More Awake Time: Nicotine makes you more likely to wake up throughout the night, which can interfere with normal sleep cycles and impact the quality of your sleep. As your body goes without nicotine for hours while asleep, your brain can experience symptoms of withdrawal. These cravings can lead to restlessness that causes you to wake up more frequently and leaves you feeling agitated. Daytime Sleepiness: If you use nicotine products, you may find that you feel sleepier throughout the day. This may be a result of sleeping less overall and waking up more during the night, though it could also be related to withdrawal. When your body starts to crave more nicotine, tiredness can set in and impact your work performance. Why This Matters Your health and performance are dependent on getting enough quality sleep. Frequent sleep loss can weaken your immune system, making you more susceptible to illness and a longer recovery time. You may also be at higher risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes, as well as mental health conditions. Disturbed sleep can lead to mood swings, depression and substance misuse. Getting enough quality sleep is also a key aspect of operational readiness. Without it, you put yourself, your unit and the mission at risk. Even a temporary lack of sleep can cause trouble with memory, reaction time and coordination. You may also notice it’s harder to concentrate and make decisions while sleep deprived. Experiencing these shifts at work can lead to serious accidents or damaged equipment. As a Warfighter, sleep is of the utmost importance. Using nicotine products may sacrifice the quality and quantity of your sleep, harming your health and performance. Stay nicotine-free or quit use to prioritize much-needed rest and maintain your mission readiness. Additional ResourcesCDC - “Military Service Members and Veterans”TRICARE - “Tobacco Cessation Services”ReferencesLande RG and Gragnani CT - “Tobacco Use & Sleep Problems Among Active Duty Service Members.”Sleep Foundation - “Nicotine and Sleep”Truth Initiative - “How does vaping nicotine impact sleep?”You Can Quit 2 - “Sleep Better Without Nicotine”
