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[jroseland]

I get A LOT out of Nicotine:

• it's given me the stress relief I needed to get through a few challenging personal life things this year.
• it consistently clarifies my thoughts and pushes me in a positive direction, personally and professionally.
• it's better for my HRV than any other Nootropic I've tried.
• It seems to be good for my immune system: The only times I've got ill in the past almost 10 years were the two very easy cases of COVID-19, which I powered right through on Nicotine.
• And nothing unleashes my creativity (which my work and career depend on) more than Nicotine. I'm about 2/3 of the way through my first science fiction novel, thanks to NIcotine!

But, it's coming at an increasingly steep cost in my sleep quality: my issue is not sleep latency, I always fall asleep quickly, but early morning wake-ups.

Like, last night, I did 10mg of melatonin and woke up for some stupid reason at 3:30AM. Did I think 10mg melatonin more, fell back asleep, woke up and 6:30 AM, tossed and turned

Lots of nights are like last night. This is bad, I know.

I'm doing a lot of sleep hacks: blue blockers, no bright screens before bed, red light therapy, mouth taping, but my body just demands I get up at the asscrack of my dawn.

 

Please spare me the obvious advice of: QUIT NICOTINE DUDE - I'll do that when I finish writing my novel. What I'm looking for is something that might offset Nicotine's effect, a sleep supplement that will keep me asleep.

I'm married, and sometimes in marriage, you don't get what you want. My wife refuses to go to bed before midnight, so I'm running on 6 hours of sleep a lot of days.

 

I take Nicotine daily, but I'm not a voracious consumer: I take a maximum of 3 small .25ml hits of 10% USP solution and a few 2mg lozenges daily. That's how I often start the day.

 

Leave me some suggestions of more potent sleep hacks (I think I'm already doing all the mainstream ones) or some pharmacological suggestions for offsetting Nicotine's effect on sleep duration. Something to do with GABA I'm thinking...

 

I'm hoping I don't have to choose between finishing my novel and getting the sleep I need, because, to quote Eddie from the Limitless movie: "What's my excuse for looking like this? I'm a writer!"

[Mind]

Even though the "average" optimal healthy sleep for adult humans is 7 to 9 hours, it is not the case for everyone. I rarely get more than 6 hours of solid sleep per night. I used to worry about it more. However, I realized that I feel good and remain healthy even though I am a light sleeper. I have plenty of energy during the day even though I am in my 50s.

 

So I stopped worrying about it. As long as my health is good and I have plenty of energy, I will continue on as usual. There are a lot of high-achievers in the world that sleep less than 6 hours a night, including Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

 

I use herbal sleep products, CBD, and melatonin to get to sleep - which work great. I take a little extra melatonin if I happen to wake up after 2 or 3 hours.