Reading Time: 6 Minutes
What’s inside?
- What is THC?
- Are there any benefits to using THC for sleep?
- What’s the downside to using THC for sleep?
- Why is REM sleep important
- Will THC kill me?
- What about my memory?
- Is THC all doom & gloom?
What is THC?
THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is just one of the many compounds found in cannabis. This interacts with your brain’s endocannabinoid system, which is involved in regulating many bodily functions – including sleep. THC affects our brain's wiring and can change how we sleep.
Are there any benefits to using THC for sleep?
The THC in cannabis does help us get to sleep… and helps to keep us knocked-out during the first half of our sleep.
However, and there’s usually a however, it is more likely to wake you up in the second half of the night.
Why is this important?...
What’s the downside to using THC for sleep?
Well, sleep experts tell us the reason we fall asleep in the first place is due to sleep pressure. This is caused by a build-up of adenosine throughout the waking day.
During sleep adenosine is recycled by the brain and prepares us for waking-up after – hopefully – having a restful night’s sleep.
So, if we wake-up in the first half of our sleep we still have a lot of adenosine (or sleep pressure) in our brain, which will help us nod-off again.
Now back to the however bit…
However, if that wake-up message comes in the second half of our sleep – as the THC in cannabis is likely to do – there is less adenosine left in our noggin to send us back to sleep again.
The result: sleep deprivation.
Why is REM sleep important
REM (rapid eye movement) is a result of electrical energy bursts created in our brainstem. This stage of sleep helps our recovery, learning & creativity.
Most of our REM sleep comes in the second half of the night, as our adenosine levels drop and recovery mode kicks-in. If our sleep is THC interrupted in this all important second half, our brain has less time to release these helpful energy bursts… resulting in less REM… resulting in less recovery, learning & creativity. Apparently, a loss of around 40% of REM sleep is typical.
Will THC kill me?
Yes.
Well… kinda.
In the same way smoking takes years off lives, there’s evidence THC use during sleep does too… but for different reasons.
This REM sleep deprivation study, which tracked more than 4000 people for 12 years, found lifespan was reduced by 13% for every 5% reduction in REM sleep. So, if – as demonstrated above – someone were to experience a 40% reduction in REM sleep over regular periods the numbers start to stack up.
This was backed-up by another study following almost 1400 people for more than 20 years.
The same study showed REM sleep to be the most important sleep metric associated with survival. And… apparently you can never get too much REM sleep, as part of your overall sleep cycle.
The REM deprivation problem is not unique to THC users though. Anyone with dodgy sleep patterns, such as insomniacs or some types of shift-workers, could fall into the same trap.
For those using THC regularly though, there’s another risk on the horizon as our bodies start getting used to having that extra compound in our systems. Essentially, our bodies get so used to it they change their baseline from not having the THC to needing the THC.
Evidence seems to point to THC providing some false confidence at first, with users falling asleep faster and staying asleep longer. But, the evidence also shows the body quickly moves from this state into the one where we wake up earlier in the second half of sleep.
This can become a bit of a downward spiral when the user realises something is not quite right and stops using the THC. Apparently, there’s a cold-turkey effect where our bodies are thrown into a bit of turmoil where they don’t really know what’s happening. There’s evidence of insomnia kicking-in quickly and often brings with it unpleasant dreams and nightmares lasting around 6-weeks.
Unsurprisingly, the experts have a name for this… Cannabis Induced Sleep Disorder. This can also bring with it heavy twitching of the legs, which in turn can cause us to wake up frequently during the night… again messing with our REM sleep.
The insomnia experienced as part of this particular sleep disorder appears to come in different flavours too. Firstly, we will sleep less overall… remember how THC causes us to wake earlier in the second half of sleep?
Secondly, we will wake up more frequently. The twitchy legs only being part of what causes this.
Thirdly, as a result of the 2 above, we get less overall sleep – so can be impacted by excessive daytime sleepiness. If we are already an insomniac or have sleep apnea this is often an existing problem made worse.
Of all the problems and experiences outlined here, the singe one most cannabis users appear to point towards when explaining why they couldn’t quit is the insomnia and nightmares. And it’s kinda easy to understand why that could be true.
What about my memory?
As we’ve already seen, REM sleep plays a critical role in creating new memories and skills learned throughout the day. Reducing REM sleep in any way, including THC use, dodgy shift-work patterns or insomnia, can impact this process
The results can lead to difficulties in retaining and recalling new information. This could be spotted in both short-term memory tasks and in the ability to remember complex information over time.
There’s also the emotional experience as REM sleep helps in processing and integrating these experiences by using our dream state to make sense of the things catching us off-guard during the day.
A reduction in REM sleep could impact how well we can process and regulate emotions. This could lead to heightened emotional reactivity or difficulty coping with stress, as the brain’s ability to handle emotional experiences during sleep is compromised.
Memory is also part of a broader range of brain functions that can be affected by sleep quality. THC’s impact on REM sleep can influence overall brain and memory performance, including attention, problem-solving abilities, and our basic ability to learn new things. Reduced REM sleep might result in slower brain processing and difficulties in completing tasks that require a higher level of concentration or thinking.
Is THC all doom & gloom?
Well… no.
It looks like there could be some future positives to take from THC.
Studies are currently being done on a synthetic drug based on THC called Dronabinol, which has previously been used to help those with nausea, vomiting or appetite issues.
In sleep apnea trials it appears Dronabinol has been able to reduce the number of apnea events by around 30%. Now, if I were to have moderate sleep apnea with 20 events per hour and reduced those by 30% the result would move me down to around 14 events per hour, which significantly moves me from having moderate sleep apnea to mild.
That is a huge improvement.
However (and as we have already seen – there’s usually a however), these trials are in the extremely early stages and long-term use is a complete mystery. The current steer from the medical community and governing bodies appears to still recommend steering clear of THC.
Who knows what the future holds though?
So, if the experts are to be believed, there really is a difference between using cannabis in its full state – which contains THC – rather than using a CBD extract when it comes to sleep.
Strangely, it appears many people who try to come off cannabis point towards the withdrawal experience of disturbed and broken sleep as being the reason for returning to cannabis use – believing the cannabis was the reason they slept better before the withdrawals.
Now, I’m not your Dad so this piece is not aimed at steering you in one direction or the other. It is just a capture of medical research and conclusions pointing in a particular direction.
Whatever decisions you make, I hope you have a cracking sleep.
Cheers,
Alan
P.S. I have taken to creating various bits on sleep and sleep apnea. If you would enjoy hearing more and find out where else you can find stuff like this, you can get my weekly Triple Whammy email, which has 3 short topics each week. Some written or recorded by me and others I’ve found out there in the strange world we live in.
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