When it comes to sleep, millions of people struggle to fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up feeling well-rested. A third of the population suffers from sleep disorders. As we all know, good quality sleep is crucial to our health. This is where melatonin-based sleep aids and their popularity comes in.
Melatonin is a hormone that helps regulate your internal clock or circadian rhythm. Our circadian rhythm helps us know when to sleep and when to be awake, regulate our biological function, and manage our emotions. Melatonin is produced in our pineal gland and is secreted into our bloodstream during the night as it gets dark.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, melatonin supplements are most commonly used to help people fall asleep and sleep better. It can also treat jet lag, delayed sleep phase syndrome, sleep disorders, insomnia and help promote healthy sleep.
What is Melatonin Vape?
Melatonin vape is a way to use melatonin through an alternative means of consumption. You may have heard of melatonin tablets, gummies and sublinguals being sold in the pharmacy or grocery store. But many people are now choosing to vape melatonin to get the same benefits without the side effects.
Vaping melatonin, also known as direct inhalation, will allow you to use a higher dose than your typical pill will allow. It’s an easy way to get a much higher amount of your supplement without having to take more than the recommended dose. Vaping removes the need to find more ways to consume your dose.
You can also use melatonin vape to get a more accurate dose of melatonin. This can be easier than identifying how much a tablet’s dose is delivering.
Melatonin Vape vs. Melatonin Pills or Gummies: What’s the Difference?
Melatonin pills, gummies, and chewables all have one significant downside: they take a long time to take effect. It can take 45-60 minutes for your body to produce the melatonin from a pill, but you can feel the effects within minutes with a vape.
According to studies and research, vaping melatonin is the most effective way to deliver your dose. Many long-term users of melatonin pills or gummies have found that the effects don’t last as long. Just like taking a melatonin gummy, you want to wait 30-90 minutes before you feel the effects of melatonin vape.
Vaping your melatonin is a great way to breathe in the melatonin and deliver it directly to your lungs instead of your stomach. The direct inhalation of melatonin is absorbed by the bloodstream faster and is more easily absorbed by the body.
It’s important to note that vaping melatonin is often different from taking melatonin pills. The pills and gummies tend to release melatonin directly into your bloodstream, which doesn’t necessarily make it as easy for your body to absorb as it does when you inhale it.
Yawning, headaches, stomach aches, and finding it difficult to sleep are just a few side effects of taking melatonin pills. Vaping is often the first alternative for people that want quick results with more minor side effects.
What are the Side Effects of Melatonin Vaping?
Studies have not been conducted on the side effects of melatonin vaping, so we don’t know what to expect from vaping the supplement. There is a possibility that with increased dosage, the side effects of melatonin vaping will be the same as they are with melatonin pills.
Decreased libido, drowsiness, fatigue, and mental confusion are just a few side effects that come with taking your melatonin supplement. Those under 18 years old should not use melatonin vape as the Food and Drug Administration has not approved it.
It’s also important to note that since the FDA hasn’t approved the use of melatonin vape, the vape juice manufacturers can’t label it as a suggested use. This means that there is no quality control to ensure that the melatonin vape juice is high-quality, potent, safe, and as effective as it should be.
Can Melatonin Vaping Lead to Misuse, Abuse, or Addiction?
When it comes to melatonin, yes, but not the way you might think. The famous drug Ambien is a melatonin receptor agonist, which means it works just like melatonin to make you feel tired. In fact, the active ingredient of Ambien, zolpidem, increases the amount of melatonin that’s in your bloodstream.
Ambien uses melatonin as a tool to trick your body into feeling tired. Studies have been done to find out whether or not people who use Ambien are more likely to misuse their medication. The studies have found no such correlation, nor have they found any evidence to suggest that the drug is addictive.
It was the same with melatonin pills: There has been no evidence suggesting that melatonin leads to addiction. But, when it comes to vaping melatonin, there have been no studies on it to indicate that it leads to misuse, abuse, or addiction.
How to Vape Melatonin Safely
Vaping can be a great way to quickly get a dose of melatonin into your body. But, it can also be an easy way to overdo it accidentally. So, how do you get the best results while maintaining safe practices?
You can do a few things to make sure you’re vaping melatonin safely. First, you need to check your vaping device to make sure that you’re vaping at a temperature that will not damage your device. Checking your temperature is especially important as vapes can get too hot during use.
If you notice that you’re having trouble closing your vape device or the buttons are sticking, you may have found a sign of your vape getting too hot. Other symptoms of a vape getting too hot include these:
- Excessive heat
- Burning smell
- Too much steam
Second, make sure to buy vape juice from a reliable and reputable source. As mentioned, melatonin vaping is still largely unregulated. Buying a source that is not well-established could mean putting your body at risk.
Lastly, make sure that you’re buying precisely what is labeled. There are a number of vapes on the market that include ingredients other than just melatonin. This means that you’re not getting the exact amount of melatonin that you should be getting.
For example, there have been reports of melatonin vape juice that contain caffeine. People who have melatonin sensitivity have reported feeling jittery, anxious, and stressed when they vape melatonin. This could be attributed to the caffeine found in the vape.
If you’re sensitive to melatonin, you should take a look at the ingredients in your vape to make sure they’re all there.
Conclusion
With the FDA still studying its effects on the body, melatonin remains a relatively new phenomenon. Health professionals are still trying to fully understand the long-term impact and benefits it may have.
Today, melatonin is sold in stores, pharmacies, and the internet. Vaping melatonin is one of the most popular ways to get their dose, and it’s easy to see why. It can be just as effective, if not more, at delivering a high amount of melatonin to your body.
But the lack of regulations for many vaping companies can mean that their products are not as effective as they could be. So, before you start vaping melatonin, be sure to do your research and check-in with a health professional.
Sources:
https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/melatonin-what-you-need-to-know
