Pain Meds vs Real Sleep

Did you know that the "sleep" people get while on pain medication isn't actually sleep at

all? It’s a common misconception. When someone takes an opiate, they might look

like they’re resting, but the sources describe this state as "torpor"—a period of diminished physical

and mental vitality that lacks the restorative power of natural rest. Objective sleep

studies show that opiates actually disrupt the temporal organisation of sleep.

They tend to increase light, fragmented sleep while significantly reducing the deep,

slow-wave sleep and dreaming REM stages that your brain needs to recover. Essentially,

you’re trading high-quality rest for a chemically induced lethargy. We’re peeling back the layers on how