Sleeping aids

[Brandon]

Anyone take anything to help them sleep? I'm wanting to try some different things. I prefer natural stuff opposed to things like Ambien which the science says is really bad for us.

I had been taking melatonin for a while just as an aid, but I think my tolerance is too much now and it doesn't work effectively. I've been sick recently and tried Nyquil Severe and man, just with the 30mg recommended dose I woke up super groggy that lasted about 2 hours after I woke up....and the weird thing is it was hard to open my eyes, but I couldn't go back to sleep, just a weird body high type of thing which is where melatonin is for me.

I also tried CBD, but it needs to be a really high dose (although science says our bodies only absorb 25mg at a time) and marijuana/edibles which seem to be hit or miss....I seem to just get high and the paranoia affects sleep.

[St1ck]

I use alcohol. 

[Brandon]

1 minute ago, st1ckboy said:

I use alcohol. 

It works, but I'm trying to ditch it.

Actually, maybe that's why the NyQuil was so gnar. 

[wopphil]

I was going to say melatonin, but sounds like you have tried that. I really like melatonin, but I try to limit it to once per week. 

[katrinab]

Try magnesium or magnesium oil spray with lavender essential oil 

[katrinab]

Try magnesium or magnesium oil spray with lavender essential oil 

[Justin]

I use the CVS knockoff of ZzzQuil. (It's cheaper and tastes much better.) I use it almost every night. The active ingredient is dyphenhydramine (Benadryl). It recommends 30mg but I take closer to 50. It doesn't leave me as groggy as NyQuil, (although sometimes I am groggy, but then I just drink more caffeine in the morning.) 

My brother was taking CBD earlier this year to help sleep while suffering pains from leukemia and he said it worked great for him, so one night I tried some of his pills. I could not sleep and was up until sunrise. 

[Chuck]

My doctor prescribed me Trazadone @Brandon. It works like a charm. 

I also found that if I mix in a melatonin every now and then in place of the Trazadone, it also works great. 

Like you, I developed an immune system to melatonin. 

[Brandon]

29 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

My doctor prescribed me Trazadone @Brandon. It works like a charm. 

I also found that if I mix in a melatonin every now and then in place of the Trazadone, it also works great. 

Like you, I developed an immune system to melatonin. 

Thanks man, I'll ask the doc about it next time. I looked up what you mentioned and my doc gave me Mirtazapine which is similar but a SSNI (same as what you take but it works on two inhibitors or near transmitters instead of one....I'm probably wrong about this as they change the names or add alternatives over the years). We'll see what she says about your med for me. She thought my poor sleep was from anxiety of owning my own company, which is true. It seemed to not work too well, maybe yours will be different. I know mine was a before bedtime med to help with sleep. I'll keep this in mind.

[Blarg]

Try some very aerobic sex. It's the all natural sleep aid. 

[cez]

B6 and making sure i have zero ambient light or light from clocks/tv/etc have been helpful for me. 

[Lou]

lavender and chamomile bath salts

[Tank]

I use melatonin every night and it helps me sleep more deeply. I take 3mg. Without it I don’t sleep very deeply. 

When I’m sick I take NyQuil cough cherry and I sleep very soundly. Haven’t had any problems with grogginess.

[Brandon]

1 hour ago, Blarg said:

Try some very aerobic sex. It's the all natural sleep aid. 

Man, those workout sessions release endorphins and raise adrenaline.

[Brandon]

1 hour ago, GOPSnowflakesHateCezero said:

B6 and making sure i have zero ambient light or light from clocks/tv/etc have been helpful for me. 

Thanks for the B6 mention, I think I may have heard about this when I was looking up valerian root....I'll check it out.

Definitely a fan of darkness. Unfortunately, I have a nice fan that has dumb led lights, and air purifier with a light plus charged electronics like phone and laptop. I try to format it to be less evasive, but ultimately bought this eye mask that seems to work. Kind of messes up the circadian rhythm, but so does blacks out areas, but which seem to be good for sleep.

Side note, for you or anyone here, this is a Cal professor about sleep and it's importance, but also the most impactful podcast I have ever watched. The importance for sleep (and this post) have gone up ten fold since I saw this a long time ago. I bought better cooler sheets, the Tempur-Pedic cool pillows, and a ChiliPad which is basically a mattress pad cover that lets you control the temp of the bed. I focus on the laptop/tv before bed, and darkness factor. This was mind blowing. Podcasts can be too long for people, but he has shorter Youtube videos:

 

[Brandon]

1 hour ago, Lou said:

lavender and chamomile bath salts

It works pretty well. Don't knock it until you try it and wake up wanting to watch "Friends"

[Chuck]

8 hours ago, st1ckboy said:

I use alcohol. 

Actually alcohol makes me sleep worse. My heart starts to race and depending on how much I had to drink, I have to get up and piss 2-3 times which ruins your rem sleep.

[Brandon]

1 hour ago, Tank said:

I use melatonin every night and it helps me sleep more deeply. I take 3mg. Without it I don’t sleep very deeply. 

When I’m sick I take NyQuil cough cherry and I sleep very soundly. Haven’t had any problems with grogginess.

I got to the point I was taking 10mg and something didn't seem right as it seemed too much. The one I have is 3mg, but I take three when I do take it.

For the NyQuil, I have the severe one (by the way, I don't take this stuff ever and know nothing about it, but wanted to try something new). I think the dosage or impact may be different. The crazy thing is I took the recommended 30mg dose once, but it says you can take up to four doses which seems insane to me. It reminds me of when I came back from Vegas and had the worst allergy issues because of the cigarette smoke in the casinos that I took two pills that were similar but allergy related and ended up sleeping for over 18 hours and still woke up groggy. 

[Brandon]

5 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Actually alcohol makes me sleep worse. My heart starts to race and depending on how much I had to drink, I have to get up and piss 2-3 times which ruins your rem sleep.

If you watch the video I posted to Cez post he talks about how marijuana and alcohol mess up our REM sleep. It's a legit trip and profound.

[Redondo]

 

My wife uses the Walmart brand of this and it works great for her. It's $4 a bottle.

[Lou]

39 minutes ago, Redondo said:

 

My wife uses the Walmart brand of this and it works great for her. It's $4 a bottle.

after years spending a ton of money on Benady, etc, I now but their allergy pills - 100 tablets for $4.

works just fine 

[halomatt]

It's kinda alarming how many of you have trouble sleeping. (Sincerely.)

[Adam]

I just play a podcast on my phone. Out in 3 minutes. What sucks though is as I get older I find it far more difficult to make it through the night without having to piss. Sometimes it’s tough to go back to sleep. Usually piss around 3 or 4AM

[Tank]

31 minutes ago, Adam said:

I just play a podcast on my phone. Out in 3 minutes. What sucks though is as I get older I find it far more difficult to make it through the night without having to piss. Sometimes it’s tough to go back to sleep. Usually piss around 3 or 4AM

I feel your pain. 

Read recently that it’s tougher to go back sleep in this scenario if you turn on the lights. So my practice is to use a decent nightlight in the bathroom, one that’s bright enough to let me see pretty clearly what I need to see and yet not so bright as to really wake me up. It’s worked pretty well. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

20 minutes ago, Tank said:

I feel your pain. 

Read recently that it’s tougher to go back sleep in this scenario if you turn on the lights. So my practice is to use a decent nightlight in the bathroom, one that’s bright enough to let me see pretty clearly what I need to see and yet not so bright as to really wake me up. It’s worked pretty well. 

I keep my eyes closed the entire time.... If you hear the splash you know you're good.