Sleep Aid

Iron Man

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I have been taking melatonin for some time now (3-6mg per night), but am now reading that it is not the best stuff to take. I am keen to take something that will relax me before bed and to then sleep solidly with good dreams.

Any suggestions? I do want to keep it herbal though and something I can purchase easily from a place like Iherb. I prefer to keep away from synthetics and pharmaceuticals.

THANKS
 

answersfound

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Benadryl...extracted from the Benadryllian flower.

If you don't want to do that, try feverfew. It's mentioned on the forum so you can read about it and make sure you're comfortable with it.
 
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Iron Man

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Thanks... I have heard of benedryl, but none of the others. Is benedryl natural though? Does it work well?

Primaforce is a bit too expensive for me.
 

tara

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Have you experimented with food for good sleep? For some of us, me included, this can make a big difference.

Peat's recommendation for antihistamine is diphenhydramine or cypropetadine. Both of these can make many people sleepy, even in quite low doses. Diphenhydramine is in Benadryl in some countries but not others (not mine).
 
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Iron Man

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Thanks Tara. Where do you get these substances from? Are they natural? I don't know a whole lot about them. Can I source these from somewhere like IHerb?

Thanks
 

tara

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Food is food, available from garden or or local stores. If you are looking for natural, this would be where to start. Along with getting regular sunshine, keeping warm, etc. Some people find cutting down EMF's eg by switching off wireless transmission in your house at night helps.

I used progest-e for other reasons, and it supported sleep too.

Diphenhydramine and cyproheptadine are both phamaceutical drugs. Over the counter at pharmacies in some countries, and by prescription in others. You may get effect from much less than the standard doses.
 

DavidGardner

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Renky said:
Thanks Tara. Where do you get these substances from? Are they natural? I don't know a whole lot about them. Can I source these from somewhere like IHerb?

Thanks

Benadryl isn't natural, you can get it over the counter at any drug store or supermarket. I use it from time to time, but it's not something to use every night due to tolerance, just when you really need it. I've heard/read catnip, chamomile, valerian, and passionflower are good herbal remedies. Stay away from hops b/c of estrogen.

Personally, I don't find herbal remedies very effective. Tara is right about looking into dietary fixes. Try milk or cheese with honey before bed. Potatoes at supper.
 
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Children don't have sleep problems because of their high energy metabolism. That's why parents can pick them up and move them to another room while they're sleeping and they don't wake up because they are in such a deep sleep, even while being moved. Good thyroid function. It takes a lot of energy to sleep deeply. I did the rounds of the Benadryl and the herbals. I don't condone it. Sometimes they work but they mostly don't. Benadryl would often have the opposite reaction, alertness. I fixed my sleep by eating a good diet. My potato and orange juice based diet makes me sleep like a baby. Easy to digest foods are important for sleep because intestinal irritation releases serotonin which can disrupt sleep as a stress hormone and pain from the gut can wake you up. Sunlight is one of the biggest things that has helped me with sleep too. When I get at least 1 hour of sun on a good amount of skin, I sleep really well. Consistent sleep hygiene is important. Peat has said "people who have good thyroid function often take naps." And I understand what he means, because when you have good thyroid function, you have so much energy that you can take a nap, which is a good sign.
 

charlie

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doxylamine succinate. :sleeping
 

Birdie

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I used to use herbals and 5-HTP and melatonin and, and...for sleep, but find I don't need them now. What I do is have some greek yogurt a couple of hours before bedtime and a little cheese before bed. This works better for me than the herbals etc did.

Salty food like cheese or a milk drink with a pinch of salt is suggested. I stopped the milk drink and switched to cheese because the milk at bedtime made my stomach churn.

Another thing Ray mentioned that's good for me is letting a little light shine on the foot of the bed. I no longer try to block out all the light. I got a warm bulb for our lightpost and that shines a little bit into the room.

Can't think of anything else off hand, but good sleep used to be a big problem. It's been a great benefit of following Peat's advice... I do awaken sometimes around 3am, but a milky decaf (pinch of salt) with reading gets me right back dozing.
 

tara

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Birdie

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Tara
It really helps ! :)

That reminds me, we use Nighty Night Tea every evening. I stopped it a week ago to cut down on evening liquid. Mr Birdie still makes a cup and says it helps him sleep.
 

Dan W

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In addition to some of the other things mentioned, I take 3g of glycine before bed because of this study. It seems to help.
 

LucH

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Renky said:
adrenals dysfunction must be taken in consideration.

Excerpt
Step 1: If you suspect 2 or more problems, go to step 2.
If you answer yes to any of these, especially two or more, you may have an adrenal problem:
1. Do you have a hard time falling asleep at night?
2. Do you wake up frequently during the night?
3. Do you have a hard time waking up in the morning early, or feeling refreshed soon after you wake up?
4. Do bright lights bother you more than they should?
5. Do you startle easily due to noise?
6. Do you take things too seriously, and are easily defensive?
7. Do you feel you don’t cope well emotionally with certain people or events in your life?
8. Does it seem to take a long time for you to get over a stressful event?
9. Do you feel shaky, sweaty or nauseous when you need to eat?
10. Do you feel nauseous in the face of a stressful situation?
11. Do you seem to often crave salt?
12. Do you feel much better after 6 pm?
It’s true that answering yes to some of the above can be due to other causes. Menopause, for example, can cause frequent nighttime wake ups. But when you start answering yes to more than two, you can suspect an adrenal problem.

Step 2: Confirm with a temperature test
If your averaged temperatures are fluctuating from day to day more than 0.2 - 0.3 °F (approximately 0.1 Celsius), with a lean towards 0.2, you need adrenal support.

Step 3: saliva test (even if everybody doesn't agree with). To understand ...
24-hour adrenal saliva test. Four key times at the minimum, generally 8 am, noonish, 4 - 5 pm and 11 pm to midnight.
Note: Understanding your saliva results
Interpreting your adrenal saliva results goes beyond being satisfied with being “in range.” That’s why it’s good to compare your results to individuals who have healthy adrenal/HPA function, i.e. in healthy adrenal/HPA function, patients will have results like this:
8 am: at the very top of the range to help you wake up refreshed
11 am - noon: in the upper quarter, but not quite as high as the morning
4-5 pm: midrange
11 pm-midnight: at the very bottom, such as 1 with a range of 1-4, to help you fall asleep

Personal advise: Don't pay too much attention to labs but rather how you feel.

:hattip
LucH
 
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XPlus

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You may wish to try some extra sun/light early in the day and some ice cream with salted caramel at bedtime.
I find mixing little of thiamine, glycine or taurine, BCAAs, salt and a lot of sugar with milk to have a good sedative effect.
 

Sharbysyd

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Contact, I got a 10 on your little quiz. Interesting. I've been taking something called an adrenal cocktail (basically water with cream of tartar and salt) and it's helped me to feel better.
 

Repas du soir

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Have you experimented with food for good sleep? For some of us, me included, this can make a big difference.

Peat's recommendation for antihistamine is diphenhydramine or cypropetadine. Both of these can make many people sleepy, even in quite low doses. Diphenhydramine is in Benadryl in some countries but not others (not mine).
Very interesting, thanks. I didn't know about histamine before Peat, but I'm starting to wonder if I might have too high histamine. What are some common symptoms, how does it feel like? I sometimes get a clogged nose for some reason, and I do suffer with sleep issues. I just read that the Histamine receptor H3 prevents GABA from being released. I have all my life eaten a lot of strawberries, cheese, salami, and chocolate.

Lately I've been eating a lot of high-quality chocolate, but I'm wonder if it might be causing high histamine.
 

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