Sleep aids

Ecureuil77

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Mar 1, 2018
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11
Since you mentioned there was a lot of noise where you live, I thought I would suggest the following:

I use white/pink noise to block out all other noise during the night. Pink noise helps you make the most of the few hours us insomniacs might manage every night.
There are many devices on the market. You should get one that runs the noise continuously in a loop so that you don't wake up when the "music" ends and re-starts every time.

I use the LectroFan (on Amazon). The basic model. It's small and portable and I don't go anywhere without it. At first it feels crazy to try and sleep with such a racket going on but now that I'm used to it, I find I cannot longer sleep without it. My partner luckily is of the same opinion, so I can still share a bed with him ;-)

Hope this helps.
 
Joined
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21,494
Camomile tea never worked for me either.
I don't notice anything either with chamomile. I find not eating lots of protein near bedtime helpful. I also have great success, with non-interrupted sleep, having a spoonful of honey at bedtime as well as a drop of progesterone and some vitamin D topically right at bedtime. My sound machine with rain or the bathroom fan is a must too!
 

Gûs80

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Apr 21, 2021
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Yeah, I realized that the lasting grogginess is not worth it for me. I no longer use cypro, although progesterone is good.
Found something? I've had chronic insomnia since I was 15, now I'm 42. I've tested hundreds of medications and supplements. I think it's important to analyze whether you're the anxious or depressive type.

For asious people, I believe that the help comes from decreasing serotonin, histamine, cortisol, glutamate and maybe even dopamine. And increase the GABA.

For depressives, it clearly tends to be the reverse. I honestly don't believe in the unique phenotype that is often advocated.

I used quetiapine 1x and it knocked me out, so I went to research the reason and try to find less harmful alternatives.
I did the following combo:
- vit C 2g or phosphatidylserine 300mg - decrease in cortisol
- magnesium 300 to 600mg - decrease in glutamate and increase in GABA (I also tested taurine and glycine, they helped but without daily effectiveness)
- dramamine/Dexchlorpheniramine/benadryl - cipro makes me fat and I'm lethargic, but with half a dose of dramamine I'm fine the next day.
- when I notice a lot of anxiety, I also use 1g of Niacin flush, which is widely used in Orthomolecular medicine for anxiety, depression, bipolarity and schizophrenia with great success.
 

Vileplume

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I’ve found that pretty much every supplement does more harm than good, even if they improve a particular symptom. Cypro improves my sleep but makes me depressed, and basically every other supplement irritates my intestines.

I’ve found the most beneficial thing for sleep is smooth digestion. If a food irritates my intestines, it guarantees difficult falling asleep and a night of shallow sleep. I can tell a food harmed me soon after an irritating meal, because not only do I get bloated but my nose gets clogged.

To improve sleep, I’ve had to cut out every irritating food and settle on a restrictive diet of just goat milk and coffee, with occasional eggs and salt. Most fibers irritate my intestine and disrupt sleep—especially in the context of coffee. Coffee doesn’t affect me so badly when my digestion is smooth. If I have daily well-formed poops, I sleep well.
 

LadyRae

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Mar 20, 2021
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I’ve found that pretty much every supplement does more harm than good, even if they improve a particular symptom. Cypro improves my sleep but makes me depressed, and basically every other supplement irritates my intestines.

I’ve found the most beneficial thing for sleep is smooth digestion. If a food irritates my intestines, it guarantees difficult falling asleep and a night of shallow sleep. I can tell a food harmed me soon after an irritating meal, because not only do I get bloated but my nose gets clogged.

To improve sleep, I’ve had to cut out every irritating food and settle on a restrictive diet of just goat milk and coffee, with occasional eggs and salt. Most fibers irritate my intestine and disrupt sleep—especially in the context of coffee. Coffee doesn’t affect me so badly when my digestion is smooth. If I have daily well-formed poops, I sleep well.
I agree that sleep is a digestion issue for a lot of us... My sleep began to suffer during my keto and fasting and over exercise years, about 5 years ago. Since then, it has improved a lot when I'm not exercising too much, and when I make sure that I am not eating big dinners, no matter what the food is.

Too much fruit bloats me out and disturbs my sleep, as does too much of pretty much any fiber...

Antibiotics helped my sleep, activated charcoal a few times a week helps as does daily liquid chlorophyll.

Cyproheptadine makes me horribly depressed the next day so I usually avoid it at all costs. I don't think I have a serotonin issue and I've noticed that when I take one or two capsules of 5-HTP before bed that's when I get my best sleep of all. I KNOW it's very unpopular here, but like I said, I don't think I have a serotonin issue and instead the supplement just makes me sleep for 8 or 9 hours 🤩.

Another interesting thing that has helped me is if I do wake up at 2:00 a.m., I will warm up a cup o'coffee with some potassium bicarbonate in it, and maybe a little bit of brewed cacao... This along with a nicotine lozenge will knock me back out within 30 minutes, for another 3 hrs. Weird, but true...
 

Gûs80

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Apr 21, 2021
Messages
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I’ve found that pretty much every supplement does more harm than good, even if they improve a particular symptom. Cypro improves my sleep but makes me depressed, and basically every other supplement irritates my intestines.

I’ve found the most beneficial thing for sleep is smooth digestion. If a food irritates my intestines, it guarantees difficult falling asleep and a night of shallow sleep. I can tell a food harmed me soon after an irritating meal, because not only do I get bloated but my nose gets clogged.

To improve sleep, I’ve had to cut out every irritating food and settle on a restrictive diet of just goat milk and coffee, with occasional eggs and salt. Most fibers irritate my intestine and disrupt sleep—especially in the context of coffee. Coffee doesn’t affect me so badly when my digestion is smooth. If I have daily well-formed poops, I sleep well.
Interesting. It makes sense.
I have few digestive problems lately since the cold Teréré (ilex paraguariensis) helps me a lot with digestion, I drink it several times a day. I think I just drank a little water before. Also I had a big improvement after a few months experience of the Carnivore Diet, which turns out to be a great elimination diet.

Have you tried betaine + pepsin?

Have you ever performed lipase, protease and amylase tests? From my lipase test I understood why my fat digestion has always been so bad.

About Cipro, it's clearly lowering your serotonin too much. Despite having very high serotonin, having had chronic insomnia for years, I also don't adapt to cipro.

Did you know that sleep restriction is used by scientists as a way to increase serotonin in cases of chronic depression?

Have you noticed improvements in your intestines after a night of partying that arrived late and slept little?


I see a lot of people who need more estrogen, who are fast metabolizers and who deplete serotonin and dopamine at a rapid rate.



If that's the case for you, unfortunately most pro RP recommendations will make the situation worse.

If so, having low serotonin makes IBS worse. I ask about the night of the party as a simple form of diagnosis. If there is visible improvement during the day after sleep restriction, it is a strong indication that your problem is low serotonin.
 

Vileplume

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Jun 10, 2020
Messages
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California
Interesting. It makes sense.
I have few digestive problems lately since the cold Teréré (ilex paraguariensis) helps me a lot with digestion, I drink it several times a day. I think I just drank a little water before. Also I had a big improvement after a few months experience of the Carnivore Diet, which turns out to be a great elimination diet.

Have you tried betaine + pepsin?

Have you ever performed lipase, protease and amylase tests? From my lipase test I understood why my fat digestion has always been so bad.

About Cipro, it's clearly lowering your serotonin too much. Despite having very high serotonin, having had chronic insomnia for years, I also don't adapt to cipro.

Did you know that sleep restriction is used by scientists as a way to increase serotonin in cases of chronic depression?

Have you noticed improvements in your intestines after a night of partying that arrived late and slept little?
That's really cool about cold terere helping your digestion. Most caffeinated substances seem to mess with my gut bacteria and cause constipation (as much as I love caffeine) but I hope when I fix my gut, I'll be able to tolerate them again. The carnivore diet helped my gut hugely at first, but then my digestion started to get very slow, to the point where I would poop every three days or so. I also developed a bunch of other weird symptoms, in addition to just feeling bad.

I tried betaine a while ago, but in general I avoid most supplements because they usually seem to mess with my intestines. I've also never done any of those enzyme tests. I guess I've just always felt like the issue is a bacterial problem, so I've always kinda doubted that those tests would hold the key to solving my problems. However, it sounds like the test was spot on for you. Maybe I should try them. My fat digestion seems totally fine - it's more about the particular food source, I think, rather than a macronutrient. Most fibrous foods and starches cause me to have slow and bloaty digestion.

I did hear that about sleep restriction having antidepressant properties, but this never held true for me. I always feel better after a good night's rest and worse after a night of shallow or decreased sleep. My intestines seem noticeably worse after poor sleep. After a night of deep sleep, I usually have a much better BM in the morning.

I appreciate your thoughtful questions. Right now I seem to digest goat milk really well, so I'm just sticking with that as an elimination diet. I've even cut out coffee, over the last few days. Later I'll start adding things in - fingers crossed my gut will begin to tolerate coffee again.
 

Dave Clark

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Jun 2, 2017
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If histamine or allergies are your night time problem, try NAC or NACET at bedtime, and combine that with glycine and maybe theanine, inositol, magnesium, etc.
The NAC works on the histamine that can wake you up [breaks the disulfide bonds in mucus}, and the glycine helps with calming to stay asleep. Even though in the Peat world cysteine is not suggested, this combo was the most effective for me, especially in allergy season, which it is here in my area right now.
 

Gûs80

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Joined
Apr 21, 2021
Messages
155
Age
43
That's really cool about cold terere helping your digestion. Most caffeinated substances seem to mess with my gut bacteria and cause constipation (as much as I love caffeine) but I hope when I fix my gut, I'll be able to tolerate them again. The carnivore diet helped my gut hugely at first, but then my digestion started to get very slow, to the point where I would poop every three days or so. I also developed a bunch of other weird symptoms, in addition to just feeling bad.

I tried betaine a while ago, but in general I avoid most supplements because they usually seem to mess with my intestines. I've also never done any of those enzyme tests. I guess I've just always felt like the issue is a bacterial problem, so I've always kinda doubted that those tests would hold the key to solving my problems. However, it sounds like the test was spot on for you. Maybe I should try them. My fat digestion seems totally fine - it's more about the particular food source, I think, rather than a macronutrient. Most fibrous foods and starches cause me to have slow and bloaty digestion.

I did hear that about sleep restriction having antidepressant properties, but this never held true for me. I always feel better after a good night's rest and worse after a night of shallow or decreased sleep. My intestines seem noticeably worse after poor sleep. After a night of deep sleep, I usually have a much better BM in the morning.

I appreciate your thoughtful questions. Right now I seem to digest goat milk really well, so I'm just sticking with that as an elimination diet. I've even cut out coffee, over the last few days. Later I'll start adding things in - fingers crossed my gut will begin to tolerate coffee again.
I really believe in biological individuality, which is why I accelerated my search in recent years, as I understood that it was a totally individual process, and the more I tested, the closer I would be to finding those supplements, medicines, foods and practices that made me better.

I see you've tested a lot. You are a seeker and I hope that you will soon find relief from your condition! Continues!

About constipation on the Carnivora Diet, a simple solution that expert doctors recommend is: if you get constipated, increase the fat; if you have diarrhea, cut back on fat.

I don't know your gender, but women seem to do better with higher fats, due to hormone regulation issues. If you are interested in learning more about this approach, I suggest you watch Dr Bright's videos.


View: https://youtu.be/b2bVzaWqw9k
 

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