Niacin for sleep

[Daniel E.]

I've been taking melatonin before sleep somedays, but it causes me to wake up at the middle of the night and have a problem falling back to sleep. @Mary, have you experienced something like this from niacin ?

 

[Gondwanaland]

I've been taking melatonin before sleep somedays, but it causes me to wake up at the middle of the night and have a problem falling back to sleep. @Mary, have you experienced something like this from niacin ?

Melatonin is a methyl donor (and Niacin is the opposite of that).

 

[Mary]

I've been taking melatonin before sleep somedays, but it causes me to wake up at the middle of the night and have a problem falling back to sleep. @Mary, have you experienced something like this from niacin ?

No. Niacin actually helps me fall back asleep - I take it both before bed and middle of the night. It has helped me sleep for quite awhile (several years) But now I'm having a new type of insomnia, I don't know what's going on this time. Have to experiment some more! Someone suggested vaping cannabis oil and that is near the top of my short list. But first I'm going to look into checking my nitric oxide levels and perhaps try Learner1's protocol, which includes ornithine and citrulline.

@Gondwanaland - I didn't know that melatonin is a methyl donor. At one time it helped me fall asleep but it's possible that it's counterproductive now, I may try going without it and see how I do. Thanks for this info!

 

[kallogann]

maybe you're an over-methylator, that would explain why niacin helps

 

[Mary]

maybe you're an over-methylator, that would explain why niacin helps

Perhaps, but I don't think so. I can't take niacin during the day as it makes me too tired, from either slowing down methylation or stimulating GABA receptors, or both. I'm extremely sensitive to MSG or anything that increases glutamate so I think the niacin helps me the most by stimulating GABA receptors. If I had trouble with over methylation, I think I would be able to take it during the day, which I can't.

 

[Eneia]

Just passing by, I thought I’d add my experience...

I’ve been on Niacin + magnesium malate in the evening for over 3 months now and it still works like a charm to fall asleep quickly when I wake up during the night.(I may use melatonin sometimes to falll asleep, but usually I feel tired a few hours after the niacin/mg combo).
I once ran out of magnesium malate so switched to magnesium citrate, and I woke up a lot more, then couldnt fall asleep again after 5-6 hours of sleep. Added malic acid that I had in my bag of tricks and got my usual better sleep.
So, Niacin on its own is not enough for me, but once I have the magnesium it does help me fall asleep quickly. I did not get this with magnesium alone.

 

[Mary]

@Eneia - I found out a few months ago that I needed more magnesium and less calcium (actually stopped my calcium supplement) and when I increased my magnesium at night, I started sleeping better. This was in addition to niacin which I have been taking at night for several years now. Hair analysis showed that my calcium/magnesium ratio was very badly skewed in favor of calcium.

I was taking magnesium glycinate at that time and was advised by someone that it had raised their blood pressure. And my BP did go up when I increased my magnesium glycinate, though my sleep got better, so I switched to magnesium citrate and, sure enough, my sleep got worse again. I did some reading and found it had to do with citrate and glutatamate.

So - I've just recently switched to magnesium malate as you're taking and think I finally have a magnesium that is working for me. Interesting that the malic acid helped you sleep when you were taking the magnesium citrate - I don't know if the malic acid itself is helping me with sleep but it's not making it worse, and not raising my BP. I never knew finding the best form of magnesium could be so complicated!