Vitamins/supplements/herbs for sleep. What works for you?

[heapsreal]

nitrazepam/mogadon expensive? its like $5 here in the land down under. I have found it is a good sleep med but used more then twice a week tolerence then kicks in. I still think its a good idea to have several different things to rotate between for sleep to avoid tolerance issues and help reduce dosage escalation etc also good to have some sleep meds/supps that dont work through benzo receptors and use them a couple of times week as well.

cheers!!!

 

[TheMoonIsBlue]

They always try to target people with medications that are controlled substances. I read that a lot of them are tainted/mixed with things like stong antipsychotics like haliparidol (sp?)

Not cool spamming people. You are----> little

 

[Pea]

L-Theanine and magensium. L-theanine works better taken on an empty stomach though, so I take it before dinner and I'll even take it at work if I get stressed/nervousy. It doesn't cause dramatic drowsiness, just relaxation.

For more effect I take this Revitalizing Sleep:
http://www.swansonvitamins.com/ET382/ItemDetail

 

[xks201]

I take timed release melatonin which seems to work far better to regular melatonin.

 

[Ocean]

A good meal just 3 hours before bed

I agree with this. I found eating some protein before not too long before going to bed helps me.

 

[Ocean]

Its so good to hear when such a simple thing is helping someone. Im happy for you.

Its so hard thou finding out the simple things which help each individual.

It is so hard Tania. There's so much trial and error involved just to find one thing to help out of so many different things we try.

 

[Ocean]

N-Acetyl cysteine. Within days of starting NAC my insomnia dissapeared, even during PMS week (usually I get 3-4 hours if I am lucky).
I take 500mg late morning or early afternoon & then another 2 hours before I want to sleep, as soon as I mess with the timing & dosage my insomnia is back.

I would like to sleep longer than I do, my bladder is a huge problem

I know it doesn't have this effect for everyone, this is just my experience

I had stomach aches when I tried NAC before but maybe I need to take it with food, I can't remember if I did or not. I have the same problem as you with sleep and my monthly cycle.

 

[Googsta]

Sigh. Unfortunately the NAC stopped working 3 weeks ago & I have chronic insomnia once again .
It was working so well! I might try it again after I've tried the simplified protocol for a while.

I'm sick of shelling out money on all these treatments, waiting for them to arrive with great expectations & then nudda. I've tried 5-HTP but absolutely no effect, well, if anything it made me feel depressed. Not sure if that is normal/temporary, either way it was too tough to ride out on top of no sleep.

I'm thinking of trying Amitryptylene tonight onwards for a few weeks. I gotta get some sleep!

((HUGS)) for all the insomniacs

 

[Luca]

Sigh. Unfortunately the NAC stopped working 3 weeks ago & I have chronic insomnia once again .
It was working so well! I might try it again after I've tried the simplified protocol for a while.

I'm sick of shelling out money on all these treatments, waiting for them to arrive with great expectations & then nudda. I've tried 5-HTP but absolutely no effect, well, if anything it made me feel depressed. Not sure if that is normal/temporary, either way it was too tough to ride out on top of no sleep.

I'm thinking of trying Amitryptylene tonight onwards for a few weeks. I gotta get some sleep!

((HUGS)) for all the insomniacs

I signed up to reply to this comment. I got here through a Google search for "NAC stopped working". I've browsed here many times in the past though.

NAC also stopped working for me after 'resurrecting' me from my CFS for about 1 week, 2 years ago.

I wonder why it stops working for some people? Are the co-factors getting used up? I've wrestled with insomnia too.

 

[Sallysblooms]

It is usually more than a couple of things that help. Hormone balance is the first thing to correct.

 

[Luca]

So why would it work then stop working? Why did it work in the first place?

 

[Sallysblooms]

Sleep is one thing Glutathione helps. Rich had a thread about it.

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...tion-of-the-sleep-wake-cycle-in-me-cfs.11728/

 

[Luca]

Thanks.

Yes, I currently have glutathione at the top of my list. My first attempt to take it actually worsened my sleep. From tomorrow or the day after I'll be attempting another way (sub lingual delivery). If that fails I may examine glutathione precursors like NAC once again.

Incidentally my sleep is OKish at present.

I use L-Ornithine at night and which I understand removes nitrogen toxins from the bloodstream, just as you'd expect glutathione to. Without it I'd sleep lightly and wake repeatedly. I take Phosphatidyl serine and 5-HTP too.

What NAC did for me was reduce my fatigue. Different symptoms for different people but the likely same root cause - something in the body pumping out toxins.

 

[loayachil]

Good afternoon Ocean,

I have tried a whole bunch of sleep meds, such as Ambian, Rozeram, etc. with zero help. I take a huge amount of melatonin (whatever).
There was one medication (I know you mentioned natural, but noone seems to mention this) called Flurazepam (Dalmane) which is a relaxent medication and helped me sleep a lot. I still woke up completely exhausted, but I would only wake up 2-3 times a night while I was on it. According to my last gp, it is addictive, but does not cause liver damage. It is meant as a relaxant and therefore might fit what you describe. It works different than most sleeping medications (sorry, I dont have the med knowledge).

I think that even without insurance this is a cheap medication, and it never caused me any extra stomach issues (which I have, such as bleeding, pain, etc)

Let me know if you try this,
Lo

 

[Emootje]

Butyrate works for me, don't no why...