What has helped you with sleep/insomnia - post links

[Wishful]

but the one I got is called (embarrassingly) Zleep

I don't think that's an embarrassing product name. I think it's pretty good. Short, memorable.

 

[perchance dreamer]

I posted about this product on another thread. I've recently started taking Host Defense's Complete Calm powder and find it very helpful for anxiety and sleep. Host Defense is a company based in Olympia, Washington.

The taste is very earthy since some of the ingredients are medicinal mushrooms. I learned that mixing it with a little plain yogurt tames the taste. It's very potent, so I take 1/2 dose.

Ordinarily, I just take it before bed to help with sleep, but recently, I got exceedingly frustrated after trying to resolve an issue with Amazon (grrr!!!!) . I took a very small dose of the Complete Calm since it was late afternoon, and it really took the edge off.

https://www.amazon.com/Host-Defense...dcdcbcded&pd_rd_wg=kbcAo&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mi

There's a fascinating documentary on Netflix called Fantastic Fungi. I had no idea of how important mushrooms were in the ecosystem and how they were once used legally in clinical settings to help with certain mental health disorders. Also, the time-lapse photography in the documentary is beautiful.

 

[lenora]

Thanks, @perchance dreamer. I believe I saw the documentary you're referring to some time ago. My mind isn't what it used to be, so will watch if again. Thanks for the info. Yours, Lenora.

 

[Aerowallah]

Pretty much everyone should approach diphenhydramine with caution .... nasty side-effects profile ...

No side effects for me whatsoever. Benadryl is the ONLY thing that gets me back to sleep after waking to pee at 3 or 4am during my shallowing sleep cycle while histamines are elevated. To do this it must be taken before going to bed...it has no effect for me taken at 3am. BTW don't need it to fall asleep. Fall asleep within minutes without it.

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

No side effects for me whatsoever.

Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) had really nasty side-effects for me and for several others, including a completely pradoxical action on my system. It not only didnt help me get to sleep, it left me jittering like a ping-pong ball in a windstorm, gave me restless legs, and increased anxiety.

What DID work for me was Unisom, who's active ingredient is doxylamine succinate, which has been a real life-saer for me when I'm desperate for deep, lasting, sleep.

Benadryl is the ONLY thing that gets me back to sleep after waking to pee at 3 or 4am during my shallowing sleep cycle while histamines are elevated.

So you're dealing with MCAS issues, I'm guessing, which may be why Benadryl is so beneficial for you.

 

[Aerowallah]

Certainly elevated histamines, but at least I stopped itching years ago by watching my diet during the onset years of CFS. Funny, but natural anti-histamines like C, Magnesium, Quercetin and Theanine clobbered my blood pressure at the large therapeutic doses in pills. BP I gather is already on the low side with MCAS issues. So instead I eat grapefruits and drink green tea but that's AWFULLY low and slow!

 

[lenora]

Yes, quercetin is great for so many things....it's found in pineapple (as is a good friend, boswellia). A ripe pineapple is surely one of the "nectar of the Gods." It has to be....also helps cure gums when having dental surgery.

One word of caution: Grapefruit can be dangerous to the liver if taken with certain meds and high doses of vitamins. I know the question of exactly which vitamins has been up in the air for years, but do be careful. Just watching out for your general health. Yours, Lenora.

 

[Aerowallah]

Yup, thanks, the only drug I take is Benadryl!

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

Yes, quercetin is great for so many things....it's found in pineapple (as is a good friend, boswellia).

Pineapple has a very minimal amount of quercetin, the least amount of any food, fruit, or vegetable.

The poster is confusing boswellia with bromelain, a proteolytic enzyme. Boswellia is boswellia serrata, sourced from the tree of the same name, and more commonly known as frankincense ….

.also helps cure gums when having dental surgery.

The reason pineapple burns or stings the sensitive tissues in your mouth when you eat it is directly related to the bromelain. If it does ‘….cure your gums after dental surgery…’, it’s a pretty painful cure. Bromelain taken orally may increase the risk of bleeding during and after surgery.

One word of caution: Grapefruit can be dangerous to the liver if taken with certain meds and high doses of vitamins.

If you drink grapefruit juice while taking certain drugs, for instance statins (to lower cholesterol), too much of the drug may stay in your system, increasing the possibility of liver and muscle damage that can lead to kidney failure. The damage isn’t done directly by the grapefruit itself, but rather by its action as an inhibitor of several CYP450 enzymes which metabolize multiple medications, including statins, and could result in holding the medication in your system far longer than required, leading to accidental overdoses and the potential for liver damage from that accidental overdose.

In fact, citrus fruits stimulate the liver and help it turn many toxic materials into substances that can be dissolved into and absorbed by water. Grapefruit is especially good, since it contains naringin and naringenin, which are antioxidants that reduce inflammation and protect the liver from injury.

Far from damaging the liver, grapefruit juice is often recommended by holistic medicine to CLEANSE the liver.

I know the question of exactly which vitamins has been up in the air for years, but do be careful. Just watching out for your general health.

As far as grapefruit being dangerous to the liver if taken with high doses of vitamins, this is just WILDLY inaccurate. There are NO vitamins that are dangerous if taken with grapefruit juice. The issue has never been under discussion. There are certain medicinal herbs that interact badly with grapefruit, among them ephedra, which is dangerous all on its own. The others are idoga, bitter orange, and Panax ginseng. It would also interact poorly with licorice, in that both lower potassium levels in your body, leading to potential heart issues, with the severity dependent on the amounts of the constituents taken.

 

[perchance dreamer]

Quercitin is a great antioxidant, but it, like NAC, really disturbs my sleep. They are both very stimulating for me.

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

Quercitin is a great antioxidant, but it, like NAC, really disturbs my sleep. They are both very stimulating for me.

I have problems with them too, and really have to watch my intake. Ive given up on NAC entirely ....

 

[Aerowallah]

I've always found "therapeutic doses" problematic, and food doses easily tolerated, with their synergists and cofactors. Ditto the discussion of Quercetin...Theanine is fantastic stuff, a precursor of serotonin, a methyl donor, with anti-histamine properties...but capsule doses start at 100mg which is about 15 cups of green tea per pill...Q + Thea pills dropped my diastolic to 55 from nbout 70-75 in a week and I couldn't pull myself out of a chair!

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

Theanine is fantastic stuff, a precursor of serotonin, a methyl donor, with anti-histamine properties..

It may well be all those things but it kicked my @ss badly, and I gave up on any form of green tea for several years. Am startng to add back small amounts of matcha, we'll see how it goes.

Therapeutic doses are generally at least 2 to 3 times too strong for me so I hear 'ya .... I have a special pair of small wire clippers that I use to cut tablets down, and capsules are easy to titrate ....

One of my objections to almost all medications is exactly what you said .... they're ONE active ingredient, minus all co-factors, synergists, co-enzymes, and ride-alongs, and probably substances that may not even have registered on the radar yet ....

 

[Aerowallah]

I get fabulous organic green tea DECAF sencha...I wouldn't dare try caffeine....funny, a year before the onset of CFS some years ago (triggered by a virus) I found myself drinking coffee for the first time in my life and amping up a sweet tooth...but I never would have guessed what was coming...

I can give you a link to the sencha if you like...she imports it from Japan.

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

I can give you a link to the sencha if you like...she imports it from Japan.

Thank you, yes !!!

Not sure I'm ready to embark on a new adventure, what with the small amount of matcha working OK right now, but it's good to know that I have the option when I can grind the ME gears into what passes for action currently ....

 

[tyson oberle]

I wish I had known years ago that I have obstructive sleep apnea. I'm not at all overweight, and I don't snore, so I didn't suspect apnea. I spent so much time and money tackling my sleep problem, but was just spinning my wheels because of this basic fact: If you don't breathe well, you don't sleep well.

That's not to say there aren't many other kinds of sleep problems, but if you do have apnea, you need to address it in addition to whatever the other problems are.

I think anyone who has a sleep problem should go to a good ear/nose/throat doctor to have their breathing evaluated. They can order home sleep tests and refer you to a sleep doctor if you have something like central apnea or other types of sleep disorders.

When you have obstructive sleep apnea, does it make it hard for you to fall asleep? Or does obstructive sleep apnea generally let you fall asleep but it makes it difficult for you to stay asleep like fragmented sleep or does it generally let you sleep through the night but it causes unrefreshing sleep?

 

[Aerowallah]

Thank you, yes !!!

Not sure I'm ready to embark on a new adventure, what with the small amount of matcha working OK right now, but it's good to know that I have the option when I can grind the ME gears into what passes for action currently ....

Fabulous quality....

https://groundgreentea.com/

 

[perchance dreamer]

When you have obstructive sleep apnea, does it make it hard for you to fall asleep? Or does obstructive sleep apnea generally let you fall asleep but it makes it difficult for you to stay asleep like fragmented sleep or does it generally let you sleep through the night but it causes unrefreshing sleep?

Obstructive sleep apnea can cause any of the sleep problems you mentioned. Before I found out I had apnea, I could fall asleep, but woke up repeatedly through the night. I never had a full night's sleep.

My husband, on the other hand, slept through the night, but when he had a sleep study, at my insistence because he snored, the study showed he had severe apnea. Since getting treated for apnea, his blood pressure has gone down, and I no longer snarl at him in the morning.

 

[tyson oberle]

Obstructive sleep apnea can cause any of the sleep problems you mentioned. Before I found out I had apnea, I could fall asleep, but woke up repeatedly through the night. I never had a full night's sleep.

My husband, on the other hand, slept through the night, but when he had a sleep study, at my insistence because he snored, the study showed he had severe apnea. Since getting treated for apnea, his blood pressure has gone down, and I no longer snarl at him in the morning.

When I researched sleep apnea using Google I didn't find anywhere that says this condition makes it difficult for a person to fall asleep. You said that you could fall asleep and it looks like your husband could fall asleep as well because you didn't mention it as a problem for him. So I am not sure if sleep apnea should be investigated for people who have problems falling asleep.

 

[perchance dreamer]

From what I've read, untreated apnea can lead to insomnia, including difficulty in falling asleep. It's addressed in this blog in the section What is the Connection Between the Two Conditions [apnea and insomnia]. I think it's really important for anyone with chronic sleep problems to have their breathing evaluated by a good ENT.

And, ugh, apnea becomes more common in older people because of loss of muscle tone in the mouth structures, including the tongue (thanks so much!) I had actually worked with a speech therapist to strenghten mouth structures, but the exercises triggered my TMJ. These exercises apparently help some people, though.

https://www.sleepdallas.com/blog/sleep-apnea-insomnia-connection/