What do you take to help you sleep?

[googily]

A cool room and a fan pointed right at me.

Benadryl or Unisom or Klonopin if my brain is racing. But try to not use them more than once a week.

Melatonin dreams were too disturbing.

But generally I don't have much trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep. My sympathies to those who do!

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

I turn on the science channel or whichever channel has shows like how the universe works. Put that on and lay down listening to it with my eyes closed. Works most of the time.
Also, Columbo or Murder She Wrote both put me to sleep.

 

[MC Rider]

After that 2 AM whiz break, a couple hits off the Indica vape and it's back off to never never land. Haha!

 

[Jerry1]

Similar to W2R - Nothing. I’m thankful to be retired and if I have trouble sleeping, I just get up. I used to struggle more with sleep when working, but now, I don’t have as much on my mind. Typically, if I have any issues, it’s getting to sleep. For that, I just breath and try to clear my mind by focusing on my breathing. That tends to work but if not, I’ll get up. Once I’m asleep, I toss and turn a bit throughout the night, but rarely do I wake up and can’t get back to sleep. When that happens, again, I get up and sit in my chair. I can usually fall back to sleep in that but thankfully it doesn’t happen often.

 

[jollystomper]

I go to sleep later. If I try to go to sleep by 11PM, I likely will wake up around 3AM. But if I go to sleep between midnight and 1 AM, I will sleep right through the night.

Waking up due to using the bathroom tends to be a function of what I have drink close to going to bed, and a couple of my meds "side effects" have potential to increase that, so I try to take them mid day or early afternoon.

Reading something meant to entertain and not "inform" is good for getting to sleep . Someone mentioned listening to podcasts, I also find that helps. There are a couple of sports reporters' podcasts I listen to that I find very humorous in their coverage of topics. It is easy listening, relaxing, and will definitely put me to sleep. If I wake up at 3AM, listening to them gets me quickly back to sleep.

 

[RobbieB]

5 mg Ambien.

 

[Winemaker]

I prefer the safe, natural, organic means; sex. Very relaxing, stress relieving sex. While it takes two to tango, I can sleep for days afterward. No need to take a pill or wash down with water.

 

[street]

^ LOL!

 

[aja8888]

^ LOL!

Ditto!

 

[tshaner]

Half a gummy

Legal where I live and the absolute best. I use indica strain of cannabis which gives me 7 to 8 hours of the highest quality sleep. I think it’s usefulness is in its calming effect.

Don’t use it that much. Occasional problem in waking up and not being able to go back to sleep usually due to something on my mind.

I sleep solidly, never wake up groggy and feel terrific the next morning.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I have little trouble falling asleep but a lot of trouble staying asleep. Caffeine/no caffeine seems to make no difference. I also cannot get 8 hours of sleep per day. I've just not needed it.

Lately I've been taking 3 mg of melatonin just before bedtime, and it seems to help. I accidentally took an extra dose a couple of days ago and did not wake up until morning, which was terrific. I've been having vivid but not at all disturbing dreams. I consider that a plus.

Interesting that one of Peter Attia's podcasts 2 years ago dealt with sleep and his guest apparently indicated he was taking too much melatonin. Peter is still listing Kirk Parsley Sleep Remedy which lists melatonin in it's proprietary blend, but does not list the amount, which I find unsettling.

The jury is out regarding how much melatonin is ok. We do know that melatonin levels drop with age. I've read that higher melatonin levels are associated with lower BP and even possibly decreased cancer risk. The question that is not answered is whether exogenous melatonin may be helpful for this as well. Many people here are stating with a sense of authority that one shouldn't take more than X amount, but as far as I can tell, there is no data. I also wonder if there is a lot of individual variation in its effectiveness and dosage.

I'm going to continue to experiment with my melatonin dose, and see what happens.

BTW I'm usually in bed by 11 but had a project to work on and decided to check out early-retirement.org as a method of winding down!

 

[Sunset]

I tend to wake up at 3am, so I get up and go pee. The weird thing is it's not really much pee, but if I don't get up I worry that I'll have to go later and that keeps me awake.

Much better for me to go through the motions, tiny pee, and then back to bed and sleep.

I don't turn on any lights, but do have an auto nightlight that turns on when entering the bathroom so it has a faint light, which is plenty as my eyes are dark adjusted.

I often put on an eye mask after my bathroom trip, so I don't wake up at sunrise. I like to sleep in until 8am

Rarely, probably 1 time per month I'll take a benedryal 25mg

 

[gattara]

Thank you, OP, for asking this question. Adding my thanks to Disneysteve, as I know he is a doctor, and Unisom is new to me. I ran out and got a box at Walgreens yesterday and had an incredibly good night of sleep. I greeted my husband with a huge smile this morning, so grateful for great sleep!

53, now in menopause, and sleep has been awful this year. Wake up at 2:45 - 3:15 a.m., can't return to sleep no matter what I do, walking around like a zombie during the day. Melatonin has been inconsistent but maybe I need to experiment with dosages. Bought a book on CBT and the practices are not working for me. Very frustrated. It's like my body has declared, "4.5 - 5 hours sleep are enough for you." But it's not. Saw my gynecologist on Monday, she said Western medicine isn't helpful for sleep, and I just had to keep up with CBT, do meditation twice daily, and breathing exercises, and I should be better in a few months. She is young and I just don't think she gets it, so I made an appointment with my regular doctor next week for more helpful advice. In the meantime, Unisom ... wow!

 

[DrRoy]

I used to have fairly steady trouble when I was working. Sometimes falling asleep but more often staying asleep. Then I would alternate benedryl, doxylamine, and lorazepam, all half doses. I thought that it was better to rotate what I used and to use as little as possible. I tried melatonin 3 mg, but it did practically nothing for me most of the time. In FIRE, I find that I sleep much better. Most nights I need nothing, even though I get up once a night for the bathroom virtually every night. Also, I had read that use of the above sleep aids was corelated to dementia issues so I wanted to back off. I will now occasionally have a melatonin in the middle of the night if I have a problem, and it does work now, but that is not common anymore.

 

[big-papa]

For me, it's been Melatonin. Generally works well, but sometimes I'll get groggy later in the morning. I'm more likely to use it when I travel overseas to help reset my sleep cycle. Lately it's been generic Benadryl. I haven't had the next day groggy issues with it. There was a time when I was between jobs for about 10 months or so and I slept like a baby with no issues. Looking forward to retiring in 2022 and getting to that point once again!

Cheers,
big-papa

 

[Car-Guy]

I prefer the safe, natural, organic means; sex. Very relaxing, stress relieving sex. While it takes two to tango, I can sleep for days afterward. No need to take a pill or wash down with water.

Cool.. Glad to hear you get a good nights sleep once a year....

 

[Aerides]

The jury is out regarding how much melatonin is ok. We do know that melatonin levels drop with age. I've read that higher melatonin levels are associated with lower BP and even possibly decreased cancer risk. The question that is not answered is whether exogenous melatonin may be helpful for this as well. Many people here are stating with a sense of authority that one shouldn't take more than X amount, but as far as I can tell, there is no data. I also wonder if there is a lot of individual variation in its effectiveness and dosage.

A lot of the googling I did came up with the same thing. Basically, hesitancy and recommendations for low dosage because of a lack of studies - especially no studies on long term use and the natural inclination of any medical authority to dissuade usage of that which isn't studied.

But...there never will be sufficient studies because there's no money to be made - it's cheap!

Still, it makes sense to take the lowest dose that works for you, and start with 1mg vs. 3mg or more - at least it's cheaper that way and that should appeal to anyone here.

 

[ER2B]

No medications, alcohol or CBD. Just blackout windows and a cold room. What really works for us is when we alter our O2 - CO2 ratios by deep inhalation, deep exhalation and holding breath for a few seconds. We've been doing this for years whenever we have trouble falling or staying asleep. Now I'm no expert and if you decide to try, do this at your own risk.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I take 300mg gabapentin when I need to

 

[RetiredHappy]

Doxepin. My Allergist prescribes it for my severe urticaria. It is a tier 2 anti-histamine. The drug was first created for anxieties but researchers later discovered that it is a very effective anti-histamine which controls histamine (H1 and H2) production at the brain. They also found out that it is a very effective sleep aid that is non-habit forming. My pharmacist uses it to help him sleep. Doxepin does not help with falling asleep but it helps you stay asleep, i.e. if you have to get up to pee, you will fall right back to sleep. I get a nice side-effect of helping me stay asleep.

 

[Helen]

I've suffered with insomnia for probably 15 years. It was brought on by my hormones changing in menopause and it has been pretty bad.

About three months ago I added 1/2 a gummy with CBN. I don't feel high off it but it really helps to keep me asleep.

So, a few hours before bed I take some magnesium citrate, then when I get in bed I tale 1 mg of melatonin followed by 1/2 a gummy.

https://weedmaps.com/brands/wyld/products/wyld-elderberry-1-1-thc-cbn-enhanced-gummies

 

[ivinsfan]

A lot of the googling I did came up with the same thing. Basically, hesitancy and recommendations for low dosage because of a lack of studies - especially no studies on long term use and the natural inclination of any medical authority to dissuade usage of that which isn't studied.

But...there never will be sufficient studies because there's no money to be made - it's cheap!

Still, it makes sense to take the lowest dose that works for you, and start with 1mg vs. 3mg or more - at least it's cheaper that way and that should appeal to anyone here.

You can't buy melatonin over the counter in the UK..but it's probably not expensive either

 

[Koolau]

Breathe-rite strips have been helping me of late. If need be, I add Tylenol PM (Kirkland brand equivalent.) YMMV

 

[RonBoyd]

I had the same problem: Instant sleep, early wake, and trouble going back to sleep. I tried Ambien but it didn't change anything other than I fell asleep faster -- particularly if I didn't go to bed right away. <chuckle> I go to bed at 10:00pm every night -- and have for over fifty years.

Ambien did have terrible side effects for me, however. The most irritating was extremely sore muscles the following day. And a couple times I had the hallucination/sleep walk experience -- waking up from a dream, out of bed in a different room. Scary!

Next was Trazodone. Same as with Ambien, still woke up early and not able to go back to sleep. Muscle pain continued but no sleep walking.

Tried Tizanadine for relief of muscle pain -- it is a muscle relaxant. Didn't help until stopping the sleeping pills.

Discovered that if I took a 4mg Tizanadine at bed-time and woke up early (most times), I was able to go back to sleep within 10 minutes... even several times. The only time it didn't work was if I woke up early and felt refreshed -- I found that anytime after 2:00 (4 hours) is enough to carry me through the day.

Anyway, with Tizanadine I normally make it to between 4:00 and 5:00.

 

[single2019]

My problem is not falling asleep. I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. My problem is staying asleep. I always wake up around 2am and it literally takes hours for me to fall back to sleep. I do not have breathing problems, do not have to go to the bathroom, etc. Years ago, my doctor gave me time released sleeping pills in the hope they would last the night, but they had no affect. I currently take the natural version of ZzzQuil which is drug free. It works to some degree. I drink little coffee and only in the morning, nor do I drink any alcohol. Any suggestions/

Try Atarax. First generation antihistamine. Available by prescription only