Good natural sleep aid?

[Marita40]

I rarely have a sleep problem. If I do, one Tylenol PM does it for me. I fall asleep and wake up refreshed, unlike other OTC sleep meds that leave me groggy.

 

[FloridaJim57]

No, I don't

Do you drink, FloridaJim? I only ask because the only experience I have that might apply to the problem you mention is when I drink too much, I have the same pattern. I pass out easily, but then wake up when it starts to wear off, and then I have trouble falling back asleep. Now I limit myself to about 4oz of hard liquor or 3-4 regular beers (or one high ABV beer), and I don't wake up like I did when I would overindulge. I still find that I need 1-2 nights a week where I'm alcohol free to "reset", or even with the same intake every night, after 5 or 6 nights in a row it will affect me more and more.

I also had the same pattern just a few times due to anxiety, and I took diphenhydramine to make myself sleep through the night, but others have addressed that, and if I had it regularly I'd probably try CBD/THC, but some of that depends on the legal status in your area.

No, I never touch alcohol. I only drink two cups of coffee per day in the morning.

 

[W2R]

You don’t mention what time you go to bed so you didn’t say how long you are actually sleeping. Personally, if I wake up and can’t go back to sleep, I just get up. Thankfully I’m retired and can take a nap later if I need to. Usually if I read, I will get sleepy again in an hour or so.

+1

If I am not sleeping, I think there's a good chance that I just don't need any more sleep. That seems to work for me. Some days I need 10 hours, other days I skate by on 6 hours. Since I am retired, I can always nap later on if it turns out I needed more sleep after all. But that is seldom the case.

I do try to minimize coffee drinking and not drink anything with caffeine for 12 hours before bedtime.

 

[nap470]

I take a 5mg melatonin pill about 30-45 minutes before bed, but I do wake up several times during the night. I do a pretty good job of keeping the same schedule each night, but I really can't seem to fall asleep before 10:30 to 11:00PM. I am awake every day at 5:45AM to feed our dog and inject her with insulin. Shots need to be 12 hours apart so any later in the morning makes it too late of a meal in the evening. So my Fitbit says I get between 5-6 hours of sleep per night, subtracting the awake time. So I do feel like I need more sleep, but I am not good at taking naps during daylight hours. I also think dropping 10+ lbs. would help me stay asleep better so that is a goal.

 

[Time2]

I rarely have a sleep problem. If I do, one Tylenol PM does it for me. I fall asleep and wake up refreshed, unlike other OTC sleep meds that leave me groggy.

Tylenol PM uses Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) as the sleep aid.

 

[Buckeye]

We have been using CBD/G/N capsules from Lazarus Naturals in OR for sleep. They also have tinctures and gummies. Only trace amounts of THC. High quality but not cheap. 60% discount for veterans and documented low income. Also, one friend gives it to her cat to stop seizures and one friend has just started giving it to her dog to stop seizures. The cat has never has another seizure but it's too soon (2 weeks) to know if it's going to work on the dog. So far, so good!

 

[jim584672]

Indica strain is good for that, also CBD. Melatonin gives me wild dreams.

 

[Jeb-NY]

No medical proof but I believe horizontal time is just as important as how much sleep you get. I wake up multiple times per night and if I don't get back to sleep fairly fast I will read on my Kindle paper white so I don't disturb my wife. I do well with 5-6 hours of sleep per night but try to get at least 8hr of horizontal time per day. I often take a 30 minute nap during the national news in the evening to fill in a little more horizontal time and sleep with the added bonus of not hearing as much world news. I have tried counting doesn't help much forward but backwards from one hundred helps a little to get back to sleep.

 

[Jerry1]

Melatonin gives me wild dreams.

You can say that again. I can’t even describe how weird they were but suffice to say that they were disturbing. No more melatonin for me. I’d rather not sleep.

 

[Winemaker]

Sex.

 

[tmm99]

You can say that again. I can’t even describe how weird they were but suffice to say that they were disturbing. No more melatonin for me. I’d rather not sleep.

I only take about 0.25mg of melatonin. (I buy 1mg tablets and bite off about a quarter every night.) This amount of melatonin works for me. Any more than that and I end up having nightmarish or bizarre dreams.

 

[O2Bfree]

Are you getting enough physical and mental activity during the day? Going to bed with a sense of accomplishment after a day of varied activities can be good for sleep.

If your brain is in anxiety mode when you wake up at 3 am, do you know some techniques to use to calm it down?

 

[GenXguy]

Indica strain is good for that, also CBD. Melatonin gives me wild dreams.

I've heard THC and CBD (or CBN) in a 1:1 to 1:5 ratio is good. I've read that Indica isn't as important in an edible. I haven't tried any at this point. That stuff is expensive and taxed 20% in my state, and I've read that it's not a good long term solution to be using every night, just like with sleep meds.

No medical proof but I believe horizontal time is just as important as how much sleep you get.

I wonder. I mentioned earlier that I didn't sleep 3 out of 4 consecutive nights late last week after stopping the Ambien, and I only slept 3 or so hours on the one night that I did sleep. But I was in bed trying to sleep about 8 hours each of those nights - so maybe it did me some good to at least be resting and attempting to sleep. I didn't feel nearly as bad the following days as I would have thought I might from so little sleep. Fortunately, I've slept a few hours each of the last 3 nights (still no Ambien)... still way too little, but it's something.

I only take about 0.25mg of melatonin. (I buy 1mg tablets and bite off about a quarter every night.) This amount of melatonin works for me. Any more than that and I end up having nightmarish or bizarre dreams.

I thought the 5 mg and 10 mg others mentioned was high. I usually take 1.25 mg of melatonin latey, but I'm still not sure it helps. It might for helping me get to sleep, but it doesn't seems to have any overnight effect. I've read it could help with tinnitus, but I haven't noticed a change on 1.25 mg, anyway. No change in dreams/nightmares comes to mind.

It seems that no matter how little or how much I exercise and how much weight I lose, it doesn't make a difference with my sleeping, and the increase in tinnitus beginning early last month has just made my insomnia worse. Sadly, it's pretty loud and high pitched, so my ElectroFan and Marpac Dohm don't mask it.

 

[ScoopKona]

It's already been mentioned. But Cannabis Indica, if legal in your area. Lights out without any side effects. Sativa can have the opposite effect -- everything goes into high gear and good luck sleeping at all.

The worldwide overdose rate over tens of thousands of years of human history is holding steady at zero.

I brought some with me this trip. But usually "beat myself up reclaiming this farm from the jungle" kicks my butt severely enough that a fall straight to sleep and sleep all night.

 

[old medic]

I have tinnitus, which is too loud to mask, but it still seems to help to have some white noise or environmental sounds playing. I could not sleep in absolute quiet since it doesn't really exist for me, anyway.

I can relate to that... 35 years of sirens has cost me... Like the OP, most times easily fall asleep, But I have issues with waking up in the 2-4 area and between my mind racing and the ringing I can't go back to sleep...CBD gummies made it worse. A few days a week I will take one each of Melatonin and Aleve PM and that usually helps, but feel run down the next day.
Most times if I can't get back to sleep, I will move to the couch, and put on a movie.. got several that Ive seen a thousand times, and seem to drift back off in minutes most times, but wake as soon as the credits start.

 

[Bamaman]

My sleep aid is simply hard work during the day. I never stop building--and cutting grass much of the year. I'm so tired, I sleep well.

My wife's back pain requires her to take medication every 4 hours. And she sleeps very little in the middle of the night. Thankfully she can cat nap during the day.

 

[DayDreaming]

There was a long thread on this recently:
https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/what-do-you-take-to-help-you-sleep-111452.html

 

[MRG]

Anyone had a sleep study? I haven't, after I lost a bunch of weight my snoring stopped. Then I had surgery for a deviated septum a couple weeks ago and my sleep seems to have improved drastically.

 

[old medic]

Good morning folks... movie time again.

 

[Helen]

Good morning folks... movie time again.

I'm here.

 

[GenXguy]

Good morning folks... movie time again.

I barely slept all night but didn't get on the phone or PC. I wasn't even thinking about work or feeling any anxiety - just couldn't sleep thanks to the tinnitus that can't be masked.

 

[killingme]

I can empathize with the your plight. My DW in particular had a sleep pattern just as you described including the 2-3 AM waking. My naturopath recommended a product called Sleep Relief by a company nbi. While it has the usual suspects it is the herbal blend that seems to make a difference. It is not a silver bullet but I figure our sleep has subjectively improved 50-60% without pharmaceuticals. They are horse pills however.

 

[GenXguy]

I actually had better sleep last night than I've had pretty much any night since early Feb when the tinnitus got louder, even compared to nights I took Ambien. But last night, I just took the usual 1.25mg melatonin. I still woke up at times and was awake well before my alarm, so I don't know how much sleep I got, but I could tell it was much better than the previous two nights. So, part of the reason for the better sleep might have just been that I needed the sleep more after the previous two nights of so little sleep.

I'm thinking about getting a Fitbit Charge 5 to track my sleep. Even if it's not that accurate for my sleep patterns, I could at least use it as a baseline for myself. It would have been interesting to compare the data from these last few nights.

 

[ls99]

Sex

 

[aja8888]

I actually had better sleep last night than I've had pretty much any night since early Feb when the tinnitus got louder, even compared to nights I took Ambien. But last night, I just took the usual 1.25mg melatonin. I still woke up at times and was awake well before my alarm, so I don't know how much sleep I got, but I could tell it was much better than the previous two nights. So, part of the reason for the better sleep might have just been that I needed the sleep more after the previous two nights of so little sleep.

I'm thinking about getting a Fitbit Charge 5 to track my sleep. Even if it's not that accurate for my sleep patterns, I could at least use it as a baseline for myself. It would have been interesting to compare the data from these last few nights.

I have a Charge 5 and the sleep function is quite good.