187 replies to this topic

[Ghostrider]

My grandmother has sleeping problems so what I did was mix up these things and it seems to work:

Magnesium Citrate 250mg
Taurine 1000mg
Glycine 3000mg
L-Arginine 1000mg
L-Lysine 1000mg
L-Theanine 300mg

She says she's never slept so well in years.

(I buy the stuff in bulk powder then mix into proper ratios, so she just takes a scoop of it per night).

It doesn't taste too bad, the lysine tastes kinda funky but I get her to mix it into some almond milk with some splenda. Tastes pretty good. The glycine is sweet too.

Taurine is listed in energy drinks.

[csrpj]

My grandmother has sleeping problems so what I did was mix up these things and it seems to work:

Magnesium Citrate 250mg
Taurine 1000mg
Glycine 3000mg
L-Arginine 1000mg
L-Lysine 1000mg
L-Theanine 300mg

She says she's never slept so well in years.

(I buy the stuff in bulk powder then mix into proper ratios, so she just takes a scoop of it per night).

It doesn't taste too bad, the lysine tastes kinda funky but I get her to mix it into some almond milk with some splenda. Tastes pretty good. The glycine is sweet too.

Taurine is listed in energy drinks.

taurine makes most people more relaxed. it's not in the energy drink for stimulation, perhaps to counter excess stimulation from the caffeine or other stuff, especially since it's really cheap.

[csrpj]

Exercise and ZMA

i've been wondering about the benefits of ZMA over just magnesium. any thoughts?

[Sillewater]

Exercise and ZMA

i've been wondering about the benefits of ZMA over just magnesium. any thoughts?

IMO, stick with the Magnesium and B6. The high doses of Zinc is probably harmful, and if you look on some of the posts on ergo-log (Kismet also made a post I think) ZMA doesn't have any beneficial effects on testosterone (at least imo in healthy normal males). This goes counter to many of the anecdotal evidences I have heard about ZMA boosting subjective testosterone (such as better libido, faster muscle gain) however research begs to differ.

[xontek]

Exercise and ZMA

ZMA may work for others. It doesn't do jack for me. Oh, and once I took 5 htp before working out. Worst work out ever.

[aaron_e]

selenium helps me sleep better.

http://www.ncbi.nlm..../pubmed/7112096 : selenium is more concentrated in the pineal than other brain areas

[cougar]

Lunesta (Ezopiclone, USA), Imovane (Zopiclone, outside USA): Works very well, 5 hour half life which is perfect for sleep (I found no tolerance even after long term use) and in sleep studies it preserves natural sleep architecture. However it seemed to mess with my memory. http://www.biopsychi.../zopiclone.html

I've started Zopiclone since 3 days ago and so far so good. I did some research on this drug, it seems that it's for short term use and no recommended for long term use. I'm glad to see that you are not building tolerance even after long term use. Did you use it everyday without any break? What specific memory problem have you noticed and what about your dosage?
I'm considering long term use of this drug as well. Thanks

[ibrahim]

i take b complex vitamin and st john's worth which doubles the power you receive from sleeping

[tintinet]

i take b complex vitamin and st john's worth which doubles the power you receive from sleeping

Like how? What evidence do you have that this statement is at all factual?

[winston]

I take cyclobenzaprine every once in a while to fall asleep, seems to work.

[babcock]

Just started taking Melatonin this week before bed. I've found 3mg time release is too much and gives me a headache before I fall asleep. Been breaking the capsules down to half doses and it doesn't seem to give me a headache anymore. Does make it hard to get up in the morning though. First time I've slept through my alarm in a few years. Gotta work on regulating the dosage some more.

Also, I've started taking NALT (N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine) about an hour before bed and have noticed great relaxing effects. Started a thread over in Nootropics on it here. Chrono and I have been bantering back and forth about our experiences.

[adamh]

I've been meaning to put in my 2 cents worth. I have sleep problems at times anyway and using ldn makes it worse. I have come up with an arsenal of things that help. I rotate among them because using anything too often tends to make it ineffective.

Skullcap - You can get capsules but I buy the bulk and make a tea out of 2 or 3 grams or so. Works fairly well.

Lemon balm - tea also, about 2 to 3 gm, works fast

Tryptophan - works fine, 1/4 to 1/2 tsp seems to do the job. So so taste but not horrible.

Black cohosh - powdered root, 1/4 tsp gives a sedated feeling.

Phenibut - the best but I use it the least because of tolerance issues. About 1 to 1.5 gm.

Valerian root - 2 to 4 capsules helps a lot, a little hops with it works like a charm.

Hops - speaking of which, it works too. Nasty taste so I cap it up. Takes 2 to 6 gm.

Doxylamine succinate - cheapo sleeping pill, I get it for about 6 cents a tab. 1/4 of a 25 mg tab usually does it.

Molungu - bark of s american tree. It doesn't actually put you to sleep but is very relaxing. I make tea out of maybe 8 to 15 gm. That plus some hops should do it.

Many of these have a not so good taste so I put a little xylitol in the tea or in my mouth before taking them. Magnesium is very relaxing in the right amount but doesn't produce sleep for me by itself. I'm taking 1125 mg elemental in the form of citrate daily. Melatonin I take daily but it quit making me sleepy years ago.

Enjoy!

[Mara]

Has anyone heard of or tried the new drug that supposedly just came out for insomnia that doesn't drug you to sleep? My friend just got some samples from her dr. I think it is called Rosarem. I hate usinig Ambien because I feel drugged the whole next day. I sleep great the night before, I just can't function the following day. As for melatonin, it did not work for me at all.

[Danniel]

Did anyone mixed lecithine with sleeping pills? i did it once by mistake and I had the most intense dreams and the best resting sleep of my life. since then i experimented with different sleeping pills and different ammounts of lecithine and is always incredible intense.

You know the saying "when someting looks too good to be true...", well, now i am worrying if this mix is something addictive or brain frying. Did anyone know something in this direction?
Probably, some of you will try the combo. i had absolutely no negative side effects. The day after I always have a cool, calm, optimistic-realistic mind. I focus great and resolve easy the most difficult problems.

[The 3rd Hit]

1 cup Epsom Salt Bath
tsp Taurine
25mg Zinc Gluconate

See you in the morning!

[caruga]

Did anyone mixed lecithine with sleeping pills?

No but I've tried choline which lecithin is a source of. The dreams are intense as you said.

[vato]

just don't trip on the supplements,

when you switch from primary glucose metabolism to fat metabolism, gaba production goes up in the brain, so do ketones.
you will feel relaxed and protect brain neurons.
sleeping issues will be history

the human is designed to live a fat metabolism lifestyle so follow that lifestyle and you'll be as healthy as most animals are in nature!
it's the carbohydrate society that brings us all kinds of disease because we are not designed to eat that way!
why you think we can only store a 100 grams carbs in our liver? and why do we get tired after 2 hours of not adding glucose?

how in the world would the greeks carry their shields and swords across miles? you think they had a snickers ready every hour to keep their blood sugar stabilized?
NO, the just burned fat instead!
your body can derive up to 97% of its energy from fats alone!

[chris76]

I have taken zopiclone every night for 5-6 years now- same dosage.
Some say zopiclone works for long-term some say you build up tolerance. It might be a psychological thing. Dont know.
What do you think.. (?)

[cheryls]

I have taken zopiclone every night for 5-6 years now- same dosage.
Some say zopiclone works for long-term some say you build up tolerance. It might be a psychological thing. Dont know.
What do you think.. (?)

Apparently physical and psychological dependence are both possible. Here is the info from the manufacturer:
http://www.sanofi-av..._pi_imovane.pdf
(see page 3).
It is intended for short term use only. It seems you should talk to your doctor about why he's kept you on it so long.

[tlm884]

Just started taking Melatonin this week before bed. I've found 3mg time release is too much and gives me a headache before I fall asleep. Been breaking the capsules down to half doses and it doesn't seem to give me a headache anymore. Does make it hard to get up in the morning though. First time I've slept through my alarm in a few years. Gotta work on regulating the dosage some more.

Also, I've started taking NALT (N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine) about an hour before bed and have noticed great relaxing effects. Started a thread over in Nootropics on it here. Chrono and I have been bantering back and forth about our experiences.

Honestly, i would stay away from NALT before bed. NALT increases dopamine and norepinepherine which are both stimulating.

[President Kush]

Cannabis Indica. Works perfect for helping you sleep, and its natural. I guarantee nothing else will have less side effects than a little weed.

Or you could take "legal" prescription meds, that have side effects as severe as death and desire to commit suicide. also hallucinating....haha might be good or bad depending on who you are, but if that's your thing, your better off just eating some fungus lol, at least thats natural.

[shp5]

If anyone knows anything else that will help me sleep into the day when I have the time, please say so.

Been trying 2mg time-released Melatonin and/or 450mg Bacopa at night, but they made me only tired in the morning, without extending my sleep. I'm gonna try Taurine too.


5-10mg Lithium Asparte at night punches me out (except if I have very agitated thoughts) and is a true godsend to me. It's good for my organism, my psyche, and it replaces the Ambien I often needed. I love it.

Cannabis Indica. Works perfect for helping you sleep, and its natural. I guarantee nothing else will have less side effects than a little weed.

except for the racing, negative thoughts (rather often for me) and the munchies.

Maybe I have been testing the wrong strains, but I'm quite sure Cannabis is not for everyone. A female friend of mine had a rather terrible trip once. It was Cannabis only, and not that much. I was there and it wasn't fun.

I have nothing against Cannabis for the informed user, and most of the time it's going to be no problem, but it is certainly NOT without side effects or risks.

Edited by shp5, 21 February 2011 - 10:11 AM.

[tlm884]

I hate to jack the thread, but out of all the supplements on this thread what is the best to take to alleviate the extreme insomnia from taking 5mg of Lexapro?

[tlm884]

I hate to jack the thread, but out of all the supplements on this thread what is the best to take to alleviate the extreme insomnia from taking 5mg of Lexapro?

[Justchill]

here:

0.75 melatonin
150-200mg L-theanine
earplugs
a sleepmask, or make your bedroom very dark!

nightynight !

[adamh]

Justchill, that is good advice for people with mild sleeping problems who just need a tiny bit of help. Those things use to help me but no longer. Now I need something to really knock me out or I'm a wreck the next day. I've found a few things that work well

Seroquel - the bomb! 25 mg and I'm out like a light for 8 hours at least
Lyrica - decent, it helps a lot
Phenibut - it helps but loses effectiveness over time.

I've ordered some other stuff so I will see how they work. I don't want to take the same thing every night because everything seems to lose effectiveness when I do that. Here are things that helped a little

Lithium - worked a little
OTC antihistamine sleep aids - helps some but can't use every night.
Tryptophan - worked at first, now useless
Theanine - helps some
Marijuana - helps some
Valerian root - helps some
Hops - helps some

[Steve_86]

I have taken zopiclone every night for 5-6 years now- same dosage.
Some say zopiclone works for long-term some say you build up tolerance. It might be a psychological thing. Dont know.
What do you think.. (?)

Zopiclone is carcinogenic. You can find the reference on wikipedia.

[sleeponit]

Great to see people's experiences. I'd like to share my experience re 5-HTP (OTC serotonin precursor) that I think will help a lot of people. My wife and I have been taking HTP for about 2 years now. Originally, I tried it because, as a physician, I thought it was a cool concept and it just made sense. Anyway, it's usually marketed for improvement in mood. My experience was that & more. I never really suffered from anxiety or depression or any of the "classic" mood disturbances. However, my (layman's) mood was kinda crappy in that I was often "irritable". Basically people pissed me off easily. On 5-HTP, I'm a LOT less irritable and I'm a lot less annoyed by stupid things. That's the main thing new item I wanted to share with you guys in case any of you have the same problem, asI haven't read that anywhere and it's made a huge difference in my life (and my wife's). But here's the kicker: we started noticing that our sleep was better. Better how?? We started analyzing it, and our experiences were consistently reflected on another's: our dreams were more "thoughtful" (more like real life) and we almost never have nightmares. Nightmares, on HTP, for us, have almost fallen off the radar.

Speaking of nightmares, one last bit of personal experience I'd like to share: While HTP improved my overall mood by making me/us much less irritable to others (and each other), and while we can't remember the last time we had a bad nightmare (formerly common), my sleep ITSELF is not as "refreshing", so I've been carefully examining others' personal experiences here to try and learn from you all. Speaking of nightmares, I have one last experience to share: I tried GABA (with vit B complex of course so that it/more of it will penetrate the BBB (blood-brain barrier), but I got horrifying nightmares (my mind would be wide awake, but I'd be in some black space with a sense of impending doom...but I was paralyzed). Worst ever. Bummer too cuz I'd read so many positive experiences re GABA. Obviously, though, for anyone who followed biology/medicine/neurotransmitters/this forum, you'll know GABA can't be taken lightly. Anyway, my GABA experience was so bad that I thought "maybe it was a fluke", so I waited another month or so and tried it one more time...suck it all, the SAME exact dream with all those same elements happened again! So I'm back here searching. Currently I take 1mg lorazepam, (I've been there for 2-3 years now), and I'd rather not have to increase/decrease it for obvious reasons, along with the HTP (100mg qAM and then again qHS (right before bed)). So am looking at other supplements, like melatonin to watch & see if they all "play nicely" together.

One last unique (haven't seen here yet) experience to help others: I notice that a lot of people in this and other threads here mention problems (common in insomnia) with early morning wakenings. Obviously, people who struggle with some insomnia like many of you, know that early morning wakenings can come from a variety of things, like noise/light, depression, alcohol the night before (maybe not enuf--joking). Anyway, here's my tip: Consider L-theanine if you wake up a few hours early but struggle falling back asleep. For me, I take one L-theanine, and that always gets me back to sleep and adds (it's same every time) 3 hours sleep. tc

[nupi]

I feel like taking Ashwaghanda before going to bed for about a month, I do not remember having any midnight awakenings for the past few days (one exception, but that was a psychologically extremely demanding day, kind off off the charts, for a good analogy, imagine getting dumped at midnight and then trying to sleep). I can even now sleep with open curtains and without eye mask even though my room never gets completely dark due to all the light pollution in this city.

[hallucinogen]

the ONLY things that work for sleep well ->
and note WELL, meaning no bad side-effects, and can be used for a relatively continuous time :

GABA, L-Theanine, - i always wanted to try Kava-Kava, and one of those other dream herbs though !

things that DO NOT work well -> 5-htp( gives you increased insomnia after the first few days), Melatonin ( crazy mental fog, bad mood, anger - testosterone increase,etc) , Camomile ( increased blood pressure, increased heart-rate insomnia after comedown, builds tolerance ), Valerian root ( sleepiness, mental fog for at least a day after use, builds tolerance ),

umm ONE of the BEST and Most important things you can do - Put dark-colour thick curtain/sheet over your windows completely, keep the room temperature a cool 18-20C with 24/7 full open window, keep it ventilated with fresh air all the time, but do NOT leave a Fan on overnight or your computer on overnight, or other devices that make any noise,

HAVE a GOOD NiGHT Everyone ! And may you see beautiful Dreams every Night !'


PS. I don't take ANYTHiNG to help me get to sleep anymore, and i got one of the most hyper-active minds in here, hands down, but i don't even drink tea anymore, ZERO stimulants of ANY sort, just water, not even mutli-vitamins ! *( important ! I would probably take Vimmortal again, if it had ZERO Choline, and i hope it will soon )
just eat all raw vegan ( including steaming/boiling some food for a very short time ),
umm yah, it's very easily actually, just don't get your mind trapped,

Enjoy the Natural and Sustainable living !

Edited by hallucinogen, 03 September 2011 - 09:26 AM.