Trouble sleeping

Hi,

I work shifts and sometimes find it hard to get off to sleep, this can take me anywhere between 1 - 4 hours, obviously this effects how i feel throughout the day.

Ive heard melatonin is a good natural product to take, does anyone know what could be a helpfull sleep aid??

Thanks.

I've used melatonin multiple times, both in synthesized and extracted forms, and both helped me sleep pretty well!

coco - http://www.immortalhair.org/apps/blog/show/2021994-insomnia-insanity

GABA works well for me when I have the off sleepless night, maybe a little too well. It usually makes me feel high as hell before it makes me drowsy enough to fall asleep. I may be sensitive to it, as I was always particularly sensitive to sedatives and SSRI's, but a fair amount of GABA makes me feel as though I've just had a few tokes despite not having touched the stuff in nearly five years. It has also helped tremendously with my anxiety, which often contributed pretty heavily to my insomnia.

Wow...sleep aids are probably the most abundant...

Off the top of my head and in no particular order:

l-theanine
relora
kava kava
gaba
l-tryptophan
5-htp
inositol
melatonin
chamomile
passionflower
magnesium/zinc

Before I added many of the supplements espoused in this forum, my sleep suffered. High school & college destroyed my sleep schedule.

Now I'm drowsy at night, something I hadn't felt in years.

CS, on your daily topic you recommend "Amino Night". How many of these should be taken before sleep daily?

15mg of K2 a day did wonders for my sleep, and others here reported the same thing.

phsphatidylserine may help too.

Thanks for all you replies,

However the last thing i want to be doing is taking alot more supps (im already taking enough). So i will try just melatonin.

CS: Is one 3mg tablet of melatonin enough per night? Im aware that i have to cycle this, so i will only use it when i have an early start - 1 week in 3 week, with the way my shifts work.

Thanks.

Some things I've found helpful are to eliminate all caffeine 4 hours before bed. Turn off the TV and computer 30 minutes prior to bed and give yourself and your mind time to relax. Most nights I can't sleep, it's because I was either drinking caffeine or playing video games 30 minutes before bed. Your brain needs a break from the stimulation.

If you need extra help, you could try taking ZMA (It's Zinc, Magnesium and Vitamin B6) about 30 min before bed. Anytime I can't get to sleep, taking some ZMA will usually make me tired and I'll drift off to sleep quickly. A cool side effect is sometimes you have really vivid dreams after taking ZMA.

Harie, I took my zinc, magnesium and b vits before sleep last night. I found it easier to get up in the morning and felt more rested at the start of the day, feeling as rough as usual now though. I actually had a very vivid dream as well, I never usually remember them either. Trying again tonight to see if it wasn't just coincidence.

tooyoung wrote:Harie, I took my zinc, magnesium and b vits before sleep last night. I found it easier to get up in the morning and felt more rested at the start of the day, feeling as rough as usual now though. I actually had a very vivid dream as well, I never usually remember them either. Trying again tonight to see if it wasn't just coincidence.

If you figure out how to keep from crashing later in the day, let me know. I usually get really tired after 12pm and stay tired until the sun starts to go down. Once it's dark out, for some reason, I get revitalized and could stay awake all night.

action<reaction: I once read that we should avoid melatonin that is "extracted" from animals and make sure that our supplements provide the synthesized form.

unfortunately I haven't found any mention of the source of melatonin on product labels

anyhow, were you aware of this recommendation?

thanks!