Insomnia

[Rickarilla]

So I have had insomnia All my life. I'm looking for recommendations for things to try. I've tried CBD, melatonin, valerian root, magnesium. I have a perception for trazadone. These things do help make me tired but I just can't fall asleep. The only thing that I have had help me I can not do because of my job. THC. I even go to the gym early in the morning before work, and I still lay in bed for hours trying to sleep. Any recommendations?

[Babel-17]

I'll start with two, related, things that are free. Though now that I think about it, reading in bed usually also works.

Anyway, number one, the Binaural Beats free, open source, with no ads, app.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... auralbeats

Even its day time selections, used when you're up and about, could help get your mind ready for its night time selections. I reviewed it for the store, two years ago.

It's settings for sleep, and concentration, feel quite effective, and its other ones work in a passable fashion as well. I really like its minimalist GUI, and lack of ads.

Number Two: YouTube videos that make use of binaural sound. There are lots!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIjCNQT5BNU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ8DvFrajUA

I take Magnesium Malate as it gets easily absorbs, and has other benefits. And I take a bit of the expensive as heck Magnesium L-Threonate (Magtein), because it's supposed to be a powerful relaxant.

[e_poison]

I've had insomnia my whole life too. I'm a total night owl. I'm always up all night and try to go to bed when the sun rises. I've never been able to sleep like a normal person. I just lay awake for hours until I give up and get on with my day. When I was younger, it wasn't uncommon to be up 2 days at a time until my body was so damn exhausted that sleep came easily. Then I'd be up another 2 days and the cycle would repeat. It sucks.

Nothing I've tried has ever worked. I've tried it all. I'm fully convinced some of us are just destined to suffer with it.

However, I've found after I hit 40, the easier it is to sleep. Which I guess is one benefit to aging. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a total night person and have troubles falling asleep, but when I do lay down to sleep, it seems to happen much faster the older I get.

[ba2000]

I've had insomnia my whole life too. I'm a total night owl. I'm always up all night and try to go to bed when the sun rises. I've never been able to sleep like a normal person. I just lay awake for hours until I give up and get on with my day. When I was younger, it wasn't uncommon to be up 2 days at a time until my body was so damn exhausted that sleep came easily. Then I'd be up another 2 days and the cycle would repeat. It sucks.

Nothing I've tried has ever worked. I've tried it all. I'm fully convinced some of us are just destined to suffer with it.

However, I've found after I hit 40, the easier it is to sleep. Which I guess is one benefit to aging. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a total night person and have troubles falling asleep, but when I do lay down to sleep, it seems to happen much faster the older I get.

Some of us are night owls. My best years were on mids.

[IndelibleDotInk]

So I have had insomnia All my life. I'm looking for recommendations for things to try. I've tried CBD, melatonin, valerian root, magnesium. I have a perception for trazadone. These things do help make me tired but I just can't fall asleep. The only thing that I have had help me I can not do because of my job. THC. I even go to the gym early in the morning before work, and I still lay in bed for hours trying to sleep. Any recommendations?

Trazadone is no long term solution, will fog up your brain and deprive you of quality rest.

For the short term, there is stuff like ambien, lunesta, belsomra, these are similar to benzos, which may also help, valium, xanax, ativan which are relaxing but can be addictive. You don't want to be on any of these as maintenance, just a spot here or there to get you into the rhythm of a normal sleep cycle. By now everyone has probably heard my story about using ambien, I'd take it literally before bed when I was sitting on the edge of my mattress, then lie down. Worked great until I woke up one morning and remembered a vivid dream of me at a nearby bar where they stopped serving me drinks. Super vivid. Then later during the day I found a receipt in my wallet from that nearby bar. I'd only try these drugs if you have someone to hold your keys, that shit could have gotten gnarly, kill someone in a car accident and not even remember.

Dunno what else to suggest besides encouraging working out, taking time to wind down at night, soak in a warm bath, put on some white noise, red kratom if it hits for you a few hours before your planned sleep.

[herbalhippie]

My best sleep aid is half a Flexeril (cyclobenzeprine, a muscle relaxer). I've been using it for years and have not built up a tolerance. It just keeps working and working.

[Sanbutsushin]

OP, you're not alone! Are you comfortable sharing the dosage for your trazodone? I've been on it for a couple years at this point and have been told that lower doses are more sedating; maybe your dose is too high? I started on 150mg, wasn't working, then started breaking them in half and surprisingly that helped. Taking it on an empty stomach or with a couple crackers only, and getting into bed, no phone no books no nothing, eyes shut - that's the key for me.

I've been on so many things for sleep that I honestly can't remember them all. One of my docs told me point blank that she has no idea why nothing works for me but there's not much else out there to try. It's crazy. Seroquel (quetiapine) is the only prescription med that reliably knocks me out, but you don't want to be on an antipsychotic like that if you can avoid it imo, even at low doses. I'm coming off it myself right now. THC is great for sleep but not always easily accessible, or worth potentially losing a job over. I wish flexeril would put me out like it does for herbalhippie! I'm still trying to figure out if there's anything I can take that won't mess with other meds/supplements and will actually work. Melatonin might as well have been a sugar pill.

It's a lame answer but the best thing you can do for yourself is try to move around a lot. Tire out your body and mind as best you can during the day. Don't eat too much too close to bedtime. Even then, you can make all sorts of lifestyle changes and have them do absolutely nothing. Some of us are just wired differently I think... I'm another one like e_poison who can be up for two days at a time. It really sucks to have to work around that. You have my sympathies.

[ba2000]

So I have had insomnia All my life. I'm looking for recommendations for things to try. I've tried CBD, melatonin, valerian root, magnesium. I have a perception for trazadone. These things do help make me tired but I just can't fall asleep. The only thing that I have had help me I can not do because of my job. THC. I even go to the gym early in the morning before work, and I still lay in bed for hours trying to sleep. Any recommendations?

Trazadone is no long term solution, will fog up your brain and deprive you of quality rest.

For the short term, there is stuff like ambien, lunesta, belsomra, these are similar to benzos, which may also help, valium, xanax, ativan which are relaxing but can be addictive. You don't want to be on any of these as maintenance, just a spot here or there to get you into the rhythm of a normal sleep cycle. By now everyone has probably heard my story about using ambien, I'd take it literally before bed when I was sitting on the edge of my mattress, then lie down. Worked great until I woke up one morning and remembered a vivid dream of me at a nearby bar where they stopped serving me drinks. Super vivid. Then later during the day I found a receipt in my wallet from that nearby bar. I'd only try these drugs if you have someone to hold your keys, that shit could have gotten gnarly, kill someone in a car accident and not even remember.

Dunno what else to suggest besides encouraging working out, taking time to wind down at night, soak in a warm bath, put on some white noise, red kratom if it hits for you a few hours before your planned sleep.

I appreciate you sharing this. I've taken Trazadone for sleep for years and have been considering something stronger.

[Sanbutsushin]

Oh a weird thing about Lunesta in particular, if you do decide to go that route - there's a somewhat common side effect where you'll just wake up with an absolutely disgusting taste in your mouth. I have no idea what it is that causes it, but I ran into a fair amount of people online who had that happen and for me it was gross to the point where even brushing my teeth first thing wouldn't fix it. It sounds ludicrous I know.

Belsomra was completely different from every other sleep med I've been on in that there was no noticeable moment of feeling it working. Most things, there's a minute where you realize it's kicked in for you, but with Belsomra I had to just go to bed and trust that it was doing its job. Which... is probably what you should do after you take any sleep med, but I'm a fool and stay awake reading until I can tell the pills are doing something, THEN roll over and close my eyes.

Then there are things like mirtazapine where people report waking up in the middle of the night with incredible sugar cravings. Again, sounds silly, but I've been there. I'm a magnet for the strangest side effects it seems.

But ultimately it will be hard to find something "stronger" for sleep, they'll just put you on something else. They don't really have inherent "strengths" because everything varies by dosage anyway. And again with trazodone (and seroquel too iirc) you get the weird effect of it being more sedating at lower doses rather than higher.

I wish it was as easy as requesting something strong, truly. Going on thirteen years of trying to manage my dumbass insomnia and what I've learned at there is no simple solution like "take pill, fall asleep and stay asleep" when your condition is severe.

[StringThing]

So I have had insomnia All my life. I'm looking for recommendations for things to try. I've tried CBD, melatonin, valerian root, magnesium. I have a perception for trazadone. These things do help make me tired but I just can't fall asleep. The only thing that I have had help me I can not do because of my job. THC. I even go to the gym early in the morning before work, and I still lay in bed for hours trying to sleep. Any recommendations?

I know this is an old thread, but if you are still looking I would suggest CBN.

Best sleep aid I have ever found and it will not make you pop positive for THC if you make sure to get the isolate or high purity distillate.

I think it's even better than Soma. It gives me that "struggling to keep my eyes open" feeling.

[PistolsAtDawn]

Oh a weird thing about Lunesta in particular, if you do decide to go that route - there's a somewhat common side effect where you'll just wake up with an absolutely disgusting taste in your mouth. I have no idea what it is that causes it, but I ran into a fair amount of people online who had that happen and for me it was gross to the point where even brushing my teeth first thing wouldn't fix it. It sounds ludicrous I know.

Belsomra was completely different from every other sleep med I've been on in that there was no noticeable moment of feeling it working. Most things, there's a minute where you realize it's kicked in for you, but with Belsomra I had to just go to bed and trust that it was doing its job. Which... is probably what you should do after you take any sleep med, but I'm a fool and stay awake reading until I can tell the pills are doing something, THEN roll over and close my eyes.

Then there are things like mirtazapine where people report waking up in the middle of the night with incredible sugar cravings. Again, sounds silly, but I've been there. I'm a magnet for the strangest side effects it seems.

But ultimately it will be hard to find something "stronger" for sleep, they'll just put you on something else. They don't really have inherent "strengths" because everything varies by dosage anyway. And again with trazodone (and seroquel too iirc) you get the weird effect of it being more sedating at lower doses rather than higher.

I wish it was as easy as requesting something strong, truly. Going on thirteen years of trying to manage my dumbass insomnia and what I've learned at there is no simple solution like "take pill, fall asleep and stay asleep" when your condition is severe.

We're really similar, at least in this regard. I'm on Lunesta and don't often try to go to sleep right away after taking it. Why sleep when I can regret staying up the next day, right!?

I'm also a magnet for rare side effects, insomnia in particular. I took only two doses of Cymbalta before I had insomnia even with Lunesta. I stopped taking Cymbalta after that but I felt awful for a week and a half. I'm pretty much done with doctor prescribed medications at this point. Kratom is enough fortunately.

[kratomKonnie]

I've been suffering for insomnia for years as well. With me, it's work-related stress mostly.
Lately I've found that smoking or vaping CBD leaf works really well.
The best I've found is from Horn Creek Hemp.

[StringThing]

I've been suffering for insomnia for years as well. With me, it's work-related stress mostly.
Lately I've found that smoking or vaping CBD leaf works really well.
The best I've found is from Horn Creek Hemp.

Horn Creek Hemp is great. Good prices too.

Absolutely love their Lifter. Best outdoor I've had, though I don't think it deserves the awards it won. There is much better indoor or greenhouse flower. But for outdoor it is damn good.

They always deliver massive honking buds too.

Right now is Croptober so it's a great time to buy as many vendors are trying to move out their 2020 harvest.

[K-fox]

My best sleep aid is half a Flexeril (cyclobenzeprine, a muscle relaxer). I've been using it for years and have not built up a tolerance. It just keeps working and working.

I got an old Rx of that stuff sitting around. I never took it. With it being similar to tricyclic anti-depressants, I was worried of a possible bad interaction with kratom or kava. I assume there is no interaction then?

[K-fox]

Magnolia bark makes me really sleepy, but for some reason also makes my heart race and keep me up, so I can’t use it for sleep. A lot of people find it helpful, though. When herbs are not enough I found that etizolam works extremely well, even better than your standard benzos imo.. and with less of a risk. Too bad you can’t really get it easily anymore, cause people had to go all out crazy with it. Not using your hand held tele-screens before bed also helps a lot.

[herbalhippie]

My best sleep aid is half a Flexeril (cyclobenzeprine, a muscle relaxer). I've been using it for years and have not built up a tolerance. It just keeps working and working.

I got an old Rx of that stuff sitting around. I never took it. With it being similar to tricyclic anti-depressants, I was worried of a possible bad interaction with kratom or kava. I assume there is no interaction then?

I've never had a problem with mixing it with kratom.

[froggy33]

This isn't a popular answer.. but if its impossible to sleep and you need to. NyQuil will knock you out.


The have ZzzQuil which only has the sleep ingredient in it now days.....

[K-fox]

My best sleep aid is half a Flexeril (cyclobenzeprine, a muscle relaxer). I've been using it for years and have not built up a tolerance. It just keeps working and working.

I got an old Rx of that stuff sitting around. I never took it. With it being similar to tricyclic anti-depressants, I was worried of a possible bad interaction with kratom or kava. I assume there is no interaction then?

I've never had a problem with mixing it with kratom.

Good to know. What dosage, though? 1/2 of 10mg or 5mg tablet?

[herbalhippie]

I got an old Rx of that stuff sitting around. I never took it. With it being similar to tricyclic anti-depressants, I was worried of a possible bad interaction with kratom or kava. I assume there is no interaction then?

I've never had a problem with mixing it with kratom.

Good to know. What dosage, though? 1/2 of 10mg or 5mg tablet?

I take half of a 10 mg tablet to sleep.