I have always had trouble sleeping, I can fall asleep, but not stay asleep. I lie awake for several hours a night.
I can take commercial sleep aids, but they only help with the fall asleep part and if I am awake too much and don't sleep off the drugged effect, I feel like I have a head cold the whole next day.
I can take commercial sleep aids, but they only help with the fall asleep part and if I am awake too much and don't sleep off the drugged effect, I feel like I have a head cold the whole next day.
If I get a LOT of exercise, sometimes I can sleep through, or at least fall back asleep when I wake up. But I can't move the furniture around every single day or walk 5-6 miles-well, I COULD, but I won't.
I have been taking one or two melatonin a night ($3.75 for 120 3 mg tablets) for about two months now, it helps me fall asleep, I don't have to take it every night, but on nights before we have something happening the next morning, I find it useful to knock me out without the side effects. Around 1:15, I wake up and I am awake until 3:30-4.
I started last night adding valerian root to the mix. It's $4 for 100 capsules, you take 3 30 minutes before bedtime, just like the melatonin. It smells earthy and gross, like leaf rot and maybe fresh peanuts. There's nothing quite like it. I went to sleep around 10 and did not wake until 3, went back to sleep around 4 and slept until 7:30.
Melatonin is the natural hormone made in the pineal gland that helps animals fall asleep. Here is the WebMD link for it.
Valerian Root is in short, a relaxant. Here is the link for it. It has several other uses, including anxiety! That might be a nice side effect for sure. The article says it may take 2-4 weeks of use to see improvement. I will report back about it before we leave for our holiday break, see if there is any real improvement.
