Supplements to aid insomnia

[RottenWillow]

I've tried melatonin, its good for 3 hours or so. But I've also heard that magnesium is effective but have no experience with it at all. My training is suffering mightily. This girl's gotta get her sleep in.

Apart from OTC drugs what supplements do you guys recommend for insomnia?

 

[Ceebs]

Valerian or Gotu Kola. Solaray is a good brand.

5-HTP apparently works too for sleep, 200-300 milligrams on an empty stomach before bed, but I didn't find it to have that effect. Just made me happier and not crave things.

 

[RottenWillow]

Valerian or Gotu Kola. Solaray is a good brand.

5-HTP apparently works too for sleep, 200-300 milligrams on an empty stomach before bed, but I didn't find it to have that effect. Just made me happier and not crave things.

Thanks for the quick service Ceebs.
Valerian Root I've tried with no effect at all, but Gotu Kola is a new one on me. I'll check that one out.

Anyone else heard anything about magnesium?

 

[Ceebs]

I can't remember why I started taking Gotu Kola, actually - I think I may have read it was good for the adrenals. If I take a couple grams of it before bed - 4 pills of the Solaray brand - it makes me verrry relaxed.

Isn't ZMA (zinc, magnesium, and B6) supposed to help you sleep, too?

 

[lucidblue]

Try ZMA (which has magnesium) and take melatonin with it. I use Beverly ZMA.

http://www.dpsnutrition.net/product_information.asp?number=BV022&back=yes&dept=1425&last=1425

For the past several months I've had a lot of trouble sleeping. On days when I lift I take ZMA and melatonin before I go to bed. The other nights I take Valerian Root.

 

[RottenWillow]

Thanks ladies for the links. I'll look into Gotu and ZMA.


Ceebs, LB, do you think that frequent, intense training may actually increase insomnia in some people? I've noticed that I actually sleep more poorly when I am training regularly which I admit seems counter intuitive.

 

[Ceebs]

Ceebs, LB, do you think that frequent, intense training may actually increase insomnia in some people?

Without a doubt. Frequent intense training will engender lots of cortisol being released, which will make it hard for you to rest up.

And it's a vicious circle, too, because the less rested you are, the more cortisol you have floating around, which in turn will prevent you from resting, which in turn will increase cortisol...

 

[Seashell]

Wow, I have the total opposite problem.

I can fall asleep in about 2 minutes, anywhere, anytime. Getting UP is the hard part for me.

 

[Ceebs]

Trade ya, Seashell?

I had mono last year, and I loved falling asleep the instant my head hit the pillow. 16 hour marathon naps.

 

[lucidblue]

I have trouble sleeping the nights I don't go to the gym. I had a really upsetting couple of months in the spring and I would kill myself at the gym so that I could sleep at night.

Half my problem is that I'm a night person and I am more productive at night. I have no interest in going to bed before 1am and could really stay up until 2 or 3.. but I try to force myself to go to bed by midnight.

I might mention that if I want to nap during the day, I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

 

[RottenWillow]

Seashell, you're asking for a fanny kicking! Going to sleep the second you hit the pillow....(grumble)...why I aughta pound you.




Wow, its kind of liberating to get verification of my insomnia/exercise theory. Like finding out your PMS is real and out just "in your head".

So what, if anything, aids the reduction of cortisol levels? Will the ZMA/melatonin stack help that?

 

[lucidblue]

Without a doubt. Frequent intense training will engender lots of cortisol being released, which will make it hard for you to rest up.

And it's a vicious circle, too, because the less rested you are, the more cortisol you have floating around, which in turn will prevent you from resting, which in turn will increase cortisol...

Hmmm. Ceebs, does this happen right away with intense workouts or does it build up over time? I'm wondering if my inability to sleep is caused by the cortisol at this point. When I wasn't sleeping before it was because of emotional issues, the intense workouts would put me to sleep. Now even though I workout hard, I still can't sleep.

 

[Seashell]

Ceebs: Sometimes I'd like to trade! Like everyday about 5:20 am when my alarm goes off... UGG.. cannot wake up...am comatose..

Anya: Hehe, sorry sister, I guess that wasn't helpful. Though it can be a bad thing as well. At a previous job, I worked 8-4. One day my alarm didn't go off.. I woke up at 2 PM. How do you explain that one?!! I frantically tried to think of a lie that would sound more believable than the truth, but in the end I just phoned and said ' Umm.. I just woke up.. be there in half an hour".

 

[Seashell]

To be more helpful though Anya, I could lend you my Assembler Programming book..that's a sure one to have you sleeping in minutes...

 

[Millie]

Anya: Hehe, sorry sister, I guess that wasn't helpful. Though it can be a bad thing as well. At a previous job, I worked 8-4. One day my alarm didn't go off.. I woke up at 2 PM. How do you explain that one?!! I frantically tried to think of a lie that would sound more believable than the truth, but in the end I just phoned and said ' Umm.. I just woke up.. be there in half an hour".

lol, this is funny

5-htp works for me, i don't know if most of it is due to a placebo effect.

also lately, i've been taking my cal-mag and B-complex at dinner time, and i now that i think about it, my sleep seems to have improved.

 

[Puddles]

I find the harder I train the less sleep I'm able to get too. Lucid...I'm like you with being a night person. I rarely fall asleep before 1-2am. I could easilly stay up till 4 or 5. I've tried all kinds of supplements with no help. Xanax works well but it does screw with my mental capacity if I take it for more than 2 nights in a row.

I recently got a hot tub and after spending some time in it, I curl up in a towel and lay down on the lounge chair and guess what happens? I fall asleep within minutes! I woke up in my backyard a few times in the last 2 weeks. LOL I'm so happy!!!

 

[RottenWillow]

Seashell, I studied C++, Java, and Ada(sp?) and I find that stuff pretty interesting, wouldnt put me to sleep.


Lucid I think the (possibly) training induced insomnia does build up over time. I've noticed the same pattern you noted with myself.

Today I'm flippin' stoned though....took an OTC sleep aid last night and I'm seriously grogulated.

 

[Ceebs]

Today I'm flippin' stoned though....took an OTC sleep aid last night and I'm seriously grogulated.

At least your dendrites are wiggling enough to make up words like "grogulated".

 

[RottenWillow]

At least your dendrites are wiggling enough to make up words like "grogulated".

LOL, that's typical anya-speak though, requires no creative thought at this point, just retrieval.

Ceebs while I've got the on the line, did you post in your neurogenics journal that it caused any insomna? I'm thinking about trying it.

 

[Ceebs]

Ceebs while I've got the on the line, did you post in your neurogenics journal that it caused any insomna? I'm thinking about trying it.

A couple of the ingredients in Neurogenex "can" cause or exacerbate insomnia if you are prone to it. I had horrible insomnia when I started it, but there were a lot of other things it could have been due to. I'm up to three pills a day now and I can fall asleep alright.

Can I pilfer "grogulated"? I'm still giggling to myself about that.

 

[The Shadow]

Cava cava and a zma blend work well for me

 

[RnRGirl]

Have you tried GABA

GABA Supplement Information
We mentioned GABA briefly in our GHR-15 review article. Let's take a closer look now at GABA.

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is the most important and abundant inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain (it's actually an amino acid classified as a neurotransmitter). It helps induce relaxation and sleep. It acts as a "balancer" for the brain where excitation of the brain is balanced with inhibition.

In addition to it's 'balancing' effects, GABA stimulates the anterior pituitary, leading to higher levels of Human Growth Hormone (HGH), and if you didn't know, HGH is very anabolic (muscle building) and lipotropic (fat preventing). So, GABA indirectly enhances these 2 positive effects. Let's take a quick look at the benefits of Human Growth Hormone:

HGH is shown to have anti-aging effects
Higher levels of HGH leads to less body fat and also better lean tissue-stored fat ratio
HGH level decrease with age, so supplementation is beneficial
Helps lose fat and improve lean muscle

You can go to for the complete article

http://www.bodybuildingforyou.com/supplements-reviews/gaba-information-effects.htm

 

[RottenWillow]

Can I pilfer "grogulated"? I'm still giggling to myself about that.

Mmmm.....there is a royalty fee you know.
Anya's definition: "to be made groggy, as if by a drug or very boring event or person".

Lordy, if Neurogenics can even possibly cause insomnia I'd better run from it for days!

But then again I do have ADHD and a lot of things have opposite effects on me, like the Rx stimulant Stattera calming me down, or dyphenhydromine charging me up incredibly. I guess I'm just too scared to risk it. Is there a money back offer if you return your first order only partially used?

 

[RottenWillow]

Have you tried GABA

Actually I have tried GABA, but as a weight loss supplement when I was 14 (six years ago). It did work as a weight loss supp but I dont recall any change in my sleeping habits though.

 

[anthrax]

as for my experience :

What does NOT work
valerian
melatonin


What work just a bit
5-HTP
GABA (in huge quantities)

What is supposed to work
kava kava
tryptophan
vitamin B12 (large amount)

 

[jenscats5]

My brain turns on at night -- think, think think!! Very annoying....so I can't sleep.

I take Ambien, which is a prescription -- but it works!! No grogulation the next day (love that word). Splemendous! (one of my own! hehehe)

1/2 of a 10 ml pill & zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz