Natural Remedies for Insomnia: A Comprehensive Guide

Do a thorough colon cleanse.

A cup of lavender tea before bed is good for insomnia. Add about 1 tbsp or 4 tsp to 2 cups of hot not boiling water let steep.

Thyme tea for insomnia

Thyme can be consumed in tea form to help with sleep issues.

High vitamin D can lead to terrible insomnia and, secondary to that, exacerbate all your symptoms.

Fantastic! I usually use bones for broth that are given to me by a friend. They raise one hog and one steer every year for personal consumption and cannot use all the bones so give me a good bit of them. He also hunts, so I get turkey and venison bones as well. All natural, so I feel comfortable using them for my bone broth. Unfortunately, I have no good source for chicken bones. Even though I keep chickens, I rarely butcher them. But, this past weekend, I butchered a particularly vicious cock and he's been invited to dinner tonight. I will put those bones into my stewpot and cook them down. I am looking forward to seeing if this works for me as well. BTW, I don't think there's anything magical about bone broth, but I do feel it contains something we need in a form usable to us. Sure wish I knew what that was but, meh, as long as it works and we know how to get it, I'm good with that. Thanks for the hint.

I went through a terrible period of insomnia that lasted over 2 years. During that time I was taking Vitamin D3 and Vitamin K2 which I had taken for many years for other medical conditions. I tried numerous additional vitamins and supplements in addition to the two I've mentioned above to help with the insomnia but nothing helped. I wasn't falling asleep until between 5am and 8am most nights and then would wake again after a few hours. I felt mentally and physically broken.

Nine months ago I started taking Zinc Picolinate 30 mg one a day and Vitamin B Complex capsules 82 mg one a day. From the very first day, my sleeping went back to normal and has stayed normal to this day. I just make sure I take them religiously, usually early evening.

Hope this might be of some help to you.

For decades with water I have taken a slightly rounded iced teaspoon of soy lecithin powder late afternoons or before bed for sleep. I also add a 1200 mg liquid soy lecithin softgel just for variety, although it is not necessary for results.

Lecithin has lots of phosphatidylcholine which relaxes the nervous system.

Eating chocolate can for two nights keeps me from getting back to sleep in the night, but chocolate flavonols are good for the brain.

I buy lecithin powder by the pound at BulkFoods, but they have been out of stock for months. Nuts.com has it, though.

I started using Brewer's Yeast (Nutritional Yeast) about 30+ years ago. I have discovered over the years how it has cured the worst diarrhea and vaginal candida. Since 2016 I started taking it not as a solution to a problem but an almost daily supplement and have amazing results. I sleep so well when I take it regularly. Cures all types of insomnia. I also have been taking it to keep me healthy. I have not had a cold for years and I was using it while working in the classroom. If I forget to take it I have gotten sick over the years but I have learned to take it right away when I am coming down with something and it helps amazingly.

I use 2 heaping tablespoons in a small cup of warm water. (tastes the best). Make sure you stir it and taken best like a "shot". I really don't mind it. I look at it as feeding the health gut bacteria that works for me.

Hello,
Is this Brewer's yeast (slightly bitter) or Nutritional yeast (Nutty/Cheesy tasting)?
There seem to be two different things and I am not sure which one would help.
Thank you

some of the herbal remedies for sleep all make my legs so restless!! I've tried valerian, hops, 5http, chamomile, melatonin, and some antihistamines. jump like frog legs, I am so tired..

Ken, I just read your latest post, regarding sleep I have a few things: Serpina pills from Amazon or wherever, Serpina is an Ayurvedic herb that was produced in 1934 for lowering blood pressure, later it was and is used for insomnia. AKA: Indian Snakeroot. If you cannot sleep at all take 3 pills in AM and 3 pills in PM they are 4mg pills, no side effects, stop whenever you like. They also calm your mind down. If you like you can take 2 pills 3X daily. It does interact with cold flu medicines and Antipsychotic drugs. The other suggestion is to take Benadryl pills 50mg or 100mg and if you wake up 1,2 AM then take another pill to put you back to bed. Completely good to use providing no longer than 1-2 months. Long-term effects can cause memory loss. Best of luck. Joe

So are you taking the alfalfa tablet and calcium together and the alfalfa is acting to get the calcium in or are you just taking the alfalfa as the calcium source? many thanks, judith

Hi Maria could you please share which brand and dose of alfalfa tablets you take?

Hi Clatterbuck! Would you please share which brand, and which kind of calcium and dose you take?

I started lifting weights to help with sleep, so I lift every other day and then swim several miles on the other days. I follow all the other sleep hygiene rules, so blue light/devices, wrong foods, etc, are already under control. I can only take magnesium through my skin and do that every morning and at night. If I use too much, I get loose even if it's topical applications. I am under much stress (husband passed, had new floors installed, a/c broke and had a plumbing leak all at once). And my cat is mourning DH being gone, so she's acting up a bit. I am handling all of this well enough (he was sick for so long that it's actually restfully quiet around here now) but just need to get some good, restorative sleep. Haven't felt rested in years. Menopause doesn't help. I will try to up the melatonin and see if it helps. But last night was worse than the night before and I really thought I'd be too tired to not sleep. I drink one cup of coffee in the morning and then nothing but water the rest of the day.

Do you really think I would say I cannot take magnesium if I haven't tried? Trust me. With my ibsd, ANY form of magnesium will trigger my bowels. Period. I can use mag oil but only up to a point. As I said in my post, I swim several miles on the days I don't lift weights. I am doing everything in my power to get myself some sleep. Not much works and, like the melatonin, what works one day may not work the next.

Please Art, what is IBSD? Thanks

Hello Art and Deirdre,

I've been taking a lot of things (ashwaghanda, valerian, etc) for sleep. I had read that melatonin for sleep was best if taken in low doses, but here you say large doses helped you. So, if I want to take only melatonin for my insomnia, how much would you take to start?

I've been taking 3 mg along with my other herbs and sleeping fitfully. I had surgery and the tramadol plus my other stuff has made me sleep wonderfully but, taking the tramadol at night only for pain (and I don't have pain anymore) I only have 4 left.

So I'm now stressing about not getting good sleep anymore. I need to be awake for work, but have a long weekend coming up and could start a high dose to see how it affects me. Any suggestions? I really don't like taking a whole concoction of stuff, it tastes terrible and doesn't really work all that well anyway.

Going for morning walks to see the sunrise is so healing and definitely helps! I didn't even do it for that reason, it was just refreshing. It's hard to get into the habit at first if you haven't been sleeping well but it's worth the weeks or months it takes to get there for sure! I can't go out now but I'm going to try looking out the window in the morning to get the same benefits. Thanks ,Michelle!

I had insomnia for about 10 years and it nearly killed me.

I finally realized that whenever I had any gluten at all, even a micro dose, it would pop my eyes awake in the middle of the night, reliably. I think it's really weird. I always thought, yeah yeah cut back on gluten dairy etc. and try to eat healthy. But that's not what's going on. I can eat unhealthfully but as long as I don't get ANY gluten, I sleep like a baby. I don't know why it took me so long to figure it out, Maybe it was that I was sleep deprived. Also it seems like whey in whey protein shakes sometimes hurts my sleep and I've given that up as well. But gluten does seem to be the big culprit.

Ted from Bangkok says in one of his insomnia messages to take Hydrogen Sulfide and Sodium Nitrite. I see sodium nitrite is used in curing meats, so 'curing salt' is this item. How do you get hydrogen sulfide?

When I look on amazon, it doesn't have it and wikipedia says it's the rotten egg smell but nothing about where to get it. I'm trying all his suggestions for insomnia and this is the next one in the list (still no success, really). I can fall asleep and even sleep 3 hours at a time, but never feel rested. I'm doing epsom salt baths, alkalyzing (my ph is 7.3 this morning), passion flower, valerian, lemon balm in sleepy tea (yogi brand), kava and so much else I cant remember. Melatonin 2 mg. And benadryl......sure want to eliminate the benadryl.

I've been on here for years now trying to fix my insomnia. Several things I've posted helped a good bit but nothing really does the trick, so I've gone back to square one and will try to be more methodical. My first attempt is Ted's alkalizing treatments.

I got ph strips and, wow, my morning urine was down around 4. I've started the acv + baking soda (1Tbs ACV + 1/2 tsp BS in 8 oz water, 3X/day) and have done this several days now with no real change. I have ordered Potassium citrate and will use it instead of the acv when it arrives.

Additionally, I will watch my diet more than I have been. I've been so intent on getting probiotics to fix my ibs-d that maybe I'm getting too much yogurt. Is there a form of probiotic that would be better for the ibs as well as the insomnia/acid issue? I've tried dairy kefir and really couldn't stand it, the store bought kefir is great but full of sugar. I'm open to suggestions. Carbs don't bother my belly, so that's what I tend to eat. I will make more effort to get greens, but cannot do anything raw besides carrot.
Please, if you have any other suggestions for me let me know. My ibs makes it hard to get adequate minerals (even mag oil topically gives me diarrhea if I do more than 3 sprays/day) and lack of minerals can sure wreck your sleep. I hope the potassium doesn't upset the bowels, but my reading hasn't indicated that it would so it's worth a try.

I am also doing a hypnosis app (Glenn Harrold) for sleep that helps me go to sleep fast but I wake up within 20 minutes of it ending. It says do it faithfully for 21 days before deciding it won't work and I'm only on day 9, so we'll see. I looked into acupuncture, but the guy near me charges $70/session and wants 3 sessions a week for at least 6 weeks so I can't afford that.

I am currently doing a mix of seriphos, ashwagandha, passion flower, l-theanine, glycine, gaba and melatonin. Works some days and not others. I tried adding valerian to this and it bothered the belly and have lemon balm that I”m willing to try but will do the alkalizing first. I seriously need help sleeping, 60+ y.o. female.

To GertJr from Madison: I

had a similar situation several years ago when I tested my morning urine PH and found it to be less than 5. What worked for me to improve PH was to drink 8 -- 8 oz. glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice throughout each day while gradually trying to modify my diet to be more healthy. I was more intent on finding a food mix that would work and forgot the PH issue for a while. The fresh juice was taken in 8 oz. glasses and the 8 glassfuls were spaced at least an hour apart.

About 3 months later I thought of checking my morning urine PH and it was spot on 6.2 (which is the medical standard). Needless to say, I continued the juice drinking. You also need to look up foods to see how to correct your food intake to create an acid/alkaline balance that matches your personal digestive system...examples of alkalizing foods: potatoes,, green veg (raw or cooked), etc.

A useful book is called The Acid-Alkaline Diet for optimum health by Christopher Vasey.

Hi GertJr -

I'm wondering if, in addition to everything else you are taking, you try sleeping in a completely dark room (no light emitted from anything - including around the windows or from electronic devices). Speaking of electronic devices, remove them from the room. Let your bedroom be an oasis of tranquility - no clutter, clean and quiet. In the evening, wear blue-blocking glasses if you watch TV, use the computer/tablet/smartphone - at least a few hours before bedtime. Get enough physical exercise during the day, fresh air, sunshine (or use a light therapy device for 20 minutes in the morning if you live in a cloudy/rainy place). Stay properly hydrated. Ensure your Vitamin D levels are where they should be (do an Internet search for Vitamin D and insomnia - it's an incredibly important hormone). If you take Vitamin D supplements, take them in the morning. Write down your worries, thoughts, etc. in a journal - get them out of your head. Have a fan going to circulate the air - also, a fan can have a soothing "white noise" effect that helps people sleep. The room should be comfortably cool. What about your bedding and mattress? These are some of the "sleep hygiene" tips that help many people. Do an Internet search for sleep hygiene - there are lots of studies on how it can help - along with a clean diet (which I'm sure you have if you suffer from ibs), limited caffeine, etc.

A good night's sleep is crucial to good health. I wish you the best of luck. Take care.

I read today that there are 5 different types of insomnia, all variations of stress/no stress + major event (health or other)/no major event or only a major event. I think I have the stress + major event kind. Too bad, the article gave no solutions to fix it. I have been on Ted's Sodium Citrate 1/2 tsp + Potassium Citrate 1/4 tsp at bedtime for over a week now. My morning pH is 7 -7.5. I am still not sleeping. Today I will add the 1 dr iodine he says to try next. Do I continue the Sodium/potassium? I think so.

The only time I sleep is like every 4th day and then I'm taking Passion Flower & other sleep herbs and a benadryl. I'd like to stop the Benadryl, but how? Would taking 2 mg melatonin instead of the 1 mg I currently take make a difference? I really think this is the menopause thing (the major event part) that never got resolved. I took hormone replacement for several years and then stopped, which is when the insomnia took over. I already do the sleep hygiene, no devices, exercise, early morning sun, eat clean, no processed foods. But, I have pain and need help easing it if anyone has a suggestion. If I take a pain pill I tend to sleep well, stopped doing that after advil gave me an ulcer.

Thanks for letting me whine.

Dear GertJr,

I know you have tried so many things....so I hesitate to suggest anything - I am sure you have studied this way more than me! A couple of things in your post sort of popped to me, though.

First you mention that the sleep got worse when you stopped hormone replacement, implying that menopause is likely related. I know so many ladies whose sleep becomes more difficult during the change of life, including my own. For me, I will fall asleep and then "startle" awake. Sometimes a noise does thing but sometimes I think it is just me. Then I can't get back to sleep. My heart races and it won't settle. Who can sleep with a racing heart? I have found that Motherwort tincture helps me with this a lot. If I take a dropperful of Motherwort twice a day, I don't have hot flashes and sleep well. I don't need it so often now, but if I have trouble sleeping, I take a dropperful of Motherwort and a dropperful of Chamomile and am usually able to get back to sleep. Another thing to look in to is Dr. Shultze's Female Formula, which is used to naturally balance hormones. If you haven't had bloodwork done it might be something to check in to. One thing out of whack can cause a cascade of problems that often seem unrelated.

A friend of mine with severe sleep difficulties has eaten a near "perfect diet" for years. One night she did eat salty snack food and found she slept well. She wondered if it was because she had a salt insufficiency related to her insomnia. Have you tried bromelain for pain? I hope you can figure this out and get some desperately needed rest soon.

~Mama to Many~

If you have IBS you have a leaky gut. Autoimmune and leaky gut go together. I've had it for 12 yrs, not sleeping goes with it. I started keto diet improved greatly. What was a great help for sleep I started taking colostrum-ld if I wake up I go back to sleep, hubby also 7-8 hrs a night. It helped my IBS, leaky gut.

Dr. Carolyn Dean has a magnesium without the laxative effect. It's quite expensive, but the best apparently. Hope that helps.

No she doesn't. It has much less of a laxative effect, but people like me still get diarrhea from it. Believe me, I've tried them all.

Gertjyr,

I find that if I have any dairy, I cannot sleep. My body doesn't digest it well. Often inflammation is the cause of insomnia, and that was the case for me. So I get my probiotics in a pill (PB8 is my fave). JS from Portland

Please try what worked for me: Look at the sunrise every morning for as many days in a row as you can to reset your circadian rhythm. This is a very beautiful natural remedy.

Thank you Steve.

My cortisol was checked once in a hospital when I had Bigeminy tachycardia for several days and it was normal back then. I see that seriphos is sold over the counter. I'll certainly try it.

I recall Ted stated an acidic body is the cause of problem in insomniacs. I would therefore try Ted's alkalising remedy, of the baking soda and lemon ( tastes better than the ACV, and actually quite nice ).

What does it mean taking melatonin without blocking blue light causes retina damage?

I came across this remedy quite by accident. At the time I couldn't lose weight and wondered if it had anything to do with my thyroid (it didn't) but a particular website recommended taking a tablespoonful of gelatine in orange juice before going to bed. I tried this and discovered that it helped me sleep. I now get between seven to eight hours sleep a night, apart from one trip to the loo! The gelatine is readily available from your local superstore, and mine come in individual packets containing one tablespoonful. It does not dissolve easily, but keep stirring. I have mine mixed with a small amount of milk. Worth a try, and it certainly will not harm you.

Hi, I have terrible insomnia for almost ten years and have tried almost every medicine that could help me with my problem. I only sleep one day in month and that day is one day before I get my menstruation. I suppose I have some kind of gynecological hormonal imbalance.I have tried borax solution 1/8 tsp in liter of water five days a week but it is not enough for my problem. Can I use larger dose? Is there any other medicine someone could recommend to me because I tried almost everything from this site? Thank you.

Sleeping one day a month is impossible. You would have committed suicide already or developed a psychiatric illness. You probably remain in a first state of sleep (dosing) longer and it feels aa if you are not sleeping. Keep trying all remedies. Including pills.

TeSa, I have not slept for 2.5 years, except for some dozing. I experience hypnagogic hallucinations (this is what a sleep scientist calls it) - like dreams but more vivid & strange, & no REM is involved (so there's no rest or any of benefits of REM sleep). I know this b/c around the dozing and hyp. hall., I am either alert or aware orboth. I experience time passing. So if someone says they're not sleeping, I'd take them at their word. It's possible, of course, to think you're not when you are, but I think that's the case for ppl with difficulty sleeping, not total lack of sleep. It is definitely a possible situation & the effects are evident for us & others - in a different way to when we were having "just" difficulty sleeping, not complete insomnia.

Tina,

Try baking soda in water before bedtime. Also, some nighttime teas from T J.

Tina,

Try quitting gluten. Totally cured my insomnia. Dramatically. Now if I even get secretly fed a tiny bit of gluten, I pop awake at midnight and can't get back to sleep. Good luck and God bless.

To answer on my own question I have insomnia because of high cortisol and aldosterone levels.

Doctors didn't gave me any medicines because I don't have cushing syndrome.I know that cortisol is stress hormone but I am not stressed and I have this problem for 10 years.I tried adaptogenic herbs and they didn't work.

Can someone recommend me something to lower cortisol levels.Thank you

There is a post above yours saying that Seriphos lowers cortisol. I just read it so have not tried myself yet. Will order today.

Look for Dr. Eric Berg channel at youtube. Then search his channel for Cortisol. He has many videos on lowering Cortisol.

Maureen, Where did you buy your Tulsi tea and how many cups do you drink? Chronic insomnia has ruined my life! Please let me know. Thank you.

Hello, What was the natural supplement you took at bedtime to reduced cortisol? Thank you!

I don't know about Molly, but I take Seriphos (be sure to get the original formula). It helps a lot with cortisol.

I am taking ashwagandha for my insomnia (along with several other items). They say don't take the ashw if you have ulcers, which I did but don't want to have come back. Does anyone know if I can avoid aggravating the ulcer? Maybe eat crackers or something when I take it? I try to fast between 7 pm and noon the next day, so haven't had anything in my tummy when I take it. I wonder if I couldn't take slippery elm or marshmallow at the same time since they protect the gut from ulcers? I'm finally getting sleep when I go to bed, so don't want to stop taking this mix.

Have you tried Mastic Gum?

I found something that works for me for insomnia. I take 1 Seriphos capsule + 1/2 tsp Ashwagandha powder + 1/4 tsp each of glycine, l-theanine, taurine and gaba + spoonful of blackstrap molasses in warm milk about 1/2 hour before bed. Tastes terrible and doesn't dissolve well at all. As I get into bed, I take a 1 mg melatonin sublingual tablet. Most nights I get to sleep pretty quickly and, although I wake frequently, I go back to sleep fast. Wake up rested. Some nights it seems to not work as well and others it's like I'm passed out I sleep so hard. I got on this from trying adaptogens for my adrenals. In the morning I take rhodiola, ginseng, and schisandra. I seem to feel more awake during the day.

I finally found a formula that helps my insomnia and now have a pain--does anyone think this is from the stuff I take or could it be something else? I take 1 Seriphos (1000mg), 200 mg L-Theanine, 1000 mg Glycine, 1000 mg Taurine, 1000 mg Gaba and 500 mg niacinamide. This mix also calls for 1 mg extended release melatonin, which made me fall asleep faster but left me with a migraine all day after. Without the melatonin I fall asleep within an hour, wake up several times but go right back to sleep and have strange dreams.

Now, after a week of doing this at night, I have a pain in my back (slightly lower than kidney) that radiates over to my hip and on to my groin. Almost like a kidney stone? Never had one, so no idea what causes this. It aches during the day unless I'm moving and is what I notice most when trying to go to sleep. Any ideas what it could be? Almost like a pulled muscle, except I haven't done anything to pull a muscle.