Natural Remedies for Insomnia: A Comprehensive Guide

When I want hell to relax & get sleepy at bedtime, I've found that eating Sunflower seeds soon helps me relax & start yawning! (For extra help, I add a Banana.)

When I've eaten foods high in Phosphorus it creates an imbalance, & I wind up getting painful leg cramps, usually at night. When I eat either Sunflower seeds (or Almonds) that same day, I never get those cramps!

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.

I suffer from occasional insomnia and find this is a sure-fire cure:

1000mg L-Tyrosine (capsule form)
3-9mg Melatonin (sub-lingual tablets best)
500-1500mg Vitamin C (chewable best)

For me, this works best if taken as soon as you realise it's going to be one of those nights. I take it with a glass of water, and a slice or two of bread. Ideally, try this when you'll be able to devote 6-8hr to sleep--after that I always wake up 100% refreshed. Best of luck!

Hello,

I have genetic chronic insomnia. My max sleep time is 2 hrs. On rare occasion 4 hrs. I have tried pretty much everything on this site. Nothing seems to work for a long deep sleep. BTW: even the strongest sleeping pills don't keep me down past 4 hrs and leave me very groggy, so I avoid them.

I have been searching the net and came across GABA & a product called Great Nights Sleep 2.Has anyone had any experience with either of these products? Please advise. I'm so burnt out and desperate and I don't want to spend any more monies on things that don't work. Thank You.

To combat insomnia, take 1/2 tsp of powdered woodruff mixed with honey or fruit puree 30 min before bedtime.Take Care! In large doses, woodruff may cause internal bleeding. Don't use it if you're pregnant or taking conventional medication for circulatory problems.

EC: More info here: http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/w/wooswe31.html

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 took Ted's Alkalyzing remedy for my candida and it cured my insomnia! It helped my husband's long standing insomnia issues too. We are sleeping through the night!

This works everytime for me. Put a fat pillow under your legs/knees and take your pillow out from under your head (make your head level with or below your heart). I can lay awake for hours but as soon as I do this, I'm asleep within 10 mins.

After three years of crippling insomina and trying every remedy under the sun (supplements and drugs) I finally found relief with a combination of taurine and theanine. I'm still not a champion sleeper with actual energy, but I don't feel like I'm dying everyday. I am able to fall asleep fairly promptly, and now when I wake up in the middle of the night I actually return to solid sleep and not fragmented. I still could use more sleep in the morning if if it weren't for having to go to work, but I can actually catch successful naps at lunchtime now too, just from the one dose at night time. The one catch is after about a month I was having insomnia again for a week and I had to increase the theanine dose from 100mg at night to 200mg, and it did work. Which is the recommended dose anyway, but I hope I don't have to keep increasing. But at least I know for a fact the theanine is helping. I've never taken the taurine on its own (500mg), so I'm not being a good scientist, can't say for certainty that helps, but other have recommeded this combo, and it's working for me.

Thyme is great for stress and anxiety, which contribute to insomnia. Can be taken internally and externally, do research first before taking internally or if your on medications. Mix some thyme oil with a carrier because its a HOT oil and a mucous membrane irritant, mix with almond or jojoba or a good quality carrier oil and rub on chest and neck and shoulders before going to bed. Can be brewed into a tea with the dried herb and used in cooking.

I just happened upon a site praising the benefits of turmeric and milk thistle; bought both and started taking them at the same time, so I don't know which of them (maybe both) is having this effect, but I feel like I'm twenty again (I'm 70). I sleep better and just generally have a better feeling of well-being. No better skin tone, or even anything noticeable, other than sleeping better.

Valerian helps me sleep at night, deeper+ longer.

Occasionally I also take tryptophan along with valerian once or twice a month if I am stressed out. I take a valerian capsule around 8pm, about 2 hours after dinner. Not too early and not too late.

I started using valerian root capsules when I couldn't fall asleep several years back. A 500mg capsule worked ok for me. Usually takes me about half an hour after ingestion. Recently, I've found that drinking 1 teaspoon valerian root powder an hour or 2 before I asleep works really well. I'm able to fall asleep quick and sleep through the night.

In general, I've found that ingesting powdered herbs works faster and better than taking capsules. Not sure exactly why. Maybe it's being slowly absorbed by my body as I sip drinks instead of all the dosage at once. Make sure you mix it with some kind of fruit or sweetener. It smells like feet but doesn't taste bad.

YAY. I'm not sure about Valerian Root, but I swallow one Valerian capsule (from the chemist) if I have trouble getting to sleep and it works great for me.

I just started taking Valerian Capsules (500 mg) right before going to bed for my insomnia, and it works GREAT!! I used to not be able to fall asleep until 4 am, and was always sleepy and groggy when I woke up no matter how many hours of sleep I got. The first night I took one capsule at 11:30, and although I did fall asleep, I woke up around 2:30, and was unable to fall back asleep until I took another capsule an hour later. However, last night I took two capsules before going to sleep, at around midnight, and I fell asleep, slept through the night, and woke up at 7:30 (my alarm was set for 8:30!!) feeling awake and refreshed. I wasn't groggy and when I woke up I was ready to get out of bed- which is usually never the case!

So from now on I will be taking 1000 mg of Valerian Root every night for about a month, and then I'll see if I can sleep on a regular schedule without it. Now I'm not sleepy in my morning classes anymore! I highly recommend it- and I'm so happy I found a natural remedy for insomnia, I love this website! (I found Vegetarian Valerian Root capsules in the GNC section of my RiteAid, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find for anyone else) Good luck!