The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Oil Pulling
Posted by Lily (Los Angeles, Ca) on 08/06/2015
★★★★★
Another great remedy I have found for sleeplessness/anxiety is oil pulling, specifically before bed or in the evening. I know you're supposed to oil pull in the morning before eating, but when I oil with Grapeseed oil it makes me so tired and feel so relaxed, it's really something I need to do at night!
I have tried various oils - coconut - which was quite possibly the WORST thing for anxiety - my heart was racing for days - BE CAREFUL with coconut oil if you are prone to anxiety! I tried several other oils and didn't feel much of anything, but GRAPESEED OIL is like taking a sedative for me. I feel so calm and could sleep for 12 hours, the deepest sleep with very vivid dreams. A must try for people with anxiety and insomnia!!
Hypnic Jerks
Posted by Anthony (Ireland) on 09/30/2021
★★★★★
I too suffered from hypnic jerks, past tense. It was my medication that was causing them, taking magnesium out of the system. I would get them when trying to fall asleep and just before you dose off, they would jerk you awake again. one night I jumped out of bed with one scary. Too much tea coffee and alcohol would also take magnesuim out of the system. I would get them real bad on a Sunday night if I was out drinking Saturday night. Now I take magnesium citrate two hours before bed 400mg with a snack, magnesium by solgar best quality. Not that expensive for a month's supply. Cut back on tea coffee and alcohol.
Magnesium
Posted by Wendy (Westport, Ct) on 09/22/2013
★★★★★
I have been suffering from insomnia which really kicked in this summer. I think it is perimenopausal or hormonally based insomnia. The one remedy that has worked beautifully for me has been magnesium. I take 1 teaspoon of magnesium powder (the kind that dissolves in water) just before going to sleep and having been sleeping through the night. What a miracle it has been! If I wake up and need to use the bathroom, getting back to sleep takes only minutes. I tried taking magnesium earlier in the day and it didn't have the same effect. Taking it just before going to sleep is the perfect time.
Before I took magnesium, I would wake up at the slightest sound and then be awake for 2-3 hours.
I started at 1/2 teaspoon of magnesium poweder in 1/2 glass of warm water and have slowly worked my way up to 1 teaspoon because of the loose stools effect. I did get a series of stomach aches and a few rounds of diarrhea when I started taking magnesium but now I can tolerate larger and larger doses. It did take a few weeks to go from 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon.
Selective Insomnia
Posted by Rsw (Uniontown, Oh) on 08/31/2013
It sounds like your Father feels very safe with you, and is able to relax and go to sleep when he stays at your house. He can look forward to the safety of seeing you the next morning. You must be very loving that he feels this way around you. When my Mother became somewhat frail and lived alone, I got her a Lifeline necklace, and she liked to talk with the people who checked to make sure it was working and felt secure. When she had to move into an assisted living facility (she lives in FL and would not move up North near any of us), I let her keep it for a few months until she felt safe there, even though she didn't need it anymore. Maybe you could program his phone with your number so he felt he could call you if he panics, but, of course, you need your sleep, too. You are to be admired for the care and concern you have for your Father, and it sounds like you are doing the best that you can under the circumstances.
Kefir
Posted by Gina (Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada) on 10/18/2012
★★★★★
I've been plagued with insomnia for a very long time and had a little success with melatonin and 5-HTP.
However, after reading a book on controlling low blood sugar, I found a total insomnia cure. Simply have about 3/4 cup of plain yogurt or Kefir immediately before going to bed, and anytime you wake up at night. You will fall asleep easily, quickly, soundly. It's important that it's plain yogurt (either cow or goat) NOT soy, NO additives, NO fruit, and NOT just milk (all of these have natural or added sugars or lactose which will wreak havoc on your pancreas and defeat the purpose) Plain yogurt and kefir are essenitally free of lactose (milk sugar) because the probiotic bacteria have already digested this substance. Goat and Cow yogurt are both high in tryptophan , a natural precurosor to melatonin, htp, and seratonin, which are the chemicals your brain produces to cue your body to relax and sleep.
I incidentally cured my reflux with this, too. Even though you are told Not to eat at bedtime if you have reflux (gerd), I think the probiotics in my kefir snacks actually healed the lower esophogeal sphincter ( which controls the reflux)
Melatonin
Posted by Brad (Shreveport, Louisiana) on 09/16/2011
★★★★★
2 things come right to my mind for sleep issues:
Sleep Assure (a melatonin + supplement) and Sleepy time tea. I have tried both and they both work well. Also, never take benadryl or anti- depressents before bed.. both can act as stimulates.
I had a stroke in 20005 at 28 y/o. so anything I say or propose, is something I have already tried or experimented with.
Magnesium
Posted by Jean H. (Us) on 04/15/2018
If the magnesium oil stings, it's an indication that your body is low in magnesium so dilute the oil with a bit of purified water so it doesn't sting. You can also make a magnesium body butter with 2 parts cocoa, shea or mango butter, 1 part coconut oil and 1 part magnesium oil. Melt butter and oil over double boiler, stir to help emulsify. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes. Slowly mix magnesium oil in butter/oil mixture, mix with hand mixer. Put in the fridge for about 20 minutes to cool and then blend a second time with hand mixer and put in container. I saved a large necked jar from some herbs for my dogs that I use that works well. A teaspoon of the body butter provides approximately 250 mg of magnesium chloride.
Castor Oil
Posted by Mel (Katy, Tx) on 01/17/2010
Kay, I just use a q-tip and dip in the Castor oil bottle and have just a drop fall on the tip of my finger and quickly apply to my eyelid. Do the same for the other eye. Rub it in very well and get in bed. It works very fast. I am more excited about my pterygium diminishing and maybe possibly going away for good. Keeping my fingers crossed. So, for me it has helped in two ways and I hope that it helps someone else with insomnia and a pterygium.
Sea Salt
Posted by Jennie (Adelaide, South Australia, Australia) on 03/09/2012
★★★★★
I have had great success with this over the past week!
"Sea salt is very important for regulating sleep. It is a natural hypnotic. If you drink a full glass of water then put a few grains of sea salt on your tongue and let it stay there, you will fall into a natural, deep sleep. Don't use salts on your tongue without drinking water for repeated use of salt alone might cause nosebleeds". http://nzungseraphine.hubpages.com/hub/SOME-HIDDEN-MIRACLES-OF-SEA-SALT
5 HTP
Posted by Stefanie (Minden, Louisiana) on 07/17/2008
★★★★★
I found this remedy when I was looking for herbal remedies for my daily headaches. I found 5-HTP. According to the article, some of the things it helped with are insomnia, headaches, anxiety & depression. I thought could it be? I immediately went to my husband to show him what I had found because he had problems sleeping at night as well. We went a few days later to our local drug store and picked up a bottle of 50mg. 5-HTP. We had decided on the lowest dosage available in our area, upping the dosage as we went along if it was necessary. We have only been on it for a few days now but there is a very noticeable difference. We both have been sleeping through the night and feeling more refreshed when we wake. My anxiety attacks are gone as well as my headaches. We both are much less snappish than what we were before. We haven't noticed any side effects so far. We are taking them with a meal or a small snack and so far we have stayed at 50mg. Thanks for the very useful information that lead to this discovery!
EC: Read more about 5-HTP here.
Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc
Posted by Sasha (Sav, Jamaica) on 09/14/2009
★★★★★
This really works. I took it one evening and i was trying to remember what i ate or drank why i slept so calm and peaceful. Now that i saw this post, i realized that it was the calcium, magnesium and zinc combo. Thanks for sharing!
Wiggle the Toe Method
Posted by Hazel (London, England) on 07/04/2007
★★★★★
I had psychotic depression after my childs birth. I didn't sleep for days. A reflexologist told me this. You wiggle one toe, then the next one, then the next one and so on. Over and over. It works brilliantly, try it tonight!
Avoid Sugar
Posted by Michele (Los Angeles, California) on 06/13/2024
★★★★★
My big problem for years was my sleep but I managed to solve the problem. I worked a lot on nutrition and I had eliminated, as is often said, gluten and dairy products and lots of other things to no avail. Well, I finally found: it's the sugar and so I no longer have dessert and from the first day I had a big improvement in my sleep. It's really hard not to have dessert and nothing sweet but it's worth it. All I have now during the day is a few fruit.
Melatonin
Posted by GertieJr (Madison) on 09/10/2022
I agree, when melatonin works, it works great. It just doesn't work consistently. I recently bought some gummies w/ melatonin (total 3 mg/ dose) and have started using apigenin as well. The first few days of these 2 items, I slept like a log. Then it stopped working and I was up and down all night again. So I added another apigenin and slept again. After the 2nd night of this higher dose, I see my face is breaking out. Not whitehead pimples, but red bumps that soon scab over. It looks like I have rosacea. So, what to do? I'd rather sleep than worry about my skin, so hope it gets better over time. This insomnia is terrible and NOTHING I have ever used works very long.
Calcium
Posted by Connie (Utah) on 03/16/2022
★★★★★
Agree on Calcium as top sleep aid. I believe I've tried it all, including medications, but especially nutrition.
It seems obvious now, but I'd always tried calcium with other supplements.
I've gone so long with this deficiency, that I need calcium chelate without co-factors. It's something genetic because family members had other signs, such as heart arrhythmias, anxiety, so on. I'm taking a lot so I think it's an individualized thing.
Honey
Posted by Bwhiskered (ON) on 10/17/2021
★★★★★
A spoonful of Honey before bedtime. If you waken though the night a spoonful will usually get yo back to sleep,
Melatonin
Posted by Missm (New York) on 07/31/2020
Art has given excellent advice BUT if you don't do things like stop caffeine intake early in the afternoon, indulge in chocolate at night which has caffeine, use your computer before going to sleep, have light emanating from devices in your bedroom you will have problems.
Work on above and sleep improves. Also setting regular sleeping hours! Melatonin does work. I love it. I get deep rest from it.
Another option is to listen to theta waves with headphones before sleeping. if you are not familiar with these just google theatre waves for sleep.
Melatonin
Posted by Art (California) on 08/03/2020 2891 posts
Gertjr,
LDN is available by prescription only, but if the doctor is familiar with LDN and its good safety profile, they will sometimes prescribe it for you. It is generally used at less than 5 mgs per night. Otherwise, some of the LDN websites can recommend a doctor in your area who will prescribe it for you. LDN is used for many health issues and more recently, possibly for Covid-19. Here is a link to a brief article that discusses the use of LDN for IBS-c/d :
https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/living/naltrexone/
Here is a link to 2 LDN sites :
https://ldnresearchtrust.org/
https://www.lowdosenaltrexone.org/
Art
Melatonin
Posted by Deirdre (Ct) on 06/25/2020
Hi Gertjr!
I suggest you take Art's lead on the melatonin dosage. I am going to try his 123 method tonight with 10 mg each hour. I decided to skip melatonin and magnesium last night to see how I would do. Was wide awake at 3:00am and couldn't fall back asleep, so I ended up taking 10 mg of melatonin and mag l threonate at 3:30. It did eventually kick in.
Note: I also regularly use my Waff max to help put me in the sleep and peaceful zone. Not sure you saw my video on it a year ago. It's almost impossible to explain how well it works until you lie on one and, unfortunately, there is no way to demo it unless you happen to work at Loreal in France where they have a giant room with Waffs for their employees to recuperate on! At any rate, the Waff at least once a day plus the 2 supplements have totally turned night-time around for me in the past month. Good luck!
Melatonin
Posted by Art (California) on 01/07/2026 2891 posts
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Steve L. (United States) on 03/28/2019
You might be one of many folks who have high night time cortisol. You can have it tested. It is usually related to adrenal fatigue/stress. If this is the case there is only one product that I have found helpful to reduce night time cortisol which is called seriphos. It is a special formulation of magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus that blocks cortisol so you can sleep. Might be worth a try if nothing else has worked. You have to play with the dosage until you find what works for you.
Niacin
Posted by Sl0J0n (Waycross, GA, US) on 01/06/2023
Niacin is an 'approved treatment' for "elevated cholesterol".
Unfortunately, "elevated cholesterol" is absolutely *NOT* an actual health threat. It is a 'made-up' problem to sell (mostly) worthless drugs. In reality, "elevated cholesterol" is a symptom just as cardiovascular disease is a symptom.
Most don't know but many so-called "health" problems are really dietary & nutritional issues. The real cause of "elevated cholesterol" AND cardiovascular disease is over consumption of carbohydrates &/or carbohydrate sensitivity. The proof is diabetes (also too many carbs + sensitivty) is considered to 'cause' cardiovascular disease!
To 'solve' the "elevated cholesterol" issue just cut carbs. Personally, I lost over 100lb, lowered blood glucose, resolved high blood pressure, & helped other 'health issues' on a low carb/keto diet. I found out about this from Dr. William Davis' "Wheat Belly" books. He lost his mother to cardiovascular disease so he set out to discover why the "standard protocols" didn't work. Dr. Eric Berg said we need only FIVE grams of carbs per day & our livers can make the 5gm from fat or protein.
The 'medical establishment' is controlled by the drug/pharmaceutical industry to profit from illness & injury.
If 'doctors' want to 'help' people do they have to charge so much? I don't think so.
Have a GREAT day, Neighbor!
Ginger Tea
Posted by Jean H. (Us) on 04/14/2018
Ginger also lowers cortisol levels.
Raw Onions
Posted by Anon (Usa) on 10/23/2017
★★★★★
I wake up feeling more refreshed if I eat raw onion befor bed. I mix it in guacamole, maybe half a medium onion. I use yellow.
Skullcap and Valerian
Posted by J. (Bozeman, Montana) on 11/27/2016
★★★★★
Hi,
Some time ago I started waking up at night, unable to sleep consistently. I searched around and found that the herbal mixtures of skullcap and valerian finally worked for me.
J.
Skullcap and Valerian
Posted by Sam (Canada) on 05/05/2021 73 posts
★★★★☆
I also found scullcap to be helpful. But it didn't seem enough on it's own. Need more. Maybe a combo. Trying magnesium (& potassium) which began working but the magnesium dose was too high and started causing loose stools. Will try another type and a lower dose. Glycine is another addition that seems to help many. I heard taurine also helps. I seem to need a stack. Continue to biohack myself.
Nettle Tea
Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee) on 07/21/2016
Dear Rsw,
Well, I have checked several of my herbal books. Though some are technical in nature, none are technical enough to answer your excellent question about nettle's effect on serum iron levels of those with already high levels.
I will keep my eyes open for the answer to this in my reading and if I find out anything further I will let you know!
~Mama to Many~
Neem
Posted by Hisjewel (America, New York) on 06/23/2016
★★★★★
I have to admit I am fascinated with Neem Tea. It does so many wonderful things for your health if you are faithful to it.
But one thing I have a problem with is it makes me sleepy. I learned there are different degrees of sleepiness of how deep certain herbs, minerals etc make or help you to sleep. Well I only take a few sips of Neem tea a day during its term of use, and it never fails to make me knock me out sleep. If you are a driver, the day you take the neem is a good day to take the train or bus. Someone needs to know why they are sleeping so hard. Take a look in the insomnia section where I would like EC to post this one. You will find out why you are so sleepy during the day. For example I did not know iodine gives you good sleep. But it does. I saw it on the list and tested it out.
HisJewel
5 HTP
Posted by C (Ava, Mo) on 06/05/2016
★★☆☆☆
2 stars for 5 HTP. Oh I forgot the most important one!!! If your stomach is bloated and you have gas, it may be a sign of allergies of food, for example gluten or milk. If people eat what they are allergic to, it can cause severe insomnia. The very best recommendation is go on an elimination diet like I did and I started sleeping. When I mess up the diet, my sleep is bad.
Zinc
Posted by Flippside (Tampa, Fl) on 09/30/2015
★★★★★
I am a 52 year old post menopausal woman who has had a challenging time during the past couple of years during the transition due to adrenal fatigue. I have tried everything for insomnia due to cortisol fluctuations and recently tried zinc supplements (zinc glycinate chelate) after reading that zinc lowers cortisol. Results were immediate and I'm happy to report that I have been sleeping like a baby, 8-9 hours straight, for over two weeks now! I initially started with 30mg before bed, but I have cut back to 15mg with no noticeable affect. I also take magnesium glycinate before bed but it alone wasn't enough. Just wanted to share in hopes that supplementing with zinc might help others!
Iron
Posted by Gal (Gal) on 09/30/2015
★★★★★
I happened to be at the hospital and spoke to a sleep Dr.She said the first thing she has sleep patients do is start iron. Said that, often, this is enough to correct the sleep issue. I've never heard of this but I'm willing to try anything. What kind is most easily tolerated? I've tried the sloFE and it was awful on my tummy. Thanks.
