Natural Remedies for Insomnia: A Comprehensive Guide

I've been suffering from insomnia for years and I finally found something that really works & wanted to report it for people here! I've been taking 2 heaping tablespoons of Chia seeds in 8 ounces of almond milk, and within an hour after, I'm out like a light and super relaxed all day, I may even feel a bit too sleepy throughout the day, but it's a welcomed relief from the insomnia that has left me stressed out & debilitated for years. Chia has been a real miracle for me, definitely try it if your stressed out, have anxiety, and can't sleep!

This supplement combination has been helping me sleep better at night. The article I got it from stated it was as effective as taking Ambien (but without the side effects.)

5mg melatonin
11.25 mg zinc
225 mg magnesium

Take 1 hour before bedtime.

I have struggled with Insomnia most of my life, and prefer natural alternatives versus prescription or over the counter drugs. Have recently started taking Tart Cherry Juice at night, about an hour before bed - and it makes an amazing difference. It doesn't make you "groggy" but rather just takes the edge off and relaxes you to induce good sleep. I usually take eight teaspoons with water (fill up to eight ounces), again around an hour before bed - and it really helps. Just wanted to share, as I know many people suffer from degrading insomnia!

I know this is an old post, but a calcified pineal gland will contribute to sleep problems, and lemon water will help decalcify pineal gland.

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.

I don't doubt what you're saying, but magnesium has what's called 'bowel tolerance' where your body shunts any excess to the GI tract washing it out. When you've reached the amount your body needs, you develop loose stools and/or diarrhea that washes the excess out of your system. Look at the magnesium citrate given for bowel cleanses and colonoscopies that are at least 12,000 mg, and are considered to be safe.

I had developed insomnia and always felt awake till late in the night. Ltely I came to know about sea salt water cure. I take pinch of sea salt in water and also mix Apple Cider Vinegar in the water to make it tasty and now my sleep pattern has changed. I sleep easily. Yesterday I tried pinch of salt on tongue and later flushed it inside with water and could sleep like a baby. This method has worked for me. All of you can also try.

Oh my god! I have suffered ruthless episodes of insomnia the last 6 years. This has destroyed my life. As a result I had to withdraw from my PhD program, for example. I simply would not be able to sleep at all, for months at a time. Finally a doctor put me on a very sedating antidepressant. It made me sleep but made me drowsy all day and I lost my short term memory. I got off that 2 years ago and have since had poor sleep but I have slept for a few hours. Anyway, 2 weeks ago I got a new episode. I would lay awake for hours and when I finally began to dose off my body would jerk and twitch so I would wake up again. And so it went on the entire night.

Finally I googled "insomnia and twitching" and got thousands of hits saying "magnesium deficiency". One site in particular said "if you suffer from insomnia, body jerks and twitches, chest and back pain and cannot take deep breaths, then you should take magnesium. " So I read thousands of sites and found one particular brand of magnesium that seemed to help the best. I assume I cannot mention the brand here but it's a powder form and you must mix it with hot water. Given the severity of my insomnia I didn't think a mineral would ever do the trick, but what could I loose? So I ordered it as a last resort before going to the doctor to get sleeping pills. I am not kidding you, day 1 was better, day 2 even better and since day 3 I have slept like a rock for 8.5 hours straight. My chest and back pain are almost gone and I can breath properly.

I have read countless of anecdotes by people discussing insomnia and magnesium. It seems as if absorption is a big problem. Please don't give up if the first attempt doesn't work. Go to the health food store and ask for the brand that has the best absorption. If you do get a good intake of calcium you may be magnesium deficient and may do better on magnesium alone. Otherwise magnesium and calcium is recommended. Personally I take 800 mg/night. Google it! Given my severity of insomnia I am blown away that it all came down to a mineral. WOW!!!

For 30 years I suffered from ever-worsening insomnia. The cause was never found, but it was suggested slyly that I was neurotic. Ultimately I developed short-term memory loss and my exhaustion was profound.

One winter I developed a craving for clams and could not seem to get enough of them. I noticed that occasionally I had short periods of normal sleep. Then it hit me - iodine! I had myself tested for hypothyroidism. The result was positive. And I was furious. I never got help from the medical profession, lived for years as a zombie, and had to find the cure all by myself! Thanks to potassium iodide I sleep just fine. Although I started at a higher dosage, I currently take only four drops of 5 per cent solution a week. Now if I could get a refund of all the money I wasted on doctors who resorted to facile psychology instead of medicine . . . .

Last night I was reading on ACV/Honey, ACV/baking soda for sleep disorders. Decided to give it a try. I took ACV/Honey one teaspoon each in a cup of warm water at 9.09pm. By 9.30pm I started winding down and by 10pm, I was fast asleep. I had FEWER disturbance. My problem earlier was to get back to sleep if i am disturbed and that happened frequently. This seemed to work pretty good and I woke up real fresh.

Basil has been by far the best remedy for my insomnia. I bring about 2 cups of water to a simmer, add 1/2 of a tablespoon of dried basil, turn the stove off, and let it sit, covered, for about twenty minutes. I've substituted a bruised sprig of fresh basil on occasion with the same wonderful effects. I start sipping on this tea about two hours before bed, and it knocks me out every time. I've upped the ammount of basil in the tea or the ammount of the tea I drink on occasion but the above measurements are the average ammounts that work best for me.

I wouldn't use Horlicks, since it contains milk which means it probably contains rBGH (genetically modified bovine growth hormone). Go to www.mercola.com to read up on the dangers of GMOs. They are in dairy, soy, corn, canola, zucchini, yellow squash, Hawaiian papaya, cottonseed and alfalfa at present. Organic food cannot be GMO. So if you want to eat these things, choose organic. The Environmental Working Group has a petition of it's website to force labeling of products that contain these poisonous GMOs. Go to www.ewg.org to sign the petition.

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

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!

I have been using ACV for a couple of months now. I started off with one Tbls in a glass of cold water. Now I am using 2 Tbls of ACV, 2Tbls Raw Honey, 1/4 tsp of baking soda, 1/2 tsp of Cayenne Pepper. I mix the ingrediants in a large mug, add hot water from a tea pot. This concoction tastes pretty good, is not very spicy (the pepper is hardly noticable). I have had more energy, felt better, sleep MUCH better. And like others I have noticed my dreams to be very vivid & clear.

I found acidophilus to be very helpful with insomnia.

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!

I like taking cold showers at night. It helps to sleep and I feel confident getting up in the morning. I encourage everybody to take a cold shower at night. It really helps with insomnia.

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!

Recently I wanted to increase my body's growth hormone production to repair stressed muscles. I read in a book on physiology that people who don't sleep well do no release enough growth hormone in the first few hours of sleep to repair the stress of muscles caused during the day. The book pointed to studies of taking the amino acids L-Arginine and L-Glutamine an hour or less before going to bed.

So I bought the two amino acids (500 mg strength each) and took one of each. I got the muscle repair I wanted. But something else happened - I SLEPT THE WHOLE NIGHT THROUGH! And I have been sleeping soundly since.

I think this works like a two way street. Insomniacs don't release enough growth hormone: Increased growth hormone release causes sounder sleep.

Also you don't have to take Arginine and glutamine every night. Just 3 to 4 nights a week (I know this because I sometimes forget to take the capsules). So it works in a Ted kind of minimalist sort of way. I appreciate that Ted from Thailand is a minimalist in supplement taking. It's refreshing advice.