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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

requesting ideas to try for sleep

T

Turkey75#

Greenlighter
Joined
May 16, 2022
Messages
14
Hello everyone,

I would like to know any and all ideas for sleep enhancement, including for falling asleep and for staying asleep; ideas can include pharmacological or non-pharmacological, but I'm only interested in options that are legal in the U.S., preferably without a prescription. I have a prescription for Trazodone, but it hasn't been working well enough lately. I'm on a horrible shift work schedule but need to stick it out and suffer through it for a while before looking at other job possibilities. I already take 3 mg of melatonin. Sometimes I take diphenhydramine or doxalymine succinate, but tolerance to these seems to develop quickly, so I only take one of them about once or twice per week at most. Valerian (just little capsules from a local drug store) hasn't helped much. Kava in little capsule form bought off Amazon didn't seem to do much either. Theanine seems to help somewhat with staying asleep. Alcohol is totally useless, just makes me feel nauseous. I suspect that OTC medicines and herbs might work better in combination with each other, but I'm not sure which combinations to try or what's safe to take with Trazodone versus what I should skip the Trazodone when taking. I'm experimenting some with room temperature and already wear an eye cover when trying to sleep in the day time. I often get drowsy at random times like while on the job and have had to take caffeine pills to get through my shifts, yet can't sleep when I need to (which is usually during the day time). Ambient noise has also been a problem, and I'm considering sleeping with ear plugs but am afraid I might not hear my alarm and get up on time. I often have very little time between work shifts to settle down for sleep, sometimes being at work for 14 hours then only home for 10 before having to be back for the next shift. Thanks in advance for any ideas.
 
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Thanks mr peabody, I'll have a look. I've thought about CBD oil but just haven't tried it yet. It's legal in my state if it's made from hemp.
 
I'd recommend Ambien too. Also maybe Kratom, if it's legal in your state. As for OTC supplements, Magnesium (citrate or bisglycinate) and Passionflower also help me sleep.
 
Sleeping with ear plugs is a great idea too, I do it every day for about 2 years, and it never happened to me that I didn't hear my alarm. I tried a lot of earplugs and even best of them doesn't block sounds (e.g. other person snoring, or cat's meowing) completely, just reduce loudness
 
You might try upping your melatonin to 5mg or even 10mg, but I wouldn't take more than that. I like to take it an hour before bed.

I do not recommend kratom for sleep. Everybody's different, but for me kratom (any dose, any color, any strain) is always stimulating. I can't take it within 4 hours of bedtime.

Also be sure to stop ingesting caffeine within 4 or 5 hours of bedtime.
 
Zopiclone is good for occasional use but will fuck you long term.

Mirtazapine 15mg will do the job but the first few days will feel very hungover and hard to get out of bed. If you push past that you should be ok.

Ideally you need to move away from pharmaceuticals. Try physical exercise for an hour after work, swimming is good for sleep. Read a book, eat a meal. Go to bed tired. CBD oil? Sober sleeping is definitely more rejuvenating. Maybe some background noise like TV.

Good luck.
 
I would invest in some glasses that prevent blue light from getting through to your eye. If you work night shift and you're using artificial light of pretty much any kind, it can have the blue wavelength that destroys your melatonin production/secretion.

But if you're on shift work, and you're not one of the few people that can shift their circadian rhythm, all evidence just points to it's going to suck.

Humans sleep when it's dark and they're up when it's light and there's lots of biochemical reasons for that. Trying to fight against two or three million years of evolution is a losing battle. I wish I had more that could help you but.

There's always sex and exercise. Find a 24-hour gym, go work out after work, and then find somebody to bang You'll fall asleep.
 
Try . to not take too many medications that might be causing the sleeplessness to begin with.

But you might be able to narrow it down with an antihistamine and some milk (milk has natural lithium)
- both really work good. highly recommended.

Try to cut back on medication when you can. You can do this.
 
Just practice sleep hygiene. No bright screens an hour before bed, none in the bedroom, make sure you exercise during the day to wear yourself out. All those lenses that claim to filter blue light are scams. If they actually worked the entire world would take on a significantly different look which I have never seen them do.

A dark bedroom with white noise can help, I run my air purifier next to my bed for noise

And make sure you have a consistent sleep schedule, the circadian rhythm doesn't like shifting very much or very quickly
 
infinitesi said:
Sleeping with ear plugs is a great idea too, I do it every day for about 2 years, and it never happened to me that I didn't hear my alarm. I tried a lot of earplugs and even best of them doesn't block sounds (e.g. other person snoring, or cat's meowing) completely, just reduce loudness
Click to expand...
Thanks, that's good to know. I think I'm going to try the earplugs soon on a day when I don't have to go to work that night and see if I still easily wake up to my phone alarm. The foam kind are probably the most comfortable
 
someguyontheinternet said:
Just practice sleep hygiene. No bright screens an hour before bed, none in the bedroom, make sure you exercise during the day to wear yourself out. All those lenses that claim to filter blue light are scams. If they actually worked the entire world would take on a significantly different look which I have never seen them do.

A dark bedroom with white noise can help, I run my air purifier next to my bed for noise

And make sure you have a consistent sleep schedule, the circadian rhythm doesn't like shifting very much or very quickly
Click to expand...
Thanks; the main challenge is keeping a consistent sleep schedule with my night shifts work. I want to be with my family or friends during the day time when off work, but to keep a consistent schedule I would need to always sleep during the day and be awake all night. The darkness before going to bed is a good idea; I've been wearing an eye cover to bed, but right up until going to bed I'm usually seeing bright sunlight coming in through windows and such. Either ear plugs or white noise might help block out other noises I hear in the house when other people are awake and talking and making noise
 
kiely said:
Try . to not take too many medications that might be causing the sleeplessness to begin with.

But you might be able to narrow it down with an antihistamine and some milk (milk has natural lithium)
- both really work good. highly recommended.

Try to cut back on medication when you can. You can do this.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the encouragement. The main challenge is the night shift work and an inconsistent sleep schedule, but you're right that taking too much medicine or herbs might be conterproductive
 
I find 150 mg of trazadone and 50 mg of hydroxyzine to do the trick for a good night sleep but I get a trazadone hangover in the morning for the first hour upon waking up….
 
Melatonin is usually good for the situation you’re describing (insomnia induced by working night shifts). I see you’re already taking it though.

Otherwise, as far as pharmaceutical solutions, 5-10 mgs zolpidem tartrate as needed.

Working abnormal hours due to shift work has been linked to negative health outcomes/quality of life issues
 
Burnt Offerings said:
Melatonin is usually good for the situation you’re describing (insomnia induced by working night shifts). I see you’re already taking it though.

Otherwise, as far as pharmaceutical solutions, 5-10 mgs zolpidem tartrate as needed.

Working abnormal hours due to shift work has been linked to negative health outcomes/quality of life issues
Click to expand...
"
Working abnormal hours due to shift work has been linked to negative health outcomes/quality of life issues" ... Amen to that. I definitely can't tolerate this shift work long term. I'm trying to learn a new field to be able to move on to a good career, and at my current job I've got access to some software (the kind that's too expensive to self pay for individual license) and training courses that are highly useful for what I want to learn to do in the future, so I'm sticking around for a little while
Click to expand...
 
I'm an outlier, but melatonin really screws with my sleep and gives me horrible nightmares. I have tried different dosages etc but it sucks for me.

Unisom/doxylamine (not dipenhydramine/benydryl) works the best out of the OTC drugs but might make you groggy in the morning. Dipenhydramine/Benydryl doesn't do anything for me for sleep.
 
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