Natural Remedies for Insomnia: A Comprehensive Guide

My watch (when paired with a smartphone) will give you a bar graph each day to show you the light and deep sleep. I was rather horrified to see the sleep pattern of my teenage daughter when she used her watch to track her sleep. Few and brief were her periods of deep sleep. No wonder she is tired a lot!

I tried a few things - some herbs, melatonin, etc.

5 HTP was the best for improving the amount and frequency of deep sleep for her. It does not cause any side effects for her that we have noticed, anyway.

~Mama to Many~

Along with the sleep issue, I've come across reports of linen pillow cases doing tremendous things for other issues before but, apparently linen sheets, pajamas and other clothing are useful for all sorts of issues.

I was looking at this because I got some new yoga pants for sleeping and was having "bursitis" (undiagnosed) pains in my thighs and someone suggested wearing my old pj pants, instead. So, last night, I slept in my old pj pants and NO PAIN!

I've always known of the magical properties of linen and that it can prevent bedsores but NEVER heard of it helping with so many things like this. But it actually makes sense, just due to the electromagnetic "frequency" of linen but still, WOW! I've always said linen was like a "mother", providing precisely what's needed to stay either warm or cool, as opposed to cotton, but apparently it does much more than that.

The thing that I have found most helpful is Magnesium Glycinate, it is the most highly absorbable form of magnesium for our bodies. I am amazed at how much better I have been sleeping. Have been taking 3/4 teaspoon at night, typically able to sleep through the night now, I used to wake up around 3 and toss and turn due to aches and pains. I have used this also when feeling sore or whenever I feel too many aches and pains. It works great.

My watch can be paired to my phone to record data, which I do daily.

Honestly, I am not sure the steps are accurate. I did get to 10,000 steps in on Saturday which was supposedly over 4 miles in the day but I am not convinced I walked that much. 80% of it was just stuff I normally do around the house on Saturday (cooking, cleaning, gardening.) But, I do think it is comparatively accurate, so for my purpose of motivation to keep moving, it is effective.

I was especially fascinated by the fact that it can track sleep.

I feel like I am a light sleeper and often worry that I am not getting quite enough sleep. 5-6 hours a night seems typical for me.

I have tracked several nights and it appears that I am getting better sleep than I thought. I am getting plenty of deep sleep. Apparently, in the light sleep cycles one can be somewhat aware of what is happening around. I often feel like I am "sleeping with one eye opened, " but I am apparently getting rest. In fact, more than I might have guessed. One morning data was that I got 6 hours and 20 minutes of sleep, which was 45 minutes more than I was guessing I got.

My point is, if you suffer with insomnia, a sleep tracker may encourage you that you get more sleep than you think, or confirm how little sleep you are getting!

My husband snores and I have been concerned about sleep apnea for him. He has a bad family heart history and sleep apnea is hard on the heart! I had him wear my watch and he registered 8 hours of sleep with a good balance of deep and light sleep!

Obviously this is a very low tech way to evaluate sleep, and not appropriate for someone with significant sleep issues. But for the curious it gives some interesting data.

My watch also gives my heart rate. I thought it was reading too low, but when I compared it to the reading on a pulse oxygen meter I have on hand it appears to be pretty close.

So that is my two cents on a fitness tracker watch!

~Mama to Many~

I sat down for a few minutes after my tea and next thing I knew I was waking up from a cat nap. Oops! At least I didn't burn dinner or anything.

I guess clove tea really does help you to relax and zone out. If you try it, let me know if it works for you!

~Mama to Many~

Inositol has changed my life for the better, or should I say the Best.

Sheila

Insomnia DESTROYED my life, beginning 6 years ago. I had to drop out of one of the best PhD programs in the world in my field. Sleeping pills didn't even work. I was put on an antidepressant, just for the insomnia, that is normally given to Alzheimers patients in order to sedate and calm them down. It D*E*S*T*R*O*Y*E*D my life. And now look.

First let me sum up, 5 months on after my magnesium discovery, and I still sleep like a rock. But I've discovered an even better magnesium. Let me tell you the exact experience.

I initially began taking a regular pill form of "magnesium carbonate", and it clearly helped a lot but I would still wake up a few times with these awful hypnic jerks. I did this for a few days while I was waiting for my order of this magnesium powder that people rave about on various sites.

I can't reveal the brand name because I think it will be deleted by Earthclinic. I totally respect that since the non-commercial integrity of this site makes it so trustworthy. If I tell you the following, then you'll be able to track it down: this particular brand of magnesium is in "magnesium carbonate" form and was developed by a leading nutritional researcher named Peter Gillham. Now you can google that and find the name of the brand. I'll take a shot at revealing the name as I have found it so helpful and I hope that Earthclinic will post it to help people. It's called: Calm Natural.

I take the magnesium only, but they sell a calcium-magnesium blend as well.

So I got the order of this powder and I had done enough research to know that, unless you have an existing kidney or liver problem, it is pretty much impossible to overdose on magnesium. I was in a state of panic because I did not want this awful insomnia to keep wrecking my life, so the first night I took 1200 mg of this stuff. Fell alseep instantly. Not one hypnic jerk. Nothing. Slept! Slept! Slept! I took this dose every night without getting a loose stool (which is an indication that you take too much). Day 4 I woke up with loose stool. But I didn't flipping care, it's better than taking sleeping pills or not sleeping at all. But at this point I reduced the dose a bit, still slept like a baby.

I kept thinking that it must be too good to be true since sleeping pills had not even worked for my insomnia/hypnic jerks in the past. But oh no, I kept sleeping, adjusting the dose so that I would take just the amount that my stomach could handle - sometimes diarrhea and sometimes not. With time I needed less and less and after a few weeks I could even skip a few nights here and there.

Now to the other big discovery. I tried magnesium oil. EVEN BETTER! Some points on my experience with magnesium oil. 1) I am using a magnesium oil derived from the ancient Zechstein seabed (google it) - many brands of magnesium oil get their oil from this place. It's the gold standard source. 2) Magnsium oil is better since it does not go through your intestine you can apply as much as is needed without getting a loose stool. 3) I began using this in conjunction with drinking the magnesium powder, not risking insomnia. Bloody h***ll, this works wonders! 4) Initially I rubbed this stuff all over my body, 20 minutes before bedtime. One must be prepared that initially it feels as if you have been stung by a swarm of bees, but it gets better with time, believe me, like 4 weeks or so of applying it daily and it will no longer sting. I did this combo for 4 weeks, every single night. After 4 weeks my magnesium levels seemed to have been built up enough so I only needed to rub it on my belly before bedtime. 5) Yes, it's a bit oily, but again, I don't flipping care, I want to sleep after 6 years without sleeping.

So where am I now? I no longer drink the magnesium powder and fall alseep without a problem just by rubbing the magnesium oil on my belly. If I have a feeling that sleep is a bit more rocky I simply rub my entire body with the oil.

One point to be made here is that the magnesium has helped me with the hypnic jerks that prevented me from falling asleep. I would have these hypnic jerks, what felt like, one thousand times per night. They drove me crazy! Now they are GONE! GONE! GONE! 6 years of hell is gone!!! I don't know if magnesium helps with regular insomnia when you just lie awake starring, perhaps calcium in combination with magnesium is a better option then.

In treating my adrenal glands I began taking a high potency (OBSERVE, VERY IMPORTANT: HIGH POTENCY) vitamin B complex, which I noticed made me feel much much calmer in general. I still take that.

There are other minerals and vitamins that can cause insomnia. I read about that somewhere. I remember one of them being Folate.

Thank you for sharing. This sounds amazing. I love oats in many forms. Oats are so nutritious. I will definitely be trying this. :)

~Mama to Many~

Melatonin is considered to be safe over the short and long term and has a "huge multitude of other prohealth effects" including, AD, PD and fighting cancer, but also having synergy with chemo and radiotherapy while also fending off the negative side effects associated with these two standard of care cancer treatments, but don't take my word for it, read this NCBI article that discusses an incomplete list of the many potential health benefits of melatonin as well as a very good safety profile based on a large volume of previous studies

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1395802/

Keep in mind that even though they explain how safe it is, I still maintain that some people cannot tolerate melatonin. Here is a most interesting quote from this article regarding very long term use of melatonin over 4 years at 75 mg/night :

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Melatonin has also been suggested for use as a contraceptive for women, [145] which might raise the question of whether melatonin damages the female reproductive system. Notably, no side effects were reported in a report of a phase 2 clinical trial in which 1400 women were treated with 75 mg of melatonin nightly for 4 years.[145]

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Regarding the addition of vitamin B6 and its safety, most melatonin products contain only 1 - 10 mg of vitamin B-6 and since you are only taking 5 mg of melatonin, your max B6 dose would be 10 mg. Here is a link to an NIH vitamin B-6 fact sheet and below the link is an important quote from the report that should answer your question on the safety of long term use of vitamin B-6 :

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https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminB6-Consumer/#h8

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Can vitamin B6 be harmful?

People almost never get too much vitamin B6 from food. But taking high levels of vitamin B6 from supplements for a year or longer can cause severe nerve damage, leading people to lose control of their bodily movements. The symptoms usually stop when they stop taking the supplements. Other symptoms of too much vitamin B6 include painful, unsightly skin patches, extreme sensitivity to sunlight, nausea, and heartburn.

The daily upper limits for vitamin B6 are listed below. These levels do not apply to people who are taking vitamin B6 for medical reasons under the care of a doctor.

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It is worth noting that too much B-6 can cause nerve damage/neuropathy as outlined in the above article and too little can have a similar effect!

The other day I posted that anyone using high dose melatonin (HDM) with B6 in it should not use this type of melatonin because you can potentially get too much vitamin B6 using HDM or very high dose (VHDM). This is when you could potentially expose yourself to nerve damage/neuropathy, so don't do it. Dr Neel does not use HDM with B6 in it and Dr. Shallenberger does not use the type with B6 either.

Art

Thank you for your feedback on melatonin. Yes, I've found sometimes melatonin works and sometimes it doesn't. It definitely has more of an effect for me if taken with magnesium l threonate, as Art mentioned. Also, I found that 30 mg works better than 20. And I take it all at once... Didn't find I needed to stagger the dosage after all.

One thing I would like to mention is that going for a walk to the point of body fatigue has also been very helpful for my sleep. My sleep issues actually correlate to the aging of my two dogs. I used to do a minimum of 3 miles a day with them. However, now they are over 14 and don't want to walk even to the end of the block on most days! Since walking them less, my sleep has gotten progressively worse. The past week I have been walking (on my own), trying to get back to 3 miles and wow, it has made a tremendous difference to my sleep. I sleep better after walking than after an exhausting 1 hour karate class. Interesting, no?

Just thought I'd put that out there for all with sleep issues. Walking, whether slow or fast paced, is unbelievably beneficial to health.

We've been using now brand powder calcium, its very inexpensive, natural calm magnesium and now brand powder potassium all powder supplements for sleep. It really has helped us to get a good night's sleep. I mix them all up 30 mins before bedtime in a little juice. Also limit caffeine after noon, even chocolate. I sometimes need 3 mg melatonin. My husband was on sleep meds 6 years ago. He no longer needs them. It takes time and persistence to get off the drugs but it's worth the effort.

Hope this helps.

HI U BIRDS DOIN,,,,,,,,,,,, this new toy is sumpin else. I do an 8 minute sleep insomnia program and wake up two hours later. Wow. Think I have lots to learn. Will keep you informed as I progress. So far, it is out of this world. Just hope it takes my back pain away. Me and my Tractor Driver are fighting over time on the mat. This is the new health dimension that includes all your senses. Encourage all to research. German designed and Swiss built. I just woke up, by the way and on the way to see Amorphous......... yet again.

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However, on the negative side, when, on day 2, I attempt to use the same supplement at the same dose, I have insomnia on day 2. Then when, on day 3, I double my initial dose, then it works for me again, but only on day 3. It does not work for me on day 4. On day 4 I have insomnia again. Then when, on day 5, I quadruple my initial dose, then it works for me again, but only on day 5. On day 6, I have insomnia again, because my quadrupled initial dose is not high enough for me on day 6. Now, this kind of inconsistent and erratic performance motivates me to dump my supply of Melatonin, 5-HTP and L-Tryptophan, and start taking something else (for insomnia). Because, as to Melatonin and or its precursors, it is a tremendous challenge for me to try to determine what the proper dose should be for me.

All in all, based on the many books that have been written about Melatonin, I find it amazing how overrated and overpraised Melatonin is, when in reality Melatonin and its precursors perform unreliably and inconsistently.

30 days ago my husband mentioned that he seemed to be getting more and more sluggish. Asked about my thyroid supplement. Since he had never had to be on any thyroid meds in the past, I didn't think he should go that route, but mentioned that since he has been using sea salt rather than iodine infused table salt, that it may be why he now feels sluggish. He started on the BioActive iodine, taking it at night because that is when he would remember. Not only has he seen a difference in his energy levels, but his sleep is much better. Instead of waking at 1-3am he is sleeping until 5am and his sleep is more restoring. The few times he has forgotten it, he was again awake before 3. The iodine does help him to go to sleep, nor does it cause drowsiness. It just seems to provide what his body needs to be restored. Since then I have switched my intake of iodine to the evening, and find that my sleep is more restoring.

Magnesium citrate is also good to help with sleep, but for those who are sensitive to magnesium, the citrate form can increase your chances for diarrhea. The form Deirdre uses, magnesium L threonate is one form that I have never seen a problem with diarrhea. I use magnesium taurate, magnesium l threonate, magnesium glycinate and topical mag oil (MO) and none are a problem for me. Mag oil can be applied a half hour before bedtime to the back of the neck, upper shoulders and chest areas to help relax those muscle groups in preparation for sleep.

A senior man usually does not need calcium other than from diet, but there are always exceptions. On the other hand, calcium helps tryptophan to generate melatonin. I believe this is the idea of why a warm glass of milk is considered a mild sleep aid because it contains calcium and tryptophan while the heat of warm milk is relaxing.

Thank you for the feedback!

Art