Which sleep aid gives you the best sleep?

[MissMuffet]

what's the ibuprofen for?

It actually makes me sleepy. I guess I'm a lightweight.

It also helps me sleep more comfortably when I'm achy, so I don't toss and turn as much, even without the Benadryl. 25mg or less of Benadryl doesn't make me sleepy so much as it puts me deeper, faster once I lie down and ...let go.

Hope that made sense.

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[SLUser11]

i know i know, i'm totally sorry about that post. i'm in jordan right now, and i got hasty with my reply. i started writing before 1) thinking, and 2) reading your entire post; then my time ran out on the "pay per minute" machine and i couldn't get around to editting my stupidity before anyone saw it.

forgive me

OK....then I'm sorry for saying f#@k off, too.

 

[NRAI2001]

Hi there,
Of the group you have posted, only melatonin will give you what you want. The trick to melatonin is to realize that less is more. In other words, do not increase the dose thinking that it will work better. A 1-mg tablet 30 minutes before retiring is a good start. If the 1mg does not work, then cut back to 1/2 mg. The ideal dose should give you vivid dreams and not leave you with a headache in the AM.

Too much exercise too late at night is not good either. While doing something aerobic is good for stress relief, overdoing it can leave you drained of energy and overtired.

Melatonin gets you into REM sleep faster and makes your sleep of better quality as opposed to quantity. That's why it works well with jet lagged folks. I take it on all of my overseas flights to Europe and my cross country flights to the west coast if they are late at night.

Also, do remember that during this time of stress (USMLE time), it's not good to do much experimenting with prescipts that affect your sleep. It's far better to have insomnia than to be drug groggy and trying to take Step I. You get one shot to do well and doing it without drugs is the best.

Good luck!
njbmd

Someone earlier posted that melatonin gives you depression. Is this true?

 

[NRAI2001]

I didn't read thru the whole thread, but here's some of the things that helped me a lot. Sorry if they've already been mentioned.

1) I noticed a big difference in my sleeping after getting a white noise machine. I just can't stand silence, and the low hum of one of these things is really calming. Kindof like how some mothers will put their babies on top of a dryer to get them to sleep. My machine has specific sounds, not generic white noise: rainfall, beach, creek, etc.

Here's a common white noise machine. Mine was a little more expensive.
http://www.acousticalsurfaces.com/white_noise/white_noise.htm

2) I cut caffeine out of my diet for a totally unrelated reason, but I noticed it improved my sleeping a lot. And when I say cut out caffeine, I mean i really cut it out: you'd be surprised how many products have caffeine in them. Including chocolate.

3) I saw somebody mention Yoga before. I think this is really good as it involves deep breathing techniques. Once you learn how to do it well it can really lower your heart-rate, and calm you down.

4) Another thing I don't think people have mentioned is to create a good sleeping environment. By this, I mean having a room that isn't scattered with your papers and books, and all the stuff that worries you. I know it can be hard to keep school material out of your room (I can't), but if you're lucky enough to have an extra room in your apartment (or whatever) you should keep study and sleep separate.

Having a white noise helps me a lot. My computer has a pretty loud fan so i leave my computer on at night. It drowns out all the other random noises my roommates and people in my apt building, street...etc make.

 

[Arctic Char]

not having roommates also helps . . . a lot

 

[Skaterbabe74]

My ex takes neurontin for his insomnia. (He's also bipolar so he takes a bunch of stuff.) It works really really well. Within a half hour he's out cold, and the advantage is that it's only in the system for 4 hours so if your problem is falling asleep rather than staying asleep it's perfect (And if you wake in the middle of the night you can take another.) because there's no grogginess so long as you get at least 4 hours of sleep. It's actually an anti-convulsant, but his psychiatrist is a genius at coming up with unorthodox prescriptives.

 

[JohnUC33]

Some of the best sleeps I've ever had have come from taking melatonin and Meclizine (antivert) in combination. I don't know if its exactly healthy, but that mix produced wonderful results

 

[thehive5]

I think it is hard for those who do not have the type of sleeping problems you are talking about to understand. We are not talking about the kind of mild insomnia that is solved by improving sleep hygiene. Until you lie in a pitch black room and wearing ear plugs from 10:00pm till 4:00 am without being able to will yourself asleep then to finally get up and say,"*&^% it, I'll just try again tomorrow night" on a regular basis, you do not know what it is like.
For those of us who do, please keep the suggestions and comments coming. I am always looking for new ideas.

 

[Beau Geste]

I think it is hard for those who do not have the type of sleeping problems you are talking about to understand. We are not talking about the kind of mild insomnia that is solved by improving sleep hygiene. Until you lie in a pitch black room and wearing ear plugs from 10:00pm till 4:00 am without being able to will yourself asleep then to finally get up and say,"*&^% it, I'll just try again tomorrow night" on a regular basis, you do not know what it is like.
For those of us who do, please keep the suggestions and comments coming. I am always looking for new ideas.

Thank you.

Last night I could not fall asleep until 3am, and was up at 7 before the alarm.

I even started sleeping in the guest bedroom since my husband snores. There's no TV in there, and I don't eat in there. I have slept with white noise since before I was a teenager (I'm 29 now). I go to bed around 10pm ritually and usually spend half, if not most of the night tossing or chronically waking up every hour or so.

So no, for me it's not "good sleep hygeine". It's insomnia.

 

[ElanaMD]

So I just realized that when I was talking about Remeron earlier I actually meant Rozerem... Remeron is an older antidepressent, Rozerem is the newer melatonin agonist that is used to treat insomnia.

 

[katrinadams9]

The Vicodin and codiene I've been on since breaking my hand really knocks me out. I've been sleeping more this week than I have since I was a baby. The only problem is you need to be in a lotta pain to get these meds. If nothing else works, you can always go break something!

 

[OSUdoc08]

I am having serious sleep issues and I need to find a good sleep aid between now and Step 1 (June 9). The insomnia only pops up around exams but I am sure I will have problems on the night before Step. I have tried several sleep agents and here are the results:

1)ambian: didn't work: had kind of hallucinations/dreams all night and woke up feeling awful and kind of freaked out
2)melantonin: works o.k. but start to have some depression by day 4 on it
3)tylenol PM: slept solidly but felt groggy when I woke
4)yoga/visualization: works ok but not when I am really stressed. I did it TWICE last night and still couldn't sleep

The thing is that it I have read how sleep agents really don't give you the good sleep that you need and that they negativly impact your memory. I need all the memory I have but not sleeping is really wrecking me. I had a shelf exam today, and woke up at 2:00 am and could not go back to sleep. It has totally ruined my studying today for Wed.'s shelf, not to mention I felt completely undone during today's test. So, the question is what sleep aids have people tried that worked well, seemed to leave their memory intact and have few side effects? I think I will only need to take it occasionally during the next 6 weeks and probably the night before step. I would be willing to try another prescription one if anyone had some good recommendations. Thanks!

Lunesta.

Shorter half life and less side effects than Ambien.

 

[maharishi3383]

Leave it to MDs to start listing medications first. I can't believe no one has said this before but a glass of warm milk is the best natural sleep aid we've got. You can add a turkey sandwich if you like. Meditation and yoga take some time to learn properly but they really can help. I count backwards as well. Another thing I've noticed is that I actually fall asleep better if I go to bed a little earlier. Once I stay up past midnight, I'm up all night, but if I go to bed around ten or eleven I sleep much better. Find what times work with your own body rythems. Sleep aids should only be used if there's an actually chemical unbalance in your body which is pretty rare. And whoever said they take sleeping pills and then drink caffine to wake up I'm seriously disturbed. Thats the worst advice I've ever heard.

 

[Beau Geste]

Leave it to MDs to start listing medications first. I can't believe no one has said this before but a glass of warm milk is the best natural sleep aid we've got. You can add a turkey sandwich if you like. Meditation and yoga take some time to learn properly but they really can help. I count backwards as well. Another thing I've noticed is that I actually fall asleep better if I go to bed a little earlier. Once I stay up past midnight, I'm up all night, but if I go to bed around ten or eleven I sleep much better. Find what times work with your own body rythems. Sleep aids should only be used if there's an actually chemical unbalance in your body which is pretty rare. And whoever said they take sleeping pills and then drink caffine to wake up I'm seriously disturbed. Thats the worst advice I've ever heard.

Glad that works for YOU. Let us decide what works for us.

 

[sacrament]

Leave it to MDs to start listing medications first. I can't believe no one has said this before but a glass of warm milk is the best natural sleep aid we've got. You can add a turkey sandwich if you like. Meditation and yoga take some time to learn properly but they really can help. I count backwards as well. Another thing I've noticed is that I actually fall asleep better if I go to bed a little earlier. Once I stay up past midnight, I'm up all night, but if I go to bed around ten or eleven I sleep much better. Find what times work with your own body rythems. Sleep aids should only be used if there's an actually chemical unbalance in your body which is pretty rare. And whoever said they take sleeping pills and then drink caffine to wake up I'm seriously disturbed. Thats the worst advice I've ever heard.

Screw off. If a glass of warm milk knocks you out cold, then you don't belong in this thread and have nothing to add to this conversation.

 

[Ginzo]

Great thread. It actually motivated me to register.

I'm a life long insomniac (12+ years), and have tried basically all sleepers you could name. They all give me severe impairment the following day, and affect my memory. Ativan made me forget the names of adjacent streets to the one I live on.

I've recently solved the insomnia puzzle for myself. It's a fairly simple plan:

1) No caffeine and no alcohol.
2) Exercise (cardio) as often as I have time for.
3) The bed is for sleeping only. No TV or reading in it. I don't even go into my bedroom unless I'm tired and ready for sleep.
4) No TV or reading for an hour before bed. I come home from work and relax on my couch until I'm ready for bed.

BTW, there is one drug on the market that will make you sleep and actually improve the quality of your sleep.

http://www.xyrem.com/

It's not approved for insomnia, narcolepsy only. But the FDA recently approved off-label prescriptions. It's physically addictive. So, it can't be used for long periods of time. But, it's the best sleeper you will ever find. It improves sleep quality.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Leave it to MDs to start listing medications first. I can't believe no one has said this before but a glass of warm milk is the best natural sleep aid we've got. You can add a turkey sandwich if you like. Meditation and yoga take some time to learn properly but they really can help. I count backwards as well. Another thing I've noticed is that I actually fall asleep better if I go to bed a little earlier. Once I stay up past midnight, I'm up all night, but if I go to bed around ten or eleven I sleep much better. Find what times work with your own body rythems. Sleep aids should only be used if there's an actually chemical unbalance in your body which is pretty rare. And whoever said they take sleeping pills and then drink caffine to wake up I'm seriously disturbed. Thats the worst advice I've ever heard.

I'm a DO student. The Lunesta works.

Warm milk? That's awful.

 

[maxnm]

Does anyone know a good (preferably studied) brand of melatonin? I don;t just mean the cheapest or the most expensive, just a good one. Also, i didn't really get the post with lowering the dose to make it more effective, that sounds like homeopathy and I have never seen any good evidence supporting that.

 

[maharishi3383]

Screw off. If a glass of warm milk knocks you out cold, then you don't belong in this thread and have nothing to add to this conversation.

I didn't say it knocked me out cold I was simplying suggesting an scientifically proven alternative that hadn't been mentioned before. I've been an insommniac all my life and all I'm saying is exhaust all natural options before jumping to medication. Using conflicting medications, sleep aids and then caffine, is not the most effective way to manage a problem.

 

[SLUser11]

Does anyone know a good (preferably studied) brand of melatonin? I don;t just mean the cheapest or the most expensive, just a good one. Also, i didn't really get the post with lowering the dose to make it more effective, that sounds like homeopathy and I have never seen any good evidence supporting that.

I really doubt there's much of a difference between brand names...so I suggest Target-brand or Walgreen's-brand melatonin.

 

[SLUser11]

Great thread. It actually motivated me to register.

I'm a life long insomniac (12+ years), and have tried basically all sleepers you could name. They all give me severe impairment the following day, and affect my memory. Ativan made me forget the names of adjacent streets to the one I live on.

I've recently solved the insomnia puzzle for myself. It's a fairly simple plan:

1) No caffeine and no alcohol.
2) Exercise (cardio) as often as I have time for.
3) The bed is for sleeping only. No TV or reading in it. I don't even go into my bedroom unless I'm tired and ready for sleep.
4) No TV or reading for an hour before bed. I come home from work and relax on my couch until I'm ready for bed.

BTW, there is one drug on the market that will make you sleep and actually improve the quality of your sleep.

http://www.xyrem.com/

It's not approved for insomnia, narcolepsy only. But the FDA recently approved off-label prescriptions. It's physically addictive. So, it can't be used for long periods of time. But, it's the best sleeper you will ever find. It improves sleep quality.

This is a perfect example of the solution I mentioned earlier. Even people with legitimate sleeping problems, who've failed numerous sleep aids (prescription and OTC), can benefit from good sleep hygiene.

Poor sleep is still something that I battle with nightly, and I've had PLENTY of nights of laying in bed for 6-8 hours trying unsuccessfully to fall asleep...but I can confidently say that there were lots of little things that I did that made these nights less frequent...sleep hygiene being a solid contributor....and lots of benadryl, unisom, and melatonin.

 

[basupran]

A public service message:
I want to shoot myself right now. First off, I am an MS2 and I just took a pretty important exam. I did not do well AT ALL. My previous track record has been great, and this is my first blemish. A partial reason: lack of sleep and too much melatonin. I have gotten into the very bad habit of falling asleep at 5 am (studying) and waking up at around 12 for the past 2 weeks (just for this exam mind you) and could not break out of it. Last night, I took about 15 mg of melatonin to help me fall asleep (3, 6 or 9 mg doesn't do a damn thing), and even 15 didn't to a damn thing. I went to bed around 2, fell asleep around 4 and woke up at 6 (not by choice, but my apt. mate closed the door loudly). I tried to go back to sleep but could not. I just lay there, trying to force myself back to sleep. I counted sheep, I tried setting up the perfect dream scenarios, I took a hot shower, did everything I could, and nothing. During the exam, I repeatedly spaced out and nothing came to me as it does. I sat there staring at the question while I kept spacing out and going on magical journeys only to snap back into reality. I do not know why this happened as I have taken exams on lack of sleep and have done well. I was prepared as could be, I had done much better on the 1st exam, and had done significantly better on the practice questions that I had done the night before. Finally, while my grade dropped, everyone I have spoken to has improved.

I need to end my rant, but here is the moral of the story. Melatonin is not a good drug because idiots like me do not do research and take too much. It works, but should only be taken by reasonably intelligent people who agree with the 'less is more' philosophy. 0.3 mg according to this article.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=20497
Additional info: this work has been licensed by a manufacturer of melatonin supplements.

 

[PomPom]

eating a something before bed also helps.

 

[OSUdoc08]

A public service message:
I want to shoot myself right now. First off, I am an MS2 and I just took a pretty important exam. I did not do well AT ALL. My previous track record has been great, and this is my first blemish. A partial reason: lack of sleep and too much melatonin. I have gotten into the very bad habit of falling asleep at 5 am (studying) and waking up at around 12 for the past 2 weeks (just for this exam mind you) and could not break out of it. Last night, I took about 15 mg of melatonin to help me fall asleep (3, 6 or 9 mg doesn't do a damn thing), and even 15 didn't to a damn thing. I went to bed around 2, fell asleep around 4 and woke up at 6 (not by choice, but my apt. mate closed the door loudly). I tried to go back to sleep but could not. I just lay there, trying to force myself back to sleep. I counted sheep, I tried setting up the perfect dream scenarios, I took a hot shower, did everything I could, and nothing. During the exam, I repeatedly spaced out and nothing came to me as it does. I sat there staring at the question while I kept spacing out and going on magical journeys only to snap back into reality. I do not know why this happened as I have taken exams on lack of sleep and have done well. I was prepared as could be, I had done much better on the 1st exam, and had done significantly better on the practice questions that I had done the night before. Finally, while my grade dropped, everyone I have spoken to has improved.

I need to end my rant, but here is the moral of the story. Melatonin is not a good drug because idiots like me do not do research and take too much. It works, but should only be taken by reasonably intelligent people who agree with the 'less is more' philosophy. 0.3 mg according to this article.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=20497
Additional info: this work has been licensed by a manufacturer of melatonin supplements.

1. There is plenty of time to get sleep during the MS-2 year. You simply need to learn that you can skip lecture, study during that time, and get a 4.0

(I didn't miss a single NBA playoff game during finals week, and slept 6-8 hours each night. The only reason I got 6 hours of sleep was because of an overtime Lakers-Suns game.)

2. You should take Lunesta to sleep. Not melatonin, not Benadryl, not Ambien. My study partner takes this the night before tests.

 

[basupran]

1. There is plenty of time to get sleep during the MS-2 year. You simply need to learn that you can skip lecture, study during that time, and get a 4.0

(I didn't miss a single NBA playoff game during finals week, and slept 6-8 hours each night. The only reason I got 6 hours of sleep was because of an overtime Lakers-Suns game.)

2. You should take Lunesta to sleep. Not melatonin, not Benadryl, not Ambien. My study partner takes this the night before tests.

Thanks, you are right, there is plenty of time to sleep during MS2. I take full advantage of it and sleep on average 8 hours a night. I can do this since I no longer go to class. My mistake was screwing up my sleep schedule and then trying to correct it in one day.

 

[bigfrank]

2. You should take Lunesta to sleep. Not melatonin, not Benadryl, not Ambien. My study partner takes this the night before tests.

N = 1; awesome!!!!!!



Yea, I knew all those docs that prescribed Ambien were idiots!!!!

 

[OSUdoc08]

N = 1; awesome!!!!!!



Yea, I knew all those docs that prescribed Ambien were idiots!!!!

Ambien is highly addictive and the half-life is too long. It also has too many side effects.

You are correct about the latter.

 

[bigfrank]

Ambien is highly addictive and the half-life is too long. It also has too many side effects.

You are correct about the latter.

Yea, what were they all thinking?

 

[OSUdoc08]

Yea, what were they all thinking?

There's no telling. I can't think of any reason to prescribe Ambien over Lunesta, unless you don't like the shorter half-life of Lunesta. If that is true, then you can simply prescribe Sonata, and avoid the bad side effects and addictive properties of Ambien. Ambien should only be used for short-term insomnia only.

 

[beary]

I have been taking Ambien a few times a week for several months now and haven't had any problems - quite the contrary, it has significantly improved my quality of life since I basically don't have insomnia anymore.

The very first few times I took it I had slight hallucinations and now have no side effects at all.

 

[OSUdoc08]

I have been taking Ambien a few times a week for several months now and haven't had any problems - quite the contrary, it has significantly improved my quality of life since I basically don't have insomnia anymore.

The very first few times I took it I had slight hallucinations and now have no side effects at all.

Do you always get a full 8 hours of sleep? What happens if you only have time for 6 hours of sleep? Are you knocked out still in the morning? This is the most common complaint I see.

 

[e_phn]

Which sleep aid gives you the best sleep?

to answer your question, i find drinking milk before going to sleep is very helpful. seriously.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Which sleep aid gives you the best sleep?

to answer your question, i find drinking milk before going to sleep is very helpful. seriously.

Milk stimulates my gag reflex. I haven't had any in 6 years. In my opinion, the worst way to get to sleep is to get your stomach acid production up my consuming something prior to bed.

 

[e_phn]

Milk stimulates my gag reflex. I haven't had any in 6 years. In my opinion, the worst way to get to sleep is to get your stomach acid production up my consuming something prior to bed.

there was a study on this, but i don't remember when.

 

[NRAI2001]

Which sleep aid gives you the best sleep?

to answer your question, i find drinking milk before going to sleep is very helpful. seriously.

Yea but that is very fattening.

 

[NRAI2001]

What about wine? I knew this guy that drank a glass of wine everyday bc he said it helped him sleep?

 

[e_phn]

Yea but that is very fattening.

if you drink the non-fat free ones.

 

[Surg Path]

What about wine? I knew this guy that drank a glass of wine everyday bc he said it helped him sleep?

Alcohol might make you sleepy, but it will disrupt normal sleep cycles (REM, deep sleep, ect). It should not be used for sleep.

 

[e_phn]

i haven't read all the posts..so someone might mentioned this already.

reading is another good idea.

 

[Surg Path]

there was a study on this, but i don't remember when.

Milk works for some people, and shouldn't make your stomach more acidic or cause gastric reflux unless you gag or you have an issue with milk.

Milk does have l-tryptophan, which makes people drowsy. Turkey has the same stuff.

 

[OSUdoc08]

if you drink the non-fat free ones.

It still contains sugar, which is converted to fat.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Milk works for some people, and shouldn't make your stomach more acidic or cause gastric reflux unless you gag or you have an issue with milk.

Milk does have l-tryptophan, which makes people drowsy. Turkey has the same stuff.

Any food will increase the acid production in the stomach. This includes milk.

 

[beary]

Do you always get a full 8 hours of sleep? What happens if you only have time for 6 hours of sleep? Are you knocked out still in the morning? This is the most common complaint I see.

I am not groggy in the morning at all. 6 hours would be fine (I have done it several times) - wouldn't want to go much less than that though.

 

[e_phn]

It still contains sugar, which is converted to fat.

well, like i mentioned before, there was a study on this ..drinking milk before going to sleep

 

[Surg Path]

It still contains sugar, which is converted to fat.

As for conversions of things, people take melatonin, and the l-trytpophan is a melatonin precursor, so one could potentially substitute the milk for melatonin, which is available OTC.

Maybe some intrinsic quality of milk that people like. Won;t go into Freudian theory though

 

[OSUdoc08]

As for conversions of things, people take melatonin, and the l-trytpophan is a melatonin precursor, so one could potentially substitute the milk for melatonin, which is available OTC.

Maybe some intrinsic quality of milk that people like. Won;t go into Freudian theory though

There must be something to that, though!

It's quite disturbing when I'm sitting at the bar drinking a Guinness and my classmate (who obviously has an oral fixation due to incessantly biting her nails) requests a milk to go with the dessert she orders. Don't worry, I always make fun of her.

I mean, who orders a straight up glass of milk at a bar !!??

 

[DRDARIA]

I am having serious sleep issues and I need to find a good sleep aid between now and Step 1 (June 9). The insomnia only pops up around exams but I am sure I will have problems on the night before Step.

Okay, not a medication solution, but what works for me is putting the TV on with a sleep timer. I find something that I am mildly interested in, but not something that will TOO interesting. I set the sleep timer for longer than I think it will take to fall asleep to be conservative. After ten or fifteen minutes, quit watching and just listen. It keeps the mind from going all different directions, but doesn't let it become too engaged. Reruns or a DVD I've already seen work well. However, I have found this method slightly addictive too

 

[spo01]

-i never had any problems with ambien. i've never tried it though when only getting 4 or so hrs of sleep. i atleast get 6 when on it.
-melatonin is ok.
-diphenhydramine sucks and the half life is loooooong.
-instead of an actual white noise machine i just turn on a fan. it not only keeps me cool but the sound acts exactly as a white noise machine.

 

[TheCat]

2 things are my standby if i ever need to sleep

1. 600-800mg motrin 1 hr before bed-I have read a couple studies on high dose motrin induced sleeping-after I realized i got sooo sleepy from it. So it puts me out nicely and has a short half life and in general do not feel groggy one bit. Not good for sleep maintance but great for getting you to sleep.

2.Ativan-I believe is the closest to giving me the most "real" sleep that feels like a good normal drugless sleep-great induction of fatigue, eyes get heavy just like you are really sleepy-has a pretty short half life-but I alwasy feel groggy in themorning so if you cant be groggy its not great-but this is pretty much the shortest half life benzo you will find prescribed-the one to use for sleep and gave me no nightmares or anything wierd.
Restroril, gave me fked up dreams and has a long half life.

For all others ambien, sonata lunesta is all the same so one is no better or worse other than the half life issues. Alot of people dontl ike sonata cause the half life is too short and they fall asleep but perk up 4 hours later. all depends if your prob is falling asleeep or staying asleep. ttotally diff treatment

 

[TheCat]

Geez I completely forgot the thing I use almost every night that works amazingly-its a herbal tea called "sleepy time" which is basically camomile tea and works wonderfully. I have 1 giant cup of it 30 mins before bed every night and it honestly knocks me out with NO grogginess or anything in the morning. Sometimes for extra boost-no joke-I mix some warm milk plus the tea and seriously it gets you relaxed, and very very sleepy.
They have a "sleepy time extra' that has valerian root plus chamomile-but I did some reading and the mg of valerian you need to cause sleepiness is way way higher than the dose found in any of the teas-so not sure how much more helpful that is!
Geez i cant believe i forgot to post that-seriously try this it is the best best sleep aid-i mean it is not benzo but it is very helpful