Melatonin worked for me but I couldn’t find a happy medium because the after effect of being drowsy the next day was always more powerful than the help getting to sleep effect. When I was down to just a tiny portion of a full strength pill, I barely had any help getting to sleep but would still be too drowsy in the morning.
Be warned about Trazodone, though: In its lower-strength nightly dosage to aid sleep (versus the higher doses prescribed as an antidepressant), for some people it results in very vivid nightmares–I’ve had some in the last 2 weeks that were so disturbing that I was reluctant to fall back asleep, for fear that the dreams would “take up from where they’d left off.”
It’s enough of an issue for me that I’ve started weaning myself off of this pill, which I started on a month ago (I take Remeron at nights, and it works for me–though, unfortunately, not enough).
Thanks for such an overwhelming response. I think the conclusion is that supplements can help, and especially Melatonin. Now, does anyone think that it can work by being absorbed through the skin like the spray I mentioned claims it can do and could the spray actually be healthier since less would be absorbed?
A 2005 study indicated that most melatonin pills exceeded the necessary amount by an order of magnitude, which has the effect of wearing out the body’s receptors. I quarter my 3 mg tablets, which is about as small as I can reasonably divide them.
I use one occasionally, perhaps once every week or so. About thirty minutes after taking my small dose, my muscles relax a lot, which helps me get to sleep pretty quickly. Some people report having vivid dreams or increased feelings of well-being after taking melatonin. That hasn’t happened for me, alas. Fortunately, I don’t experience grogginess the following morning either.
Yeah, since it is so high, that’s what makes the spray interesting. It could have less of a damaging effect on our receptors. “Our bodies produce about 0.3 milligrams of melatonin each time, but the average sleeping pill can have 100 times that. Each spray only has .25 milligrams of melatonin.”
Melatonin and valerian did nothing for me. I take Unisom during the week and generic Lunesta on the weekends (it knocks me out in about twenty minutes and I’m dead to the world.)
I use Tylenol PM. Or just the PM part (generic Benadryl) when I don’t have any aches or pains.
Like the OP, I have always had troubles getting to sleep. This stuff helps. I do wonder about long-term use effects, though.
My bulletproof sleep solution: two milligrams of etizolam, one milligram of prazosin, and ¾ of a teaspoon of glycine. Works almost every time, and all three compounds are cheap, legal (although you’ll need a prescription for the prazosin), and easily obtainable. It is head and shoulders above any other sleep initiation/maintenance protocol on the planet. I would take it any day over EtOH, any benzodiazepine, any barbiturate, or any of the Z-drugs. Etizolam is a benzodiazepine analog. The benzene ring is replaced with a thiophene ring, making it a thienodiazepine, as opposed to a traditional benzodiazepine. In terms of hypnotic, sedative, anticonvulsant, and skeletal muscle relaxant properties, it is every bit as good and effective as Valium or Xanax. It is also astonishingly difficult to get addicted to. I took two milligrams almost every day for almost a year, stopped cold turkey, and just shrugged off the worst of the withdrawal in about five days. In two weeks it was gone completely. The drug can be purchased directly from the manufacturer in India for about 40 cents a tablet, shipping included. PM me if you want reliable and reputable sources. Prazosin is an antihypertensive drug which is currently being investigated by the Defense Department for the treatment of sleep disorders in post-combat PTSD sufferers. It is amazingly effective in ameliorating nocturnal awakenings. During the past 15 years, I literally cannot remember ever getting a night of uninterrupted sleep; it just doesn’t happen. Prazosin fixed that. About one out of every five nights I can now sleep through the night without waking up at all. The other 80% of the nights I use it, I experience at most one or two awakenings, and they are almost invariably very brief—just a quick pee and a glass of water, and I fall right back asleep, usually within a few minutes at the most. Prolonged toss-and-turn flopfests are now largely a thing of the past. I only experience about one a month now. Glycine is an inexpensive amino acid that can be purchased from amazon for about $25 a kilogram. In addition to its sleep-inducing properties, it has other beneficial effects which make it worth taking in its own right. It is a demonstrated HGH releaser, and partially blocks the hepatotoxic metabolites of fructose by acting as a GLP-1 secretagogue. It also lowers nocturnal body temperature, and it is believed that this may be its primary mode of action in inducing and maintaining sleep.
I have taken melatonin in tablet form too. It made it noticeably harder for me to sleep. Valerian on the other hand, merely did nothing and smells like the devil’s asshole.
Melatonin works wonders for me. I use it just about every night. It puts me to sleep and then a few hours later I wake up and lay there for several minutes and eventually go back to sleep. I buy the Nature Made brand because it’s USP certified.
Valerian DOES smell a bit…makes me burp, too.
The Melatonin that I linked to is a capsule and the dose is one milligram.
I have trouble falling asleep, not staying asleep.
I find 5 to 10mg of Melatonin to help a lot.
BUT. I find a big difference in the effectiveness of different brands.
There is little oversight or regulation for non prescription stuff. A lot of brands are scams.
Also. Go to bed right after taking the Melatonin. It seems to have a small window of effect.
Yes, I made note of that for myself for next time. Thanks! 
I would recommend that you look into Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I). It is basically a collection of good sleep hygiene practices (e.g. don’t use your bed for anything other than sleeping and sex) combined with sleep deprivation. It is reputedly very effective for a high percentage of people who follow through on it. It is, however, very difficult to follow through on, mostly because of the sleep deprivation regimen. I have not gone through the therapy myself, though I know people who have. I have applied some of the sleep deprivation techniques with some success and I will resort to the full therapy if in the future I feel I need it.
As far as melatonin is concerned, I tried it many times in many dosages without any success at all (I kept trying because of all the testimonials on the internet). I have given up on it. It may be effective for some people, but do not assume it will be effective for you.
I have tried the “good sleep hygiene practices” several times and in my humble opinion they are bullshit. And so is melatonin for me. Benadryl works sometimes and other times it hypes me up. Mostly, I just don’t need that much sleep, I think, and as I get older it’s more so. Six hours is a long long night’s sleep for me and I only do that maybe once a week. Oh well, There’s always the internet to keep me company.
If you also want help to stay asleep and have better quality sleep, look into trying a magnesium supplement, too. I had years of waking up constantly, absolutely horrible sleep, until I started using magnesium.
Try the OTCs and see what happens, I have luck on benedryl, valarian and melatonin - the melatonin does the least but supposedly helps reset the body clock, the valarian keeps my brain from running mad (if your thoughts are keeping you away), benedryl makes you sleepy.
Good sleep habits, they might help. Avoid screens for an hour or so before bed - turn off the TV, don’t look at your phone or the computer. But they might not. Some yoga for bedtime helps some people, but don’t exercise right before bed other than some stretching.
If these things don’t help, do see a doctor. A prescription might help - or it might not. People are way different.
Insomnia sucks - good luck.
How much magnesium do you take? My allergist recommended magnesium but he wanted me to take a really large dose and I was sort of wary of that. But if a more reasonable dose might help my sleep I would give it a try. (I don’t often wake up though; I just don’t fall asleep.)
You are right. Sorry about that.