I’m battling insomnia lately. Not interested in Rx sleep med, hoping to find an effective alternative to that. Got OTC Unisom – absolutely worthless for me, does not work at all. I’ve taken it for several nights in a row and had no noticeable effect. For example, took it last night around 10 pm, was still awake at 3:30 a.m. What I want is something to help me get to sleep more quickly.
Helping me sleep longer/quality of sleep is important too, but the main thing is I want it to help me get to sleep** quickly.** Anybody have any suggestions? I’ve had insomnia off and on over the years but this latest bout is really proving hard to overcome.
I’ve also used Tylenol PM in the past, and it worked for me, but after about a week of using it I became habituated and had to slowly wean myself off of it. It I tried to stop cold turkey I was guaranteed a very bad night’s sleep. So I can use it for a night or two now and then, but I have to be careful. YMMV.
Have you looked at your sleep habits? Things like not taking naps, going to bed at the same time every night, no noise or lights in your bedroom, whatever?
-anyway, if that’s not helping, and you need to conk out right away, that’s what zolpidem is designed for. Yes, it’s RX, but it’s generic now, so price wouldn’t be an object.
IDK what problems prevent you from getting an RX though, and of course ambien has its own curious properties and potential for misuse, IANAD, &c
Which brings me to something else I forgot to mention earlier. The OP could also try other antihistamines. Cetirizine (Zyrtec) I’ll only take at night if I can schedule it that way. When I first started using it, I’d fall asleep about 10 minutes after taking it. It’s one of the only meds that ever made it harder for me to wake up in the morning.
Allegra never has any effect on my wakefulness. I’ve never tried Claritin, but that would be another one to try (wiki says Loratadine is marketed as non-drowsy but that’s not really the case).
So, yeah, I’d start with antihistimes, Benadryl works great for me. As others said, pay attention to what you consume during the day. For example, I don’t drink coffee/tea/soda etc. So on the rare occasions that I get some caffeine in me, it can keep me kinda wired. With that in mind, look into any meds you’re taking, alcohol you’re drinking etc.
Benadryl works for me, too. I’m not a good sleeper, but I will only take 2 if I know I don’t have to get up the next morning. One helps me go to sleep, two knock me out.
I agree with this. Perhaps assess your situation before reaching for drugs. As stated, create a good environment for you to get into sleep mode, such as no screen-time while trying to get to sleep, a cool, quiet and dark sleep environment, routine, etc. Also, eliminate caffeine in the afternoon, watch what you eat before bed-time, etc. There are all kinds of advice out there, you need to explore what may work for you.
Also, porn and self-gratification can help with the “quickness” thing, if you are so inclined.
Nyquil works like a charm. As a (mostly) recovered insomniac, I don’t really recommend hitting the Nyquil too frequently. I used to drink a dose nightly for longer than I am willing to admit - but will say it was out of desperation for sleep.
I eventually ended up getting help from a doctor. I was instructed in developing good “sleep hygiene”, put forth a lot of effort to break bad nighttime habits, and slowly but surely I am now in at least a remission. I’m sorry for your woes.
I was going to suggest zzQuil, which is basically whatever it is in NyQuil that puts you to sleep, but without the cold medicine component. My wife has used it a few times when she’s had trouble getting to sleep. It doesn’t seem to make it hard for her to wake up, which is a problem she’s had with other Rx and OTC sleep meds. (And she has enough of a problem waking up in the morning anyway, even without the meds.)
Speaking as a guy who has battled poor sleeping all his life,
Absolutely 100% agree on looking at your own “Sleep hygeine,” as it were. There is a very, very, very high chance that poor habits prior to sleep are, if probably not your whole problem, PART of your problem.
Once you’ve eliminated that, take this from me;
Don’t lie in bed fighting it. If you go a legitimately long time without sleeping, get up and do a reset. Leave your bedroom and do something quiet for ten minutes.
Get cold. I know this sounds weird but it does help; once you’re out of bed, try to cool your body down. That’s easier in some places than others, I guess.
I would not recommend taking Benadryl or whatever. The effectiveness of such things for nighttime sleep can be a little dicey.
