# Best non-RX sleep aid? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 18, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-non-rx-sleep-aid/784726 "2017-04-18T18:49:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lee\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aeb1de/32.png) [@Lee\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lee_Q)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-non-rx-sleep-aid/784726/41 "2017-04-19T23:58:58Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > I use a [Schiff brand of melatonin that combines it w/ valerian root, theanine and GABA that I get a year’s supply for under $7 at Costco](https://www.costco.com/Schiff-Melatonin-Ultra-3-mg.%2c-365-Tablets.product.100220283.html). I take one w/ two generic benadryl and I don’t get weird dreams (as I do w/ melatonin alone) but I _do_ sleep more than 5 hours. W/o them, I get about 4 good hours of sleep if I’m exhausted. > > This sleeplessness started w/ stress and continued w/ menopause starting in 2013. I’m not a Costco member, but I see the same thing at Amazon for only $7.62. I’m ordering it. Thanks for the specific suggestion of a preparation with valerian and melatonin. I’ll let you know if it works! ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-non-rx-sleep-aid/784726/42 "2017-04-20T00:10:36Z")
I’m a bad sleeper with a couple of sleep studies and a diagnosed condition. I take three medications that are not sleep aids, although I do have Ambien and a benzo as PRNs. I take them very infrequently. I also take 10mg melatonin, timed release. Doxylamine (Unisom) will put me out cold if I take a cold medicine that contains it, although not for a full night, and I don’t sleep all that well, but like I said, diagnosed sleep disorder. It is stronger than Benadryl (diphenhydramine). Another OTC relaxer/sleep med is dimenhydrinate, otherwise known as Dramamine. You say Unisom doesn’t work. Try one of the other two, Benadryl, or Dramamine, along with some melatonin-- they are safe to mix (I speak from experience, but IANAD or pharmacist; just to be on the safe side, you could double check with the pharmacist about mixing them). I don’t know about adding Valarian root to the concoction. It comes with melatonin, but personally, I have never taken it. I can’t say anything about mixing it with Benadryl or Dramamine. Also, try eliminating caffeine a full 8 hours before you intend to go to bed. If that just doesn’t work for you, then six hours, but 8 is better. If your mind races and keeps you up, put on some music, on a device that will turn off after you fall asleep, or if you have a TV in your room, and can set it to turn off, your can try putting on something that isn’t too involving (like, for me, an episode of _Law & Order_ I have seen four times already), and set the TV to turn off after it’s over. This last is important. You don’t want the noise on all night. You want it to shut off pretty quickly after you are asleep. Unless your TV is\* really \*old, it should have automatic shut off. I haven’t seen an HDTV that didn’t, and even lots of SDTVs have this feature-- I’m talking about the old boxy ones that took two people to lift. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-non-rx-sleep-aid/784726/43 "2017-04-20T01:34:36Z")
A nice orgasm can have relaxing after-effects. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-non-rx-sleep-aid/784726/44 "2017-04-20T01:35:12Z")
Johnny Mathis, with a 15 or 30-minute automatic cutoff. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-non-rx-sleep-aid/784726/45 "2017-04-20T01:56:53Z")
I forgot to mention in addition to the hygiene thing, keep a notepad and pen at your bedside. If you have racing thoughts about work or whatever during the night, write stuff down. That way you can relax and not worry about forgetting a good idea or detail. Don’t use your phone - you are liable to start doing other more stimulating things. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-non-rx-sleep-aid/784726/46 "2017-04-20T03:11:47Z")
> [@Lee\_Q](#): > > Did you study TM by any chance? I do regular meditation and have a mantra of my own, but it’s not been helpful for this. Maybe I need to borrow yours! 😃 Yes, it was TM. Very effective. Good training. Was expensive 45 years ago. I think over $100. But, very happy with the results. And a bargain! The mantra puts me to sleep. Always. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-non-rx-sleep-aid/784726/47 "2017-04-20T09:42:48Z")
You could try kava, which is a relaxant. In its natural form, it’s quite unpleasant tasting. (Imagine someone threw up on a dirty floor, and the janitor threw sawdust on the vomit to clean it up. Now, make a beverage by whirring that sawdust in your blender with some liquid. Mmm! Tastes like kava!) But you can get capsules, drops, or candies from Amazon, as well real unadulterated kava powder if you are feeling adventurous. I don’t know how well the capsules/drops/candy forms work, as I have always gone with the powder. (I used to live on Pohnpei, where being able to drink the local version of kava, known as sakau, was a point of pride, so I have better tolerance for it than most.) The powdered stuff produces a pretty mild affect unless you drink very large quantities, but it does have a calming effect, with the interesting side effect of numbing your lip in an odd way. I drink it when I’m feeling hyped up and don’t want to rely on alcohol to calm me down. It’s not a panacea by any means, but it’s helpful. I’ve seen the [candy](https://www.amazon.com/Stress-Relief-Hawaii-Orange-Flavor/dp/B008L5RJS2/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1492681097&sr=8-1&keywords=kava+hawaiian+candy) on sale in Hawaii and assumed it was a joke/too little kava to matter, but from Amazon I see it appears to be “real.” When I’m back there again next month I’ll try it. If I think of it, I’ll post my experience in this thread. . ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-non-rx-sleep-aid/784726/48 "2017-04-20T10:55:47Z")
> [@Lee\_Q](#): > > I may try this. I tried melatonin alone about a year ago, with no effect. Because I sometimes remember my dreams, I know I have a “dream version” of my neighborhood. It’s elusive when I’m awake but easier to image when I am tired. It’s a meditation of sorts, I breathe deeply and imagine myself leaving the apartment and walking through the dream version of my neighborhood- its surreally large with different weird businesses in different places. And this knocks me out fast. Almost always. Once or twice a year a get a weird case of insomnia where my brain just won’t make whatever it needs to make to fall asleep. But since I know from experience that when this happens I will be fine the next day, even on no sleep, I just let it happen ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-non-rx-sleep-aid/784726/49 "2017-04-20T13:18:19Z")
I don’t drink anything, except decaf tea and that only in the morning. I almost always go to bed at 11 and generally fall asleep fairly readily. But I get up to pee in the middle of the night (sometimes twice) and if I get up before 3, I almost always get right back to sleep. But if get up after 4, I almost never get back to sleep. I do not nap (unless I go to a seminar). The effect of alcohol is that there is a rebound effect. I will fall asleep rapidly, but when it wears off (usually around 3, since I rarely take more than one drink) I am wide awake. Perhaps, I will try melatonin, which is also known to inhibit urine production. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-non-rx-sleep-aid/784726/50 "2017-04-20T13:35:54Z")
A calcium/magnesium/Vitamin D supplement can work wonders. Although you may wish to add a magnesium boost as that tends to be a little low in the combo pills. These won’t knock you out, but the magnesium relaxes and the other too raise/stabilize mood without making you hyper. Of course, they’ll only work if your current state is a symptom of a deficit. Definitely worth a try though. In general I find that anything that knocks me out only makes the problem worse. Another question to ask yourself, are you anxious or irritable during the day? If so, increasing morning exercise could have a powerful effect across the board. (emphasis on “morning”.) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-non-rx-sleep-aid/784726/51 "2017-04-20T17:37:45Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > I’ve found that not eating sugar in the evening helps quite a bit. Also, my doctor told me that eating protein less than two hours before bed keeps the body awake because it has to work hard to digest it. She’s right! I can tell! So if I feel I need a bedtime snack I have some cheese with a couple crackers. > > Good luck! I’ve noticed the opposite. On days when I don’t eat enough I can get insomnia and adrenaline rushes while trying to fall asleep. However I think they are due to low blood sugar and low liver glycogen because if I eat some fructose and other foods the adrenaline issue stops. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-non-rx-sleep-aid/784726/52 "2017-04-20T19:24:16Z")
> [@Lee\_Q](#): > > I tried it about a year ago during another insomnia bout and my experience echoed yours - no seeming effect. I may give it a try again, perhaps in combination with valerian root as someone else here suggested. Valerian is what I opened the thread to suggest. I don’t have trouble sleeping, but I occasionally take valerian root when I’ve strained a muscle or have a tension headache, and it tends to knock me out. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-non-rx-sleep-aid/784726/53 "2017-04-21T18:42:40Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I’ve noticed the opposite. On days when I don’t eat enough I can get insomnia and adrenaline rushes while trying to fall asleep. However I think they are due to low blood sugar and low liver glycogen because if I eat some fructose and other foods the adrenaline issue stops. Unfortunately, I have found that nothing fixes my insomnia between the hours of 2 and 4 am like a high-carb snack washed down with a whiskey and water. Bread, crackers, potato chips, pretzels, mashed potatoes - anything nice and starchy works beautifully. Alas, that is obviously not a healthy strategy. I’ll allow myself to do it three or four times a year when I’m really desperate for sleep and nothing else has helped. I hate to think what I’d do my health if I did it regularly, though. :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-non-rx-sleep-aid/784726.md?page=2)