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Help with sleep cycles and mood! What to take?


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Hey all,

Long time no see. I have a quick question here. I have always gotten poor sleep but lately(6 months?) it has been real bad. I can finally go to sleep at night though! Which is exciting, I do have my days maybe once or twice a week I have trouble sleeping but it is nowhere close to how it use to be. But my sleep cycles are messed up, real bad. I know I am not getting good REM and deep sleep at all or however that works. I just don't ever feel like I went to sleep when I wake up and it has my energy levels at a low. I am looking for something that is OTC and not harsh on your mind as I have came real far from where I was a few months ago and don't want a mishap. I found a few things while bored and looking around here they are

 

Calea Zacatechichi
Silene Capensis
Passion flower
Hops
Dandelion
 
I know of valerian and Kava which I have tried both but neither work on sleep quality. melatonin and a few other ones but I haven't tried those to see if they improve sleep since I don't know if they do very well. Most of these plants I posted above promote lucid dreaming so my thought is that would mean they improve REM and possibly put you in a deeper sleep with a good REM cycle. No idea just a guess. Has anyone tried any of this or have any thoughts about what I just said?
 
Also I am looking for something to help with mood, something to just make me a little bit happier and more of a go getter. I was thinking high dosages(not crazy high) of DL-Phenylalanine and L-Tryptophan. I mean I already take Kratom which has very little effect on me but does help a bit and I am taking Gabapentin and maybe will start Buspar tomorrow. I am just looking for something that will help a little, I would be happy with a 10% increase in mood! Any ideas about this as to which supplements would be good to take or if you think these 2 would help?
 
Thank you,
Andrew
 
(If you notice the font has changed while reading you are not tripping I copied and pasted a few things lol!)
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  • 2 weeks later...

I used to drink a tea that is sold locally by the name "relax", and it worked well with my mood and sleep. It is a combination of; St. John's wort, lemon balm, valerian,fennel, mint and lavender.

I guess the main ingredient is St. John's Wort, but I'm not sure if it's safe to drink if you are taking other medications. It is a mild MAOI and may interact with several drugs like SSRI's and such.

 

I wouldn't recommend melatonin supplements. I tried it some years ago (before hppd), and it just made my sleep a lot worse. I constantly had lucid like dreams, which I knew was a dream but couldn't control. I wake up with a loud buzzing sound in my ears, can hardly breath and move, I eventually manage to reach my boyfriend for help, then wake up again and again trapped in the same nightmare.

Actually I experienced the same thing years later, simultaneously with the onset of my hppd.

 

I feel like too much REM sleep exhausts me way worse than not sleeping.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ah man I have been taking it for like 2 weeks straight now at 10mg. I know they say you don't need that much but I tried to go to 5 and was planning on lowering to the 3mg time release ones but it did nothing. Hell yes they help me sleep, takes a full 2 hours so I take them early. I got vivid dreams like the first 2 times but none anymore. I bought so dream herb, passion flower extract and bacopa to see how that mixes. I would love to start having some vivid dreams. I have never had any real intense vivid dreams even when I first starting taking melatonin, they were more like I just remembered them some what but wasnt in control or knew I was dreaming. In fact it was the opposite, I would wake up and wasnt to sure if the dream really happened or if I was dreaming lol would take a few seconds to catch myself and find out what was going in haha

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Check this site out:  http://www.chronotherapeutics.org/Index.html

 

Block blue light, change indoor lighting, get bright light ASAP when awakening, sleep in a pitch black room, and potentially utilize red light at night (I've recently found some information that red light produces more melatonin than darkness, and ironically it can also increase wakefulness if one wants to remain awake, though it still doesn't inhibit melatonin synthesis). 

 

Different forms of timed magnetic exposure can also entrain your circadian rhythms and alter your sleep schedule. Wake therapy and sleep phase adjustments can also help.

 

The environment is significantly more important in sleep than supplements/drugs/food. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Melatonin definitely helps to fall asleep, it's the hormone your body makes to make you tired in the first place! L-tryptophan would work, because in the body it turns into 5-htp which then turns into serotonin. But it would probably be better to do what I did and just buy straight 5-htp supplements (basically skip a step) they're pretty cheap. When I started taking them I definitely felt a lot better every day and I do strongly believe it's the reason why I can actually fall asleep at night now. I feel like if you got L-tryptophan instead it would be more likely to make you sleepy, though. I just wouldn't recommend taking that one during the day I guess!

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Mirtazapine is the best antidepressant for sleep. I take levocitrizine for an itch all over my body which propably is my liver that doesnt like my meds. Levocitrizine is also very good for sleep! No problems day after and its a light medicine.

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