Sleep problems

[Partsman41953]

Hi all,

I am a 58 year old, healthy male who has been having a problem for quite some time sleeping through the night. I know one problem is that I have a bad disc in my lower back and in combination with a mattress which I feel is too firm could probably be the answer but all in all I still have a problem sleeping through the night. I do not have sleep apnea or anything like that, I just wake up quite frequently through the night and was wondering if there were any supplements which I could take to let me sleep through the night and wake up refreshed in the morning. Since I do not like taking medications of any sort, I have not asked my personal physician for a prescription. I would rather take an herbal supplement instead.

Thanks.

 

[EarlyBird]

You could try Melatonin and/or Valerian Root.. both comes in capsule form.
Melatonin in 3mg or
higher per capsule. Both can be bought at a good Health Food Store.
Good Luck...as an insomniac myself I appreciate your frustration.

 

[kind2creatures]

Welcome to the forum Partsman41953. I agree with Earlybird, the first supplement I would try is Melatonin, as it naturally decreases in our bodies with age. Source Naturals is an excellent brand, and they have a sublingual 1mg. tablet that dissolves under the tongue. It comes in orange or peppermint flavor. I would start with low doses, many times that's all you need. My husband and I will often break one of these tabs, and use less than 1mg. successfully. With any melatonin, to get results, you must be in a darkened room for it to work.

Valerian is also good, but with all herbs, it's recommended to research all the side effects and drug interactions. You might try to get a memory foam topper for your mattress, pricey but they say they're comfortable. We have memory foam pillows, and they're great.

https://www.natmedtalk.com/wiki/Insomnia
https://www.natmedtalk.com/wiki/Chamomile

 

[Arrowwind09]

If your cause of waking up is pain I doubt melatonin will help very much. You will need some kind of pain pill. Before that, try getting 1 or 2 inch a foam topper for your bed. If I didn't have a foam topper I'd never get any sleep

 

[Ted_Hutchinson]

Vitamin D FOR PAIN from the bad disc may help the situation. Ideally take 5000iu/daily vitamin D3 in the morning as some people find evening use disturbs sleep.
Country Life, Gluten Free, Vitamin D3, 5,000 IU, 200 Softgels

The administration of nightly melatonin, magnesium, and zinc appears to improve the quality of sleep and the quality of life

Taking 200mg MAGNESIUM before bed may be a good idea as magnesium helps calm the brain and relax muscles.
Formula to Calculate Magnesium Daily Requirement-
5 to 10 milligrams per day per kilo of ideal body weight or 2.5 to 4.5 milligrams per day per pound of ideal body weight. But magnesium best absorbed in small amounts through the day with food, so to reach your ideal total for the day you will be best advised to split the total amount so you take a third with each meal.

Cardiovascular Research Ltd., Magnesium Taurate
Bluebonnet Nutrition, Chelated Magnesium,
Magnesium Absorption and Assimilation

I use
3mg Natrol, Melatonin TR, Time Release and find them fine.

Now Foods, Zinc Glycinate, 120 Softgels
One of the reasons Zinc is useful to improve sleep quality is that it increases the natural production of melatonin.

The examples I've provide come from IHERB as they are generally cheaper than any UK high street health store, and they ship cheap to the UK (you may find Amazon/Google cheaper for your destination. Code WAB666 for initial $5 discount.