The last sleepless night I had was earlier this year or was it last year in a motel in Melbourne. It was well past 4.00am and had not got a wink of sleep. It was a combination of having driven 400km that day and so not much exercise like I normally do during the day; drank too much instant coffee that day-I made up a vacuum flask that day; although I had eaten some food, I had not eaten the right kind of food. I resolved in future to take a vegetarian curry and a pasta salad with me, only boil up cup of coffee if I need it and go for walk before going to bed.
That is good advice, proper meals - less coffee - exercise. The perfect cure for most things that ail you!
They make more potent/5mg melatonin now. My parents take the 2mg iteration. They both see a sleep doctor. He says though that the 5mg leaves you waking groggy. I feel like stronger is better, but he's the expert.
I am glad you are off that drug! And sleeping well, that is great! Actually, I use cannabis to help me sleep. A small amount does the trick. Too much and my brain gets too active. But overall it's best to not be using any drugs to help sleep if you can find an alternative, like exercise.
I am interested to hear more about melatonin. I get confused, is it the same as melanin in your skin?
Melatonin OTHER NAME(S): 5-Methoxy-N-Acetyltryptamine, MEL, Melatonina . MELATONIN: Overview, Uses, Side Effects, Precautions, Interactions, Dosing and Reviews
I use melatonin only if I can't sleep or if I'm wide awake by the time I go to bed or if I gotta get up in the middle of the night when I have to be in bed by 7 or 8. It helps a lot. But it's not something I want to take everyday.
I'm skeptical that smoking weed is a good long-term solution for insomnia. Similarly, alcohol can be used to treat insomnia in the short-term, but is also not a good long-term solution.
I work a swing shift on the railroad. 2 3rds (2230-0715), 2 2nds (1430-2300) and a 1st (0630-1500) so needless to say my sleep is all over the place. I generally average about 5 hours per sleep, with the actual times ranging from several 3 hour sleeps to up to 7 sometimes. Needless to say when I reach my rest days, Im pretty tired and beat up
I have a device like a FitBit but from xiaomi (china) it tracks sleep well, and shows graphs similar to that on your cell phone or tablet when paired by bluetooth. Does all sorts of analysis from walking to exercise, heartbeat, and cost like $40 US.
I take 2 10mg 30 minutes before going to sleep. It'll knock you out. It doesn't work for everyone. The brand I take is vegan friendly and GMO free. We naturally produce it at night which is why we sleep. I don't take it every night. Gotta remember. Tolerance levels can raise.