- No exercise after 18:30/6:30pm
- Absolutely avoid Vitamin D and Vitamin B supplements in the evening. These will suppress deep and REM sleep and I'll sleep lightly all night long if I take them.
- Hot sauna, shower, or bath before bed.
- Anti-histamine (cetirizine hydrochloride aka Zyrtec) as needed - I'm allergic to my wife's dog and some nights I feel like I have bugs crawling on my skin. It can even wake me up.
Things that keep me from waking up at night:
- Gas X as needed to avoid acid reflux
- Anti Inflammatory helps keep me from having to use the bathroom when I know I'm inflamed (getting old sucks).
- No alcohol in the evening
- No videogames, interesting books, or French lessons right before bed, or I'll be sleeping lightly and find myself ruminating in light sleep over these mentally engaging topics.
You might also try no screens/TV/computers after dark. Keep interior lights at low levels and a warm color temperature after dark. Be intentional about doing calming, quiet things before bedtime.
I asked the pharmacist for a drowsy antihistamine the other day and they gave me something from behind the counter (no script required). No idea if it was anticholinergic: most drugs require compromises so if something works better for sleep for me I'll judge the risks for other side-effects.
Normally I use a loratidine if I wake in the early hours and that usually gets me back to sleep, even though it is non-drowsy.
I wanted to try a different antihistamine to see if it worked better: jury's out on that at the moment.
Personally I think it is very important to experiment on yourself, and test a variety of solutions. I will even test alternative medicine for important problems. I strongly avoid dangerous solutions. I am fairly conservative and I especially dislike taking pills, but I believe in the value of trying a bit of science on your problems.
If you need something for sleep I highly suggest you either try melatonin if you want something OTC or talk to your doctor for something that requires a prescription.
Aside from melatonin, pretty much every OTC sleeping drug you can get is an anticholinergic drug which is better to avoid.
Yes Promethazine (the anti-histamine I'm using) is a moderate anticholinergic.
AFAIK Melatonin needs a doctor's prescription in New Zealand.
I will balance the risks as best I can (lack of sleep is also very unhealthy!!), and keep scientifically trying softer alternatives.
What does this sentence mean?
I thought he was feeling any kind of inflammation in his body.
Actually, more accurately, gas-x has an enzyme that helps break down oligosaccharides. The mechanism may be more complex than above if your acid reflux is somehow related to microbiome stuff (oligos are favorite food for all kinds of gut bacteria).
Antihistamines are associated with increased dementia if you take the wrong ones, so it's not a good way to get more sleep. Melatonin, trazodone or a newer sleep drug is safer.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/common-anticholinergic-d...
which is sometimes used for it's drowsy effect. cetirizine/loratidine are non-drowsy and I don't see any association known with dementia
Huh, interesting. I find that I sometimes force myself to think on mentally engaging topics as it helps quiet the other, more negative things I might instead be ruminating on. It's counting sheep for me, really.
I just can’t get good consistent deep sleep. I will say one thing that did help was i use to live in the city and after i moved outside of it and it was much much quieter at night (no trucks driving through or random sounds or honking in the middle of the night) i did notice an improvement.
The fan for me doubles as a way of getting air circulation. I keep windows open in other rooms, but not the bedroom - due to street noises. Having a CO2 monitor may give you some insights into another key factor impacting your sleep quality.
2. Might not have to be one or the other - just make sure caffeine consumption is very early in the day
You drink coffee because it makes you do more things at work / you are a slob without it because of addiction. You are not drinking it because it might make you better in bed or have less dementia in 50 years.
On the other hand we all need to sleep so doing it properly is a net positive
If you only shoot heroin once a week you will be perfectly fine
How many people resist the urge and only shoot heroin once a week?
We are humans, not perfectly diligent robots.
The first thing you say to a person with eating disorders is to throw all the junk food from their home. It’s close to impossible to resist even the “simple” temptation of food.
It’s much easier for a person to never start drinking coffee in the morning to “wake up” than starting and then quitting
Given your entire comment is one massive strawman argument I will ignore the rest of it.
Heroin has proven benefits, this is why they give it to you at the hospital.
Given your entire comment is a massive lie I will ignore the rest of your replies
If you want to have an honest discussion, stop using these terrible analogies and bring actual scientific evidence.
This mentality of finding these shallow similarities and drawing these insane conclusions indicates that someone has very low intelligence.
This is your "deep" thought process
1. Caffeine is a drug
2. Heroin is also a drug
3. Caffeine can have negative effects on people when used in excess
4. Heroin can also have negative effects on people when used in excess!
ergo, caffeine is as bad as heroin
Never said this.
Perhaps if you didn’t “ignore” the rest of my comment you would have understood the point :)
maybe ask the 100 years of scientific publications about human behavior and addiction?
According to whom? Data says otherwise
https://www.statista.com/chart/19524/cups-of-coffee-drunk-by...
I usually consume two double espressos per day (both before noon) and don't have trouble falling asleep afterwards.
That doesn’t sound very convincing.
I'll add that I take a small magnesium supplement mid to late afternoon as well which helps me relax and if dreams are any indication of deeper sleep I have many more memorable dreams when I'm taking magnesium.
I'll add, the mag oxide always prevents leg cramps when I take a full tablet (250mg) when I am working outside all day (and staying hydrated).
ETA: In my experience magnesium citrate is the one mostly likely to cause diarrhea though they all can.
I take about 150MG of magnesium and 100mg of potassium before bed. The magnesium is Chloride, but in liquid form and causes no laxative effect (but tastes terrible!). It is a product called ReMag. I am sure other forms will work just as well. The potassium is Gluconate as it is PH neutral. Potassium Citrate and Chloride would work just as well. I just get the Gluconate from Walmart as it is cheap and effective.
getting a cpap can be a life changer.
- no alcohol after dinner (none at all is better) - eat dinner as early as possible (before 7pm, even earlier is better) - turn off screens after 9pm (Kindle doesn't seem to impact, but phone/tablet/TV do) - exercise regularly, but not too close to bedtime - regular bed time and wake time (we go to bedroom 9:30-10, lights out 10:30, alarm at 6am).
Meditation and breathing exercise can help too, but I haven't had to try those much.
Also really darkening the bedroom and keeping the temperature as low as possible.
Now if there only were a consistent solution for energetic "night owl" toddlers to go with that ever more optimized regimen :D
Are you sure the latter improved deep sleep? Alcohol is known to interfere with REM sleep, but I've actually found it lengthens the amount of time I spend in deep sleep if I have a single beer or something at dinner. I tracked this over months with a sleep tracker.
I've also cut out coffee and that has helped my sinuses/upper throat a lot in the morning which were being irritated. I drink some varieties of tea instead.
Do yourself a favor. Take off the nightcap, put on the striped pajamas and the old-timey candle holder, and book out a full 10 hours for a few weeks. Make it non-negotiable. Full darkness, clean air, quiet, the works. Maybe even get tested for sleep apnea if you're overweight.
If you go through that for 3 weeks religiously and return to the nightcap I'll eat my words and consider you a medical anomaly. But I think you'll come out of it convinced it's worth the sacrifice.