Comment by rapsey | Hacker News Reader

Comment by rapsey | Hacker News Reader

I've had on and off insomnia for 20 years, mostly on and quite severe. If I exercised it got way worse, if I got sick sleep was practically impossible. B6 and magnesium have done absolute wonders for my well being.

I also had problems with irritability. Especially if I got hurt in some way (like sprained wrist). If I get this way now, it is a clear sign I need to take B6. It fixes it right up.

Both elements are something the body requires in the diet and does not store much. If you go to doctors most will tell you magnesium and b6 have nothing to do with sleep and give you melatonin, which is utterly useless to take regularly. It is very unfortunate how the medical profession is useless regarding fixing well being issues.

There was an interesting video by ChubbyEmu where energy drinks fixed his B12 deficiency by accident that caused the insomnia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_qKA6KTvs8

I've tried many supplements and narrowed it down to B6 and magnesium. B12 had no effect.

Insomnia can of course manifest itself through many causes, but taking energy drinks would definitely help very few. B12 is something the body stores so your lifestyle and diet must be quite shit to have a deficiency.

Magnesium and B6 on the other hand you can become deficient very quickly.

This makes sense when you consider the role that magnesium has in the body - it's involved in a lot of reactions, either directly or as a cofactor.

In fact, ATP exists typically as MG-ATP in the body.

Severe Deficiency is rare (or rarely diagnosed i should say) because the body maintains serum magnesium levels at the expense of skeletal mg.

Non-Paywalled Link: https://inspectsupplement.com/magnesium/

The problem is that some processes in the human body might, in some people, require more of a vitamin, and others require normal amounts. So if you start "fixing" your problems with megadosing, then chances are you will still get side effects.

Melatonin may have a negative effect on sleep in people under 40. In my case this was expressed as waking up early or in the middle of the night and being unable to go back to sleep.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com