Asked my PCP and Cardiologist for sleep aid recommendations and got these responses:
PCP: "I would stick to things like melatonin and antihistamines to avoid complications with your arrythmia as most others are going to be sedatives which can adversely affect those."
Cardiologist: "Over the counter melatonin is ok. Otherwise, you may want to discuss with your PCP."
Not quite what I was expecting...
Several members of my extended family have tried melatonin over the years, but none seemed to think it helped...
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members of my extended family have tried melatonin over the years, but none seemed to think it helped...
Start with the lowest dose possible and then work up till the dose works, high doses have been shown to not be as effective because they stop your own production.
300mcg / 500mcg should be sufficient in most cases.
Be careful with antihistamines as they can give you tachycardia .
I take 25mg diphenhydramine for sinus but wouldnt take more than that in 24hr period.
It's OK. I use it and it helps a little. If you buy over the counter at a pharmacist you'll pay top dollar. PM me if you want a really good online supplier - they have an offer on now and you'll pick up a box of 100 for 3 or 4 quid. They sell all sorts of vitamins and are the cheapest and best quality I have found online - they've never let me anyway. I'll point out I'm not affiliated with them in any way - just a happy customer.
My other suggestion is to ask your doctor for either Zolpidem or Zopiclone. These aren't long-term solutions but do work. Ask your doctor if it's OK to take them with afib (I think I know what the answer will be) and consider taking one as a PIP if you have a few sleepless nights on the trot.
If your circadian rhythms are the cause of your sleeplessness then Melatonin can help. I used in when travelling and found it great. If your sleeplessness is caused by stress, or anything else then you need to try other therapies.
There are a lot of Sleep Clinics around and I saw this lady about 15 years ago now who helped me with my regaining my sleep patterns - no drugs involved. I saw her on the NHS but unfortunately they weren’t able to support the research she wanted to do so is now in private practice. All I can say is worked for me - I went from sleeping barely 3 hours a night to full 8 hours now, granted I was also treated for Sleep Apnea.
There is really good information on her site though and on-line group sessions about CBTi which is a behavioural method so no drugs involved
There are Sleep Clinics all over the country these days but most doctors don’t seem to know about them. There is one NHS clinic near where I live now but the waiting list is ridiculous.
I have tried melatonin quite a lot. someimtes as a one-off, sometimes for a couple weeks. prolonged usage for me seems to cause afib each time. That's why I stop.
I researched online and found one paper that did indeed outline 2 cases of men who exhibited afib on as little as 1 mg melatonin nightly... and the afib problem disappeared when they discontinued the melatonin. I too have noticed this if I take as little as 1 mg (which is quite a small amount). The other thing for me with melatonin is I quicky develop tolerance to it and need to take more to get same result. So even if I start at 0.5 mg, after a few nights or a week, I need 1.0 mg, and after a few nights of that, I will likely be having an afib episode.
also, melatonin is not something to take nightly long-term because it will suppress/halt the brain's ability to produce melatonin... and you might have trouble getting that ability back.
if you're just loooking for an occasional sleep aid , melatonin might be okay if it works for you. Start small. Like 0.5 mg. Melatonin is somethng that in higher doses can make some people agitated or at least alert - the opposite of what you want. I'm one of those people who would be alert if I take several mg of melatonin, but i can get mildly drowsy on 0.5 mg. and 0.5 mg has never seemd to cause afib in me. it just stops working after a few nights at at that low dose.
I have used zopiclone (3.75 mg) nightly for several years now. as sleep aids go, this is the best solution I have found for long-term use (although you will be told not to use it long-term, but I am better of with it than without it, which would mean living with relentelss sleep loss).
I have also sometimes used diphenhydramine, dimenhydrinate, GABA, 5-HTP, L-Theanine. None are quite as good and clean as zopiclone - especially for long-term use. But they are all availble OTC. whereas zopiclone requires prescription
I used to have trouble sleeping and then someone on this site, years ago, made suggestions and now I have a “sleep routine “ that has helped enormously. Here goes:-
Don’t watch an exciting film or read an exciting book late at night.
Don’t try to do work that stimulates the brain late at night.
Don’t use anything with blue light, like a Kindle.
Develop a calm routine and try to go to bed at the same time most nights,
Have a milky drink if you like and sip it in bed.
Read a calming book for a while until feeling a little sleepy.
Turn off light, have a totally dark bedroom and then do slow breathing. Take a deep breath, hold for count of seven and then expel air firmly for a count of 8 . Do this four times. Lie quietly and you will soon be fast asleep. (Do not suddenly remember you need to do something urgently, as you will ruin all your efforts.)
Agree with everything you have said - sleep hygiene as it called is very important- I would add one mor - keep pen/pad next to your bed to note things if urgent thoughts do come into your head - do a mind dump.
Up until a year or so ago I didn't go off to sleep that quickly but then I discovered BBC Sounds and podcasts. Now I lie down, listen to something and I'm asleep within minutes.
For me the BBC's From Our Own Correspondent or the World Service's Inside Science are the most effective but others might want to listen to something else or music.
I should add that I get the Sounds app on my Amazon Fire tablet. I sometimes listen to Dr John Campbell on YouTube. I set it to turn off in 30 minutes.
There's even something called The Sleeping Forecast - out like a light - but that's not my thing!
I am sorry I may have raised your hopes too much but it was a miracle for me. I read The Magnesium Miracle by Carolyn Dean and then took Solgar citrate 400mg tabs from Amazon. I can't remember how many I took back in 2015 but it was obviously right for me at that time ending my insomnia and constipation as well as Afib. But the Afib returned after two years so I stopped taking it, it's not right for everyone.
My sister took it just for insomnia and it made her heart race, So you need to find out more about the different types of magnesium to see what's best for you.
I now get one or two AFibs a year. Unfortunately I had one last June and had a stroke a day or two later, and I had an Afib a week or so ago, nine months apart. I am considering trying magnesium again but I haven't suffered from insomnia since I took it last so it might not be right for me this time. I need to find the book again.... or buy it again. 🙄
Also, I see they have a wide variety of options - Calcium Magnesium Citrate; Liquid form, tablet form, chelated magnesium; chelated Calcium Magnesium; and on and on it goes. Just want to make sure I get the right thing! Thanks
I would first try the excellent routines already mentioned above before supplements. A test for sleep apnoea is also good as are nasal strips, lip strip and slow breathing exercises during the day. Also, I have found a spiritual element in a quiet time before bed is helpful, for me it is prayer and visualising a calm scene in Nature that I know well from regular walks - this takes you out of your normal thought patterns.
Latest, I have decreased my CoQ10 supplement (I was already at the top of the normal range) as I suspected it was boosting my heart rate keeping me buzzing in the evening instead of slowing down. I think this has helped.
you have had many useful replies and people have taken their time to try to help you. It would be good to have some kind of response from you, (if only to say that you have tried all suggestions without success).
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