Sleep or lack of, any natural remedies that work?

[Furmummy]

I currently take trazadone 50mg to help aid sleep. However I get really bad dreams from it. But when I dont take it I wake up or dont sleep due to my pain.

Anyone used a natural sleeping aid that has success, or is this a pipe dream?

[JayCeon]

Hi Furmummy,

apart from pinpointing 'wakers' and acting on them (my thread <30 wakers and stoppers>) these are what I've tried - you will find posts/ threads on all of them:

herbs: Valerian & passiflora,

essential oils (on pillow or hankie or gel on my chin): lavender & arolla/Swiss/cembran pine,

for melatonin/serotonin: its precursors L-Tryptophan and 5-HTP, (only prescription in the UK) melatonin, perhaps in combination,

further hormone: progesteron (a rehab-doc suggested & prescribed me that, she said it's not just for women) and

CBD oil,

weighted blanket: see the many threads on that, like healthunlocked.com/fibromya....

My results:

The essential oils support a sleep-time-atmosphere or at least help enjoy dozing more ;-P.

CBD oil & melatonin made me very drowsy and gave me stomach & gut problems, without getting my 5-7 sleep breaks down much, but I keep revisiting both, experimenting with the dose to try to find a balance - 1 drop of 10% CBD oil instead of the recommended 3 seems to be OK. If If I do try melatonin again, I will keep to prescribed meds (over 55 & long term sleep problems), but in much lower dose, because the supps I could buy (otc here in Germany) can contain up to 4x the declared amount. Also I've realized that studies (pubmed) have combined melatonin with tryptophan or 5-HTP, which I haven't tried yet.

Weighted-blankets: I am simulating by putting heaving blankets on; and now like LoneEra suggested mainly on my legs. Sometimes help, sometimes annoy.

None of the rest did anything at all up to now, but I'd definitely try them if I hadn't, and still may try again and again...

I do sleep sort of enough (net 9-11h) since sorting out my 'wakers' and their 'stoppers', but I yearn for nights where I only get up 2 or 3 times instead of 6-7, or at least get back to sleep immediately every time, so I'd get more deep sleep.

[Furmummy in reply to JayCeon]

Thank you I will take a look x

[dinghy]

Hi Furmummy

For info on herbs for sleep you can check bhma.info the British Herbal Medicines Association

In general:

1. Herbs that improve sleep are Valerian, Hops, Passiflora, Lavender, and Avena sativa

2. You may need to try for a month as they do not work as quickly as conventional sleeping tablets

3. If you buy a herbal medicine in the UK it is important to buy products that display the THR logo on its pack which means it contains the correct medicinal dose of the herb and has been checked for quality and safety by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and is allowed to carry a medicinal claim to improve sleep on its pack. products without this THR logo do not contain the effective medicinal dose and are not checked to contain the correct herb nor dose.

I have also heard good reports about a magnesium balm that you put onto your feet which sounds peculiar but people do seem to like it. I prefer a bath in magnesium bath salts before bed.

Never used CBD products due to their lack of regulation and so you really don't know what you are taking. So I can't help you there. They are gaining in popularity but i think more research is needed on these products and proper regulation to be safe before I would try them.

Good sleep hygiene such as a cool room, no mobile phones on, etc lots of sleep hygiene advice on internet. Think there is The Sleep Foundation in the UK.

Turkey is a good source of tryptophan which is what the body converts into melatonin at night. So turkey sandwiches at lunchtime might be worth a try?

A friend of mine is a nutritionist, Rob Hobson, and he wrote a sleep book recently. He likes herbal remedy A.Vogel Dormeasan. my husband is a cab driver and he uses it too to help with sleep due to his shift patterns. It doesn't taste great he says but works for him!

My nan used to swear by Kalms for restless nights. both of those are THR approved.

I hope that helps?

[JayCeon in reply to dinghy]

Hehe, had to look up avena sativa - but it's 'just' oat(s)! ;-PDormeasan contains valerian and hops. Very surprised, A.Vogel is a German company, products of which I've often used, but now I see apparently well-known worldwide.

Other foods with tryptophan / producing melatonin apart from turkey are multigrain breads, banana, almonds, cheese, pumpkin seeds, goji berries and nuts.

Nothing new or helpful for me, unfortunately, I'm a very tough case...

[dinghy in reply to JayCeon]

Yes the oat plant! Luckily i have no issue with sleep - just a noisy snoring partner of which no herb will remedy! I do hope you find something to help. Sleep deprivation unhelpful in the long term.

[JayCeon in reply to dinghy]

Oh dear, bad memories of lying in the fibro/rheum. clinic with 2 snorers. Ear plugs plus noise cancelling headphones and/or quiet waves or music... Plus not being able to sleep on their mattresses, had to sleep on the floor on my own mattress to go, plus difficult food plus lots of too harsh physio-stuff...

[dinghy in reply to JayCeon]

ps - my other half also uses an eye mask - one that really blacks out the room and that helps hugely. I've used on on occasion and slept very soundly. Simple and cheap if you've not already exhausted such things. i expect you have from your previous reply.

[JayCeon in reply to dinghy]

Yep, see my <30 wakers & stoppers> post, at home I have blackout blinds but for the clinic I bought a good eye mask too. When it got too tough with the snorers and a wrongly working apnea gadget, I took my to go mattress under my arm, and walked out to the dayroom, despite its garish lights, must've looked like the deaf, dumb & blind boy Pinball Wizard. On good nights I remembered my mask ;-P - there's the dumb boy part!

[dinghy in reply to JayCeon]

oh no! i'm too much of a control freak to wear ear plugs for fear i don't wake up to the alarm but i'm getting to the end of my tether, so never say never!

[JayCeon in reply to dinghy]

My sleep is so light, I've never overheard my quiet alarm since fibro. ;-P (And if I did that w'd be an alarm *sign ;-).) But if it's important I use a 2nd and 3rd louder alarm...

[Furmummy in reply to dinghy]

On that website it all states 'mild' stress and anxiety, i am unfortunately beyond that as I have 3 mental health diagnoses including PTSD.

I will look at the A. Vogel

[Yassytina FMA UK Volunteer]

I use lavender pillow spray and a herbal headache cream(even when I’ve no headache) smells divine ,take 2 or 3 deep breaths and I manage to sleep fairly well, I have sleep apnea and wear a full face mask so trick is too get off as quick as possible, if my aches /pains are high I use bio freeze to rub in muscles , smells of peppermint the best one I’ve found on the market (normally get it from Boots /Amazon etc .

[Furmummy]

Thank you for all your advice. Can I ask if any of you take antidepressants. I have them prescribed for mental health but I feel they exasparate the chronic fatigue.

I feel if I get a decent sleep then I wouldn't need these medications as I don't feel after a while (been on them 3 years now) they work. And I don't want to double my doses.

I'd rather be medication free. I only use strong pain killers from time to time but again I feel they don't really make a difference.

I know gut health is a BIG part of Fibromyalgia and I try to be kind to my gut, but it's 2 expensive when no one else in the house wants to eat the clean food.

[JayCeon in reply to Furmummy]

Antidepressants: I took amitriptyline for 4 months, one of the 8 adverse effects I stopped it for was the numbness and drowsiness, which, yes, in that sense exacerbated my 'fatigue' altho I haven't got CFS, still have quite a few energy bursts.If the pain killers don't even help, then you are probably harming yourself more than you think by using them. My body went ballistic from them.

Oh, that's hard, if it's a money thing as well. My wife and I have to eat almost totally separately, due to my diet and her taste. Maybe you can look for small not too costly changes/additions. I wdn't say my wife's food, alcohol, sweets etc. is necessarily cheaper tho....

[Furmummy in reply to JayCeon]

I have one daughter who has issues with eating, and my husband and I normally eat together, we do try to eat from scratch, but when it comes to things like cutting out wheat etc it costs to much if I am the only one buying gluten free products and 2 different meals for husband and child. our weekly shop is expensive as it is.

[JayCeon in reply to Furmummy]

Oh, 'eating from scratch' doesn't sound bad at all! Don't worry about not cutting out wheat/gluten free, it doesn't help many people at all. Rather keep to eating lots of veg, peanuts, & if possible use canola oil. (If you like say what you are (she is) eating, maybe we can make suggestions what could easily be adapted :-)).

[NeutralGazelle]

Valerian root tea (it stinks but it works!) and a weighted blanket both help me to sleep better.

[Dod79]

Hi furmummy , Haven’t been on here for a while, feeling a bit down lately a lot going on with my health. So I thought I’d join and have a read of peoples post, I don’t like to comment but recently it was my birthday and my mum brought me a weighted blanket, its 6 kilo so not as heavy as some of them , it took me a week to get used to it but now once I go asleep which take me hours every night I sleep like a log don’t wake up at all where as before was awake every hour through pain or spasms or needing toilet every hour. It’s the best thing ever . Hope you find something to help with your sleep. It’s the worst ever

[22amethyst]

I’m a bit of an oils buff and find Lavender and chamomile as a mix helps ..very calming and helps to relax the mind