5 htp for Sleeping?

[maymay28]

I've just read up on 5 htp and holy basil for sleeping and would like to know if anyone takes one or both of these supplements to aid sleep. I have sleep medication but would like to o the natural route . I have ordered both of these products of amazon and would like to know how effective they are. If anyone else is taking something that they know works to get restorative sleep, please let me know. I've been trying to get my thyroids level optimal and hopefully this sleeping problem will abate or go away all together.

[Hashi-Monster]

I have recently started taking 1x500mg phosphatidyserine complex at bedtime and this is really helping me

[maymay28 in reply to Hashi-Monster]

Thanks for the info Missimal. My naturopath gave me some of those but I never took them. I will now give them a try.

[Huzat]

I don’t think Holy Basil is suitable for hypo as it can lower thyroid levels. It is sometimes recommended when hyper.

[maymay28 in reply to Huzat]

Thank you Huzat. Good to know. I'm trying to get my level to optimal so that hopefully this lack of sleep will subside or go away(praying). I definitely do not want my thyroid to go any lower.

[Angel_of_the_North]

Doesn't work for me. Well, it works once and then keeps me awake. L'Ornithine worked for sleep. It depends on why you aren't sleeping. I find the same thing with Seriphos/phosphatidyl serine - it works for a few days and then does the opposite.

[maymay28 in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Angel _of_the_North, my thyroid are completely out of wack due to treatment by an endo who didn't know what she was doing and I've had difficulty falling to sleep because of this. She abruptly took me off my meds for two weeks and then restarted at an extremely low dose. My body reacted negatively towards the low dose and I began to have difficulty sleeping. I'm hoping once I get my levels back to optimal, this issue will go away. I'm going to look into the l'ornithine. Thanks

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to maymay28]

It's probably worth trying something like seriphos as well, as your cortisol is probably high from the stress of having meds reduced.

[Ellie-Louise]

5HTP worked well for me when I had a problem sleeping, I don’t use it now but I do keep it in the cupboard just in case.

[maymay28 in reply to Ellie-Louise]

Ellie-Louise, thanks for responding. Are you sleeping well now?

[Ellie-Louise in reply to maymay28]

Yes thanks May.

[humanbean]

I use both 5-HTP and Holy Basil and I find both help my sleep.

5-HTP converts to serotonin and melatonin in the body, so is often used as an over-the-counter anti-depressant and sleep aid.

Holy Basil lowers cortisol. If someone with cortisol which is already low takes it I doubt they would feel good, but for someone with high cortisol in the evening it can be helpful.

[maymay28 in reply to humanbean]

Humanbean. I think my cortisol are high at nighttime as I have a very hard time getting to sleep. I rarely can take a nap during the daytime. I am tired but I don't get drowsy. When do you take the 5htp and how much? When does it take effect?

[humanbean in reply to maymay28]

I've taken 5-HTP since 2011. For most of that time I took 50mcg every evening just before bed. In the last few months I've been weaning myself off just as an experiment. Since I'm in no hurry I've been doing it very slowly, and I currently take 1 capsule 3 times a week.

With regard to Holy Basil I take this one :

amazon.co.uk/Swanson-Spectr...

I take two capsules just before bed.

[maymay28 in reply to humanbean]

Thanks Humanbean, I have the Now 50mg htp. I may try it tonight. Do you take the holy basil every night or are you weaning off that also?

[humanbean in reply to maymay28]

I'm sticking with the Holy Basil for now, and I take it every evening.

[olgadimitri]

Hi. I use amino acids bland before bed time and it helps me a lot with insomnia. People from this forum (Eddie83 and Rodz37, check their posts) advised me to use amino acids as a sleeping pills. You may try "NOW Amino-9 Essentials" product. It contains the 9 free essential amino acids. Very very helpful for me.

[maymay28 in reply to olgadimitri]

thank you olgadimitri. I am going to look into that. Magnesium relaxes me but it doesn't get me to sleep.

[olgadimitri]

Magnesium is also may help to get better sleep.