Hey everyone,
So I have been seriously considering some sort of sleep aid to help me form the habit of going to bed at an earlier time. The problem is I like to fight my sleep. Like I really fight sleep and I could be super tired.... So I have been thinking of trying out ZZZquill to see if that might help me just fall asleep faster. Have anyone of you tried it? Would love to know what you guys think.
Also, I want to give it up as soon as I feel like my habit of going to bed early has been formed. So I need it to be non-addictive. It says on the bottle it is but I do want to confirm that.
I want to go from this:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/dd/3f/fa/dd3ffab90cc338666f192fd86f6a4f8f.gif
To this:
http://www.beautyheaven.com.au/sites/default/files/inline/ariel-comfy-bed.gif
52 comments
@lawschoolstuff16866 @476 @stephencarpinello514 @7sagestudentservices
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with me. I did take it into consideration and it was really helpful. Thanks! <3 <3
@lawschoolstuff16866 @jhaldy10325 @uhinberg359. Once again thank you for all your help! I really appreciate it and it means a lot to me that all of you shared your experiences with me and tried to help me. So thank you! : ). And a special shout out to @bjphillips5431 for checking up on me and making sure I had support <3 Seriously I did not expect for everyone to be so helpful towards my LSAT studies. So thank you all <3
I guess a little update: At the end I did not end up taking Zzzquill. lol! I seriously intended to and I went and bought it yesterday evening and put it on my nightstand with a glass of water. But at first I decided to drink some Jasmine tea and do some meditation. @bjphillips5431 You would be so proud, I finally bought a subscription to Headspace and I used the 10 minute sleep exercise. I wasn't sure it would work and in case it didn't I was ready to take Zzzquill and I remember tossing a bit but then suddenly I was out!
I don't know how but I woke up by myself at 3:49 A.M! No Alarm! and surprisingly felt super refreshed; I worked out, ate breakfast, read a book and its only 6:40 A.M. but I am sitting on my desk ready to study LSAT.
I hope this becomes a habit, and I am going to do something similar tonight too. But in case it doesn't there is always Zzzquill right there ready for me.
Thank you everyone! You guys are great. <3
How I feel right now:
https://media.giphy.com/media/DYH297XiCS2Ck/giphy.gif
I have good luck with melatonin, a hot shower, and warm milk.
Had I told you, you would have done what I did, wouldn't have made this post, and would not have devised a better system for yourself:) I know what I'm doing here!
you sure do lol.
Sami, I personally don't have experience with any sleep aids but I've heard positive things about zquil. If I remember correctly, I believe @jhaldy10325 has used it :)
Haha! *Up on discord at 4am* :)
Yep that's what I used to get into my sleep rhythm. Took me maybe three weeks of using it before I no longer need it. The main thing for me was getting up in the morning even if I hadn't gotten much sleep. That was really problematic in the beginning, but that was really important to establishing a consistent cycle. Up at the same time, down at the same time. I just had to force it long enough for my internal clock to adapt. Then it was easy to maintain. Even the night before the test, mind racing, I pretty much went right to sleep. My body knew it was time to sleep, even if my mind didn't.
> @pcoelho113 said:
> > @lindseyemitchell753 said:
> > I don't think there will be any harm in drinking 1 glass of water before going to sleep. You can find detailed information on the subject here. https://drinkcultures.com/why-you-should-drink-water-before-bed/
> >
>
> I've made this same mistake too in the past but this thread is from 6 years ago LOL
>
This is a person at a click farm posting an ad, lol. Possibly a bot, but my money is this one's human. 7Sage isn't structured for bots to be very effective. They've gotten a lot trickier by posting on well worn threads with actually some potential relevance, but the 1 karma and brand new account give it away every time.
> @lindseyemitchell753 said:
> I don't think there will be any harm in drinking 1 glass of water before going to sleep. You can find detailed information on the subject here.
>
I've made this same mistake too in the past but this thread is from 6 years ago LOL
I like Trader Joe's sleepy time tea. It's a mint and chamomile blend, very soothing.
I discovered a new thing that helps me though! It's maybe a little counterintuitive, but probably depends on why you have trouble sleeping. I now often fall asleep listening to the podcast "Sleep With Me". It's designed to put you to sleep! It's really weird but it does actually work for me.
Part of my problem with sleeping is I get that brain-going-1000mph thing where I just can't shut it off. Random thoughts going through my head, replaying the day, thinking about the next day... lots of mind wandering. So when it's just quiet, my brain spins around and around in circles. Enter, Sleep With Me podcast! It's really odd, kind of surreal-ish nonsensical storytelling in a super droning voice. It's like it gives my brain just enough to focus on that I stop hearing all of my own thoughts. But it's not engrossing enough to make me stay awake listening to it. I also use the Sleep Cycle app to track my sleep as well the alarm functions, and it has white noise that will fade out once you fall asleep. So now when I am ready to go to sleep, I set my alarm on Sleep Cycle and start the white noise, then start up the Sleep With Me podcast with the sleep timer set so it turns off after 1 episode. They'll run simultaneously, so you get a nice white noise with the podcast over the top of it.
It's not a cure-all, I take melatonin and my magnesium supplement, and still often have a hard time getting to sleep. But the podcast has helped a ton to cut down on the time that I'm just lying awake in bed and getting overrun with anxiety.
My favorite bed time tea is mugwort tea, super aromatic and earthy. It can be kind of hard to find a reliable source for it though. My local hippie health food store often mistakes their mugwort for wormwood. Those fools! Artemisia vulgaris is not artemesia absynthium, but they are pretty easily mistake for each other. I tried buying my own seeds to grow the plant myself but I think I accidentally bought wormwood seeds x.x anyway you could just buy tea bags online, but I like loose leaf. If the tea is super bitter it's wormwood. If its super calming and earthy it's mugwort.
Also I recommend Never let me go by Kazu Ishiguro
I haven't tried rishi teas! I drink yogi teas quite a bit and I like some of stash's caffeinated blends (like breakfast in Paris). I'll have to try!!
Bedtime routine is super important. I think minimizing screen time is huge, I need to be better about that as well.
have u tied warm glass of milk with a pinch of turmeric before bed?? it is an age old natural remedy that will have u dozing away soon after...has to do with being a natural laxative and easing the digestive functions to trigger body into rest mode...
also yoga helps naturalize regular sleep patterns....
had to suggest the hippie way of doing it :)
Yeah, this is a great addition to this topic. I've talked a lot about my routine, but it really did become more of a ritual--both my mornings and nights. Very good for going into test day when anxiety runs high.
I see it's been said before but I agree: melatonin, meditation, and some kind of nightly ritual.
https://www.amazon.com/Kirkland-Signature-Nighttime-Sleep-25mg/dp/B000UIEIBY
This is what I use to get back into a 11-6 sleep schedule when I fall out of it
Yay zzzzzzzzzquil
Ugh, I'm the same way! During the day, my brain wants to go into hibernation...at night, it want's to study up on quantum physics.
Anyhow, the ingredient in Zzzquil that causes sleep is diphenhydramine (an antihistamine, the same one found in Benadryl). Plenty of people use diphenhydramine as a sleep aid. But, one thing that you need to keep in mind is that it promotes sleep via sedation. What you should aim for, instead, is sleep promotion via sleep-pattern adjustment. In other words, your sleep-pattern is probably out of whack - I'm guessing you're either in college, or a recent grad. You need to readjust it so that your body naturally wants to sleep at a certain time. Melatonin tends to aid in the aforementioned task.
Diphenhydramine works wonders if you're just not having a good night, and really need to knock out ASAP. But using it every night isn't going to correct your sleep pattern.
Oh, and I'm not sure if you're a caffeine junkie (like I am) but recently I've been having some pretty bad insomnia, so I've cut my caffeine sources after 4pm so that I can get to bed at a reasonable hour. That might also help.
I've used it before when my sleep schedule was a mess and it was nice to fall asleep to, but waking up I didn't feel refreshed at all. I liked using it full force for about one week (you can use it for longer depending on how much you really need it), and then after that I kind of kept using it sparingly for a week after. It was fine, I didn't experience any addictive symptoms and it helped me fix my sleep schedule without any serious consequences. I would recommend it.
I was going to recommend melatonin pills because they're usually better for you, but you have to 'TRY' to sleep as you take them otherwise you can develop an immunity for them -- so based on your situation, I would not recommend these at all :)
So I have been thinking of trying out ZZZquill to see if that might help me just fall asleep faster. Have anyone of you tried it? Would love to know what you guys think.
Yeah, I found that it didn't help me all that much. I tried the liquid and the capsules. Then again, I have pretty bad insomnia, so I wouldn't count it out. :)
I haven't read all of the comments above so, sorry if I mention something someone has already suggested!!!!
Anyways, I have had a history of chronic insomnia that I've sought out medical help for. Unfortunately my doctor says he doesn't prescribe Rx sleep aids to people who are my age range (I'm 22) and/or to those who have a history of depression. He told me I'd have to fend for myself with OTC sleep aids. Anyways, it's really hard for me to find anything cause not only do I have trouble falling asleep -- I have trouble staying asleep. Sometimes, I'll wait up at like 3am and won't be able to go back to sleep afterwards. I'm practically immune to melatonin and I've taken like 90mg at a time before just cause I CAN'T GET TO SLEEP!!!! And even when I do get to sleep sometimes, my sleep isn't of high quality. As in I don't spend a lot of time in the 'deep sleep' cycle lol.
Anyways lol sorry for the rant --- but here are a few things that I have deduced are a great help to ~sleepytime~-
1) The Vitamin Shoppe sells a tea made by Triple Leaf tea and it's the 'relaxing' one. It's gotten rave reviews and I find that it works more often than not for me. But most people say it's like a godsend to them. https://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/triple-leaf-teas-relaxing-herbal-tea-20-bag/tf-1003?mr:trackingCode=E64C5D84-C9E0-E511-80ED-00505694403D&mr:referralID=NA&sourceType=sc&source=SHOP&acqsource=adlucent&utm_source=Shopping&utm_medium=CSE&utm_campaign=Triple%20Leaf%20Teas&utm_content=TF-1003&gclid=CjwKCAjw_tTXBRBsEiwArqXyMvxmsz6GMbmtyvkJeTr-u5XRFKyV8dj029M-qC9BjTp27yjeiQ6jsRoCrnoQAvD_BwE
2) Valerian root capsules. They are like vitamins and are the main ingredient in the tea I mentioned above! Sometimes I take one capsule and a cup of the tea.
3) Benadryl. This is dicey but it gets the job done. Sometimes it could make me sleep for like 12 hours lol other times I can run a marathon at 2am.
4) Unisom; an OTC sleep aid. This works but I built a tolerance to it. The standard serving/dosage is one tablet. But after ti stopped working on me, I started taking 2 tablets but then it made me sleep way too much, with groggyness upon waking and lethargy throughout the day. I didn't want that. But the one tablet works especially if your insomnia isn't so serious.
I use some of the methods mentioned above when I have trouble sleeping cause Nyquil, zzquil, and melatonin don't work on me unfortunately. I hope it helps you choose your ideal sleep aid!!! #1 & #2 or a combo of both are typically my method of choice :smiley: But alas, all forms of sleep aid are prone to developing tolerances. So they should only really be used to help push you to improve your cycle on your own. I also find that waking up early, no matter how tired I am or not, grinding through the day and going to the gym -- puts me in a better position to sleep at night.
@albert2lee886 Agree in theory, but 100-300 mcg does absolutely nothing for me. That's such a tiny dose. But I've also discussed with my doctor (who is a naturopath) and she encouraged 3mg every night. More than that (on a regular basis) and you can affect your body's natural production. But I'm very happy with my 3mg dose.
Would also like to add that for Melatonin, less is more, and you may not necessarily want to take huge doses. I see a lot of people on this thread advocating for 10mg doses, but IMO that's way too much. You only need 100-300mcg to get the full effect.
Relevant research:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8127888
> We examined effects of very low doses of melatonin (0.1-10 mg, orally) or placebo, administered at 1145 h, on sleep latency and duration, mood, performance, oral temperature, and changes in serum melatonin levels in 20 healthy male volunteers. A repeated-measure double-blind Latin square design was used. Subjects completed a battery of tests designed to assess mood and performance between 0930 and 1730 h. The sedative-like effects of melatonin were assessed by a simple sleep test: at 1330 h subjects were asked to hold a positive pressure switch in each hand and to relax with eyes closed while reclining in a quiet darkened room. Latency and duration of switch release, indicators of sleep, were measured. Areas under the time-melatonin concentration curve varied in proportion to the different melatonin doses ingested, and the **0.1- and 0.3-mg doses generated peak serum melatonin levels that were within the normal range of nocturnal melatonin levels in untreated people.** All melatonin doses tested significantly increased sleep duration, as well as self-reported sleepiness and fatigue, relative to placebo. Moreover, all of the doses significantly decreased sleep-onset latency, oral temperature, and the number of correct responses on the Wilkinson auditory vigilance task. These data indicate that orally administered melatonin can be a highly potent hypnotic agent; they also suggest that the physiological increase in serum melatonin levels, which occurs around 2100 h daily, may constitute a signal initiating normal sleep onset.
This is relevant because Melatonin is a hormone, and overloading your body on it each night could cause down-regulation and other unintended effects. If you take 10mg (30-100x the effective dose) each night, you could affect your body's ability to react to your naturally produced melatonin.
Extra strength melatonin works for me and it's all natural. I have tried Zzzquill, but it doesn't seem to work as fast as melatonin. The only downside I have experienced with melatonin is the occasional feeling of grogginess when I wake up.
> @albert2lee886 said:
> I wouldn't advise anyone to use sleep aids like zzzquil to aid sleep when preparing for the LSAT.
>
> Most of these inexpensive OTC sleep aids use diphenhydramine as the main ingredient, which is a gen 1 antihistamine. It has a long half-life (up to 13 hours IIRC) and so the drowsiness can persist well into the 2nd day. Diphenhydramine is also pretty notorious for causing brain fog and cognitive decline on nootropic forums.
>
> A low dose of 300-600mcg of melatonin 30 minutes before bed coupled with blue light filters on electronics is a much better way to adapt to a new sleep schedule.
Thanks for the advice! That would explain why each time I felt so groggy for so long the next day. How do you know so much?
> @tylergkohring661 said:
> > @lawschoolstuff16866 said:
> > Are they easy to grow?
>
> Mine are all dead. But I think that speaks more to my nurturing capabilities than to how hardy they are.
>
>
>
Lol :joy: Fair enough!